Fantastically Great Women Who Made History

This is book which is a must have for anybody – girl or boy, man or woman – it’s enlightening for one and all. Kate Pankhurst gives us a great introduction to finding out more about these fantastically great women along with her sister book (another must have) Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World.

Her layout is quirky and gives you instructions as to how to read the pages with different tracks to follow. There is a mixture of little mini cartoons, big chunks of text, pictures and questions which all keep you on your toes as a reader.  You can dip in and out of the book but the double page for each remarkable woman gives you a great flavour of their life with salient points which you can then follow up with more reading.  Fonts and colours change according to the content and life of the person in question-at one point you have to turn the book on its side to read about Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. The illustrations are all just right, very sparky.

This collection of remarkable women spans centuries and continents: from Hatshepsut to Mary Wollstonecraft, Ada Lovelace, Josephine Baker and Pocahontas. Some of the facts are better known than others but there is lots of excellent information. Lots of the women were incredibly brave and don’t all get to live the life they deserved but the pictures and doodling style make sure it’s not depressing. Instead it’s celebratory; laying out key messages in an attractive and engaging way to inspire a new set of admirers.