Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 16, 2018

Review

Opening with an illustrated timeline, this picture book biography compilation of "young women who changed the world," is a beautiful, if not incredibly informative, brief look at these women. Each entry has an illustration by a different artist, a poem that describes a bit about what each woman is famous for, and a couple of sentences of actual bio description at the end. At the end, the author explains a bit about how she chose her subjects and includes further reading, sources, and notes for each woman individually.

While the book is a great idea, it falters in its execution. Several of the poems feature incredibly difficult vocabulary words with no definitions included, and with the use of the poems instead of using the space to share more actual information about the women, readers end up learning very little factual information. Share for its beautiful illustrations and as inspiration for further research on these and other extraordinary women. Not an essential purchase.

Overall Book Score: good