Amazing Babes. Words by Eliza Sarlos , drawings by Grace Lee.
First of all, I adore the tongue-in-cheekness of the title for a book about women who’ve made a difference. Referring to them as babes is kind of hysterical to me.
click image(s) to enlarge
And this isn’t just a random compendium of historical women to know about. Each one inspires something specific in the reader. (And the reader was originally intended to be the author’s son, which is pretty great!)
Courage, compassion, conviction, commitment, heart, the breaking of rules. All worthy qualities to aspire to—for all of us, regardless of age or gender.
It’s a book of Grace Lee’s gorgeous portraits, each capturing the subject distinctively. And, bonus, you can read the details of each lady’s contributions at the back of the book. I can just picture a young person gravitating toward one of these women and researching more about her.
I discovered that Hedy Lamar was not only an actress, but was also a mathematician!  And because the author is Australian, I learned about Mum Shirl who visited Aboriginal inmates and worked to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.
And Hadijatou Mani, born in 1984 and forced to work as a slave in West Africa at the age of twelve. Irena Sendler who saved 2,500 Jewish babies during the Holocaust.
I love the unexpected entries too, like Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill. As well as extraordinary contemporary heroine, Malala Yousafzai.
Most of these women are activists for peace and human rights, particularly those of women and children. Artists, scientists, individuals who’ve made a difference.
Inspiring and amazing babes indeed!!!
Thanks to Scribe for images!
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Scribe Publications has generously donated one signed copy of Amazing Babes for a reader of This Picture Book Life! You’ll love this picture book, coffee table book, art book, and women’s history book all rolled into one! Guaranteed to inspire.
Comment on this post and tell us who you’d like to share Amazing Babes with for a chance to win!
I’ll contact the randomly chosen winner by email for your mailing address.
(Open to North American residents only—sorry about that, far flung international readers! Giveaway ends Wednesday, September 24th, midnight PST.)
WE HAVE A WINNER AND IT’S READING WITH RHYTHM! CONGRATULATIONS!
THANKS TO ALL WHO COMMENTED AND READ THIS BLOG!
I’d love to share this book with my daughter, who is three. One of her favorite books is I’m Not Isabella, which features women like Marie Curie and Sally Ride. It would be great to share more positive female role models with her.
Yesss! This looks amazing! I would love to share it with all of the women and girls in my life, but especially my nieces. So much inspiration!
I would love to share it with my kids. We can never have too much inspiration or admiration for true heroines.
Sarah M
I’d share it with Maggie! An amazing babe in the making.
I would LOVE to put this book in our school library’s collection so we can use it as a read-aloud or as a springboard for more research on these awesome women! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
So unique and inspiring! What a conversation piece this would be!
I would love to share this with my two daughters. . .
I’d love to share this book with the two small, boss-ladies! Xo
I’d love to share this with my girls! We love books about strong, awesome women. 🙂
Beautiful art, fantastic concept, I’d love to share it with my five year old daughter. And I love that she made it for her son!!!
What a brilliant idea with such exemplary women. The art is bold and beautiful like the subjects in the book.
What a fabulous book!! I definitely need to share it with my Princesses! And maybe with my school readers! And ——
Danielle, I’d have it in my own personal library. I’d share this book with my adult daughters, and save it for when they have children of their own.
Beautiful book! I’d share it with my son now and my daughter when she’s just a bit older.
Love this! What a beautiful book.
I would love to share this book with my 8 year old daughter, Audrey. She loves the stories of amazing women from the history, and everytime when she learned someone new, she couldn’t stop talking about her to me. I am sure she would love to be inspired over and over again. 🙂
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I’d share this book with everyone I know, every man, woman and child. I will order it. My mouth dropped open in awe as I read the review on the stellar blog, “Reading With Rhythm” a few minutes ago. My eyes filled as I saw the illustrations of these extraordinary women. I felt as if I knew the essence of each one. I love children’s books. This one moved me deeply. Such a powerful statement and gift to the world.
Sounds like a great book to have in a classroom to spur on further research.