Rebel Girls Madam. C.J.Walker Builds a Business

Building on the success of the hugely popular Goodnight stories for Rebel Girls with its brief illustrated biographies of significant women, these two chapter books are the first of a new series from the Rebel Girls franchise with each focusing on a particular individual. With this format there is the opportunity to give a fuller account of their development and the experiences which shaped them to success and achievement in different fields.

Madam C.J.Walker Builds a Business is a fictional account of the life of Sarah Breedlove, aka Madam C.J.Walker, a remarkable woman whose life began in the cotton fields of Louisiana, the daughter of former slaves. It describes her journey to success and acclaim in the manufacturing business creating popular products for afro hair. Her determination and strength shines through as she works hard to gain an education for herself and her daughter, deals confidently with her main rival and prejudice within the male dominated business world. Through this achievement she transformed life for many black women. However, she was not content with this and became a philanthropist, generous in her efforts to help and provide opportunity for young black people in the community, even bequeathing her mansion in New York to this cause. In later life she also became an activist, using her fame and success to speak out against lynching of black men by white mobs which had in fact been the tragic fate of her beloved first husband.

An inspirational story of success against the odds, this is an interesting read with beautiful colour illustrations in each chapter, a very attractive design and end papers. The back of the book contains activities, created in collaboration with the crowdfunding platform iFundwomen.com, encouraging young readers to think like a would-be entrepreneur, designing and advertising products.