Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought)

by Kathleen Krull, Kathryn Hewitt (Illustrator)

Overview

Not all governments have been run by men. Lives of Extraordinary Women turns the spotlight on women who have wielded power, revealing their feats—and flaws—for all the world to see. Here you'll find twenty of the most influential women in history: queens, warriors, prime ministers, first ladies, revolutionary leaders. Some are revered. Others are notorious. What were they really like?
In this grand addition to their highly praised series, Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt celebrate some of the world's most noteworthy women, ranging from the famous to those whose stories have rarely been told.
Features twenty extraordinary women, including:
Cleopatra
Joan of Arc
Elizabeth I
Harriet Tubman
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eva Perón

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544247611
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/31/2013
Series:	Lives of . . .
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	1150L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kathleen Krull is well known for her innovative, award-winning nonfiction for young people, including Lives of the Explorers, Lives of the Musicians, and all other books in this popular series illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt. She is also the author of Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, as well as The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) and Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country), both co-written with Paul Brewer and illustrated by Stacy Innerst. She lives in San Diego, California. Visit her online at kathleenkrull.com. 

Kathryn Hewitt's caricatures of famous figures led kids to dub the Lives of . . . series the "Big Head" books. She has illustrated many books for young readers, some of which she also wrote. She lives in Santa Monica, California. Visit her website at www.kathrynhewitt.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A captivating browsers’ delight."—School Library Journal

• "Fabulous reading, great for research, deliciously . . . feminist."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Editorial Reviews

"A captivating browsers’ delight."—School Library Journal * "Fabulous reading, great for research, deliciously . . . feminist."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review —

From the Publisher

Gr 4-8-As with other titles in this nicely thought-out series, Krull whets readers' appetites with brief biographies of some amazing individuals. Most of these women will be familiar to students, but a few obscure figures are introduced. The writing tends toward gossip in places. (Isabella I of Spain reportedly took only two baths in her lifetime.) Like gossip, each chapter is enticing. A full-page caricature of the subject opens each chapter. The stories are arranged chronologically, beginning with Cleopatra, who reportedly spoke eight languages, and concluding with Guatemalan leader Rigoberta Mench , who fights for native Indian rights. "Ever After" sections reveal aftereffects of each person's contribution to history. The gaps left by the absence of Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto are filled by the more obscure likes of Nzingha, Gertrude Bell, and Aung San Suu Kyi. Don Nardo's Women Leaders of Nations (Lucent, 1998) aptly complements Extraordinary Women. The jacket art offers evidence of the fun inside-Queen Victoria looks not amusedly at Marie Antoinette toying with her riches. Catherine holds an "I AM GREAT" sign. Joan of Arc chats with Eleanor of Aquitaine. And Cleopatra walks like an Egyptian. A captivating browsers' delight and a jumping-off point for report writers.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

In Lives Of Extraordinary Women, Kathleen Krull focuses on twenty women down through history who have held political power and influence. These biographical pieces showcase queens, warriors, prime ministers, first ladies, and revolutionary leaders. Some are notorious, others revered, and all were noteworthy women who succeeded in making their way through a male dominated. Enthusiastically recommended for school and community library collections, Lives Of Extraordinary Women's informative and engaging text is wonderfully illustrated throughout with the artistic talents of Kathryn Hewitt.
—Childrens Book Watch

Childrens Book Watch

They have done it again. Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt, the team that has brought us five previous books in the Lives of . . . series, now turn their estimable talents to discussing 20 celebrated and/or notorious women, ranging in chronological order from Cleopatra to Harriet Tubman to Rigoberta Menchu, the Guatemalan who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992... Both artful and witty, the illustrations provide perfect accompaniments to the often breezy and accessible text.
—New York Times Book Review

Ruth Coughlin

"Well-behaved women rarely make history" is the pendant to this collection of 20 brief biographies in what is now the masterly style of this dynamite team's previous "Lives of . . ." books. Krull packs an astonishing amount of information in three to five pages of biography for these female rulers, smoothly tucking in interesting bits: the English most outraged at Joan of Arc's wearing men's clothing; Catherine the Great's fondness for intellectual young men; Nzingha the West African queen's miraculous escapes up to the age of 82. She clearly defines when historical gossip might have skewed the real story, as with Marie Antoinette and the Chinese empress Tz'u-hsi, but doesn't shrink from sometimes unpleasant truths such as Gertrude Bell's suicide or Indira Gandhi's assassination. Hewitt's illustrations remain dazzling: the oversized heads of the full-page figures sport headgear eminently suitable: Jeannette Rankin wears the Capitol dome and Aung San Suu Kyi her trademark flowers. Artifacts related to the women's stories appear as incidental images. Fabulous reading, great for research, deliciously and subversively feminist, this will sit happily on the shelf with the presidents, artists, musicians, and others this duo has covered so well. (bibliography) (Biography. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews