Megan HalseyReseñas

I really enjoyed reading this book. I would use this book to teach a unit on historic women in a 4th-5th history grade classroom. It is an easy read and gives information on 26 different women who made history. Students can use this as a source to write biographies over historic women or use it for an independent reading assignment.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting and joyous to read about the impact a plethora of women have had on the world. Within this book, there were many people I knew about and many I had no clue about. So, because of that I gained a lot of knowledge by reading this alphabet book. I was pleased to see the author find a woman for each letter in the alphabet. Also, I really liked that there were quotes from each woman in the book.

This short selection I read of Eleanor Roosevelt in a collection biography book included less details in some places as my other biography of Eleanor, but it also included more details in other areas. It does not go into much detail about her early life at home, such as her mean mother and loving father, but it includes much more about her life after marrying Franklin Roosevelt. I enjoyed learning about her career running an all-girl's school, her motherhood to five children, and her work with the Red Cross.

Cynthia Chin-Lee managed to write several biographies about twenty-six women all in one children's book.The book briefly speaks about each woman's life along with their achievements and struggles. What's neat about it is that she orders these women's biographies from A-Z, meaning that the first letter of each woman's first name corresponds to a specific letter in the alphabet.

This book is about 26 women who had made a difference in the world in alphabetical order. The most interesting to me out of them are Frida Kahlo and Patricia Schroeder. I like Frida Kahlo because she was strong and though she had health issues, she didn’t let that stop her, yet she pushed through. Frida was a painter and folklorist, she was well known for her great art that displayed her humor and imagination. While I liked Patricia Schroeder because though she had kids and was a wife, which did not stop her from being a congresswoman. She enjoyed law but didn’t think they would elected a woman to Congress, and when chose she took the house by surprise. Pat served 12 terms and congresswoman, and during those terms, she championed laws to benefit women and families. I enjoyed this book because it gave a view of many influential women in the world that I either never heard of or didn’t know how much of a difference they made.

Amelia to Zora is a powerful, inspiring biography in the form of an alphabet book, which can be useful for many different grade levels. Setting this book apart from other biographies, Amelia to Zora journeys through the lives of 26 women who have made a difference, with a page dedicated to each woman. The pages include an illustration, two or three paragraphs to tell her story, and a quote from each difference-maker. Some of the women include, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Oprah Winfrey, as well as women that many students might be unfamiliar with such as Quah Ah, Maya Lin, and Rachel Carson. I didn’t think the illustrations did the women justice, however, overall I am very impressed with this book.½

(2nd) Lesson: How Do People Improve Their Communities?
20th Cent Women, civics 5th. Pat Schroeder CO 4th. Diverse as far as timeframe of when women lived, and diverse in culture of each woman. And diverse in how they impacted society in their own unique way. An inspiration to girls, especially our girls of color. This information can be used to lead into personal narratives/biography/autobiography

This alphabet book covers notable women in history from A to Z, who worked hard to achieve their goals and dreams despite hardships and adverse reactions along the way. It covers the gamut of cultural backgrounds and women with various interests and would make any young woman feel proud to come after a line of such diligent, hard working women with a vision.

26 amazing women, 26 amazing stories; this book serves as an excellent introduction to the lives of these famous women and could be used as a jumping point from which students could do further research on the individuals that most interest them. I appreciated that readers learn not only about the hardships and triumphs that inspired each woman, but also special anecdotes that reveal aspects of their personalities (i.e. Amelia Earhart’s construction of a makeshift roller coaster in her backyard when she was 7 years old).

This was one of my favorite biography books. It can be used as an introduction to biographies as each one is short. It can spark a child's interest in one of the women. It is organized alphabetically and includes biographies of Amelia Earhart, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mother Theresa and twenty-three other who have done their part to change the world not only for women, but for everyone.

This book presents the biographies of 26 women who have made a difference in some way in the world. Each letter of the alphabet introduces one of these women and a brief biography of their accomplishments is given. The famous women range from artists, to figure skaters, to pilots, inventors, to modern day television hosts.
Genre: Biography
Critique: This book is a good example of biography because it presents factual information on the lives of many famous women. The author includes a bibliography in the book to justify her research and allow students to find more information.
Media: Mixed

This is a terrific book readers of all ages will appreciate.

Twenty-six women are highlighted from a variety of cultures, races, ethnicities and fields of accomplishment: one for each letter in the alphabet (e.g., Amelia Earhart, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin, Dolores Huerta, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.) Each page features a brief biography and a famous quote.

Succinct and interesting background is provided for the following 26 women:

Amelia Earhart, pilot and pioneer for women
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Olympic athlete extraordinaire
Cecilia Payne-Gasposchkin, astronomer and first woman professor at Harvard
Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union
Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady & civil rights activist
Frida Kahlo, painter, folklorist, and activist
Grace Hopper, computer scientist and first female doctorate in math at Yale
Helen Keller, advocate for the disabled, poor, women, and minorities
Imogen Cunningham, famous portrait and plant photographer
Jane Goodall, scientist, ethologist, & animal rights activist
Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic ice skating champion
Lena Horne, entertainer and civil rights activist
Maya Lin, architect, notably of the Vietnam War Memorial
Nawal El Sadaawi, medical doctor and women’s rights activist
Oprah Winfrey, entertainment entrepreneur
Patricia Schroeder, congresswoman, and champion of women’s rights
Quah Ah, Pueblo artist and pioneer for Native American women’s rights
Rachel Carson, environmentalist, notably campaigning against pesticides
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, political leader and activist; Novel Peace Prize winner
Mother Teresa, servant of the poor; Nobel Peace Prize winner
Ursula Le Guin, feminist writer and author
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and activist for Indian rights
Wilma Mankiller, chief of the Cherokee nation and activist for Native rights
Chen Xiefen, journalist and activist for women’s rights in China and Japan
Yoshiko Uchida, writer and activist for Japanese American rights
Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist and writer

The extremely creative illustrations by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy are mixed-media collages made from drawings, photographs, flowers, maps, cloth, and landscapes in an entertaining representation of the essence of the woman being profiled.

Highly recommended!

A selected bibliography is at the back of the book.

I picked up this book because I liked the cover and the artwork inside.
There are a few successful aspects of this book. First, the layout. The background designs draw you in, and also enrich the text. There are many excellent quotes which are also effective.
Also, there is a wide range of women featured- from all over the world, some more famous than others and of varying professions. This makes the book appeal to a child of any background.
However, there were also a few things I didn't like. I thought the text was very brief, and often left out key information about some of the women. In particular, I am frustrated when authors omit Helen Keller's passion for socialism. The narrowness of the text only allows you a glimpse into the world many of these women came from, and how hard they had to fight for what they wanted to accomplish.
I do not like how each bio starts with some story about something each woman did in their childhood that led to their fame. I have some issues with this because I think that they are trying hard to sell kids that they can be a hero if they pursue something that they loved at a young age. I think many leaders did not have such a storybook rise to fame. Some of these stories seem genuine and add to the description of the character (such as Amelia Earharts roller coaster invention) but some of them seem contrived and unnecessary.

I think we have to be careful of oversimplification like this when we make our A-Z book for Louisiana. I don't think we need dense text, but we should be intentional about including useful information rather than just fluff.

This book is appropriate for the grades second through fifth. The book may be lengthy for younger students but the book is filled with interesting facts and pictures that they would enjoy. Each letter of the alphabet is paired up with a historical figure that is a woman. For example B is for Babe Ruth and F is for Frida Kahlo. Each historical figure gets a page with a biography and some interesting facts. Also there is a inspiring quote along with a picture collage of each women.
Uses in the classroom:
- I would use this book for women's history month in march. I would read aloud one or two of the pages each day. By the end of the month I would have students pick one historical figure to do more research on. They would have to present the new information in any creative way.
- Great book to have in the library for students to explore on their own.
- I would have children write about some women in their life that they believe is important.
- I would have students make a collage about themselves.

Use with Kindergarten through second grade to reinforce the letters of the alphabet while teaching about women who changed the world. From A to Z, the book highlights the lives of 26 different women who made remarkable changes to the world during their lives. Each page features one woman, including a brief description of her achievements, a quote from that woman, and a mixed media illustration of her. Addresses learning letters, historical figures, women, changing the world, accomplishments, etc. In the classroom, use for ELA and social studies lessons. This book could also be used as a starting point for a unit on people who changed the world. After reading the book, children could choose/ be assigned to research a person who changed the world. They could write a paragraph or 2 about the person, choose a quote by him/her, and either design a mixed media illustration of that person or dress up as him/her and present to the class. Also a good opportunity to make a class book about people who changed the world.

Ths book would be a good beginner glance at biogrphys. The book showcases 26 woman from A to Z. Learn about Jane Goodall and Frida Kahlo.What contribution did they make for the betterment of mankind?

Chin-Lee, C. (2005). Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World (Addy, S. & Halsey, M. Illus.). New York: Charlesbridge Publishing.

This is a really great alphabet book/short biography book. For every letter of the alphabet, the author presents an amazing woman from history. Each woman is given her own page, a short biography (usually 2-3 paragraphs), an illustration of the woman, and a personal quote. The book presents a wide range of women from around the world: Amelia Earhart, Jane Goodall, Oprah Winfrey, Hellen Keller, and Frida Kahlo. Some of the women were new to me, and it was nice to learn about a few new amazing women.

The illustrations in the book are awesome! It's almost like looking at a scrapbook, because the illustrators used mixed media. Also included at the back of the book is a bibliography and author's note.½

A really great biography book done in the format of an alphabet book. It gives a brief description of the life and works of 26 important women. They are not thorough biographies, but are meant to spark interest and encourage more research. Many of the women were familiar to me, but there were also many I was unfamiliar with. It was nice to learn something from a children's book.

This would be great for curriculum about women's history or a starting point for a child looking for a person to do biographic research on.

This is a great example of a biography, because the author gives important details of the lives of twenty-six prominent women in American history. The book finds a "stand-out" woman whose name starts with each letter of the alphabet and explains the contributions she made to our country and to the progress of women, in general. The author highlights athletes, authors, scientists, entertainers, and artists who each made an impact in their field and she also includes a quote from each woman.

ART/MEDIA: collage; variety of materials: paint, paper, documents from the time period of the woman being highlighted.

If for nothing else, I loved the variety of women selected. Yes, Amelia Earhart is included, but so is Frida Kahlo, Nawal El Sadaarvi, and even Oprah Winfrey. Page design is lovely. Includes selected bibliography for further study and exploration on the profiled women.