In March, we at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall would like to recognize Women’s History Month and celebrate the remarkable lives that women have lived as scientists, artists, teachers, inventors, activists, musicians, politicians and so much more.
Picture book biographies are one of my favorite parts of our library collection — the real-life stories they share often contain important life lessons.
They can introduce kids to notable people they may not have heard of before, and many of these stories also provide much-needed representation of voices from marginalized groups whose stories might not be told elsewhere.
As an artist myself, I find a great deal of inspiration in the stories of women who have challenged tradition and expectation in the arts. So I would like to highlight a few children’s picture book biographies about women who have done just that.
Each of these books is available to be checked out at the library.
‘Out of This World: The Surreal Art of Leonora Carrington’ (2019)
Written by Michelle Markel, illustrations by Amanda Hall, published by Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
“Out of This World” reveals the dreamy life of the English-Mexican surrealist artist, Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). Born into a wealthy and proper English family, her parents expected her to follow suit by attending a prestigious boarding school, marrying rich and becoming a lady.
But Leonora wanted nothing more than to become an artist, a career which was not considered appropriate for a young woman at the time.
Eschewing expectation, she followed her dreams and eventually found herself immersed in the budding surrealist movement in France — a group of artists whose art featured strange, reality-warping imagery.
Her art explored women’s struggles and roles in society, a topic which was not frequently touched upon in the male-dominated art world.
The Nazi occupation of France threatened the lives of many, including the surrealists, and she eventually fled to Mexico, where her art — and her relationships — flourished.
The mystical and evocative illustrations in Out of This World mirror the fantastical elements present in Leonora’s own art. It features brightly colored creatures, sprawling scenes and mystical women doing the impossible.
The sweeping narrative of Carrington’s life shares with us an important lesson about the importance of following your dreams, no matter what others expect of you, and becoming the person you want to be.
‘Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion’ (2022)
Written by Shannon Stocker, illustrations by Devon Holzwarth, published by Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)
“Listen” is about Evelyn Glennie (1965 -present), a highly regarded Scottish musician and the world’s first full-time solo percussionist.
Music was extremely important to Glennie even during her childhood. But her journey to where she is now was not always easy. At age 8, she began to lose her hearing, and by age 11, it was almost completely gone.
Audiologists told Glennie she would never play music again, but she didn’t let that stop her, eventually developing an affinity for percussion instruments.
Many still doubted her abilities due to her deafness, but she found an amazing teacher who believed in her and challenged her. It completely changed the way she interacted with music. She learned to feel music as a series of vibrations throughout her body, and she experimented with many different techniques to create new and exciting ones.
After graduating school, she entered the Royal Academy of Music and, to this day, performs all over the world as a solo artist. She doesn’t view her hearing loss as something to mourn. She learned that listening involves more than just the ears and says that “losing (her) hearing made (her) a better listener.”
This book features beautiful, expressive illustrations, evocative and percussive onomatopoeia and a great deal of heart.
Glennie’s powerful story of perseverance and adaptability reminds us that though some may doubt that someone like her could excel due to a disability, there are many ways to perceive and interact with the world if you only open your mind and your heart.
‘Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins’ (2019)
Written by Michelle Meadows, illustrations by Ebony Glenn, published by Henry Holt & Company (MacMillan)
“Brave Ballerina” tells the life story of Janet Collins (1917-2003), an African American prima ballerina and a pioneer for Black classically trained ballet dancers everywhere.
Collins faced obstacles at every step of her dancing career, but that never stopped her from achieving her dreams.
Starting out during a time of deeply ingrained racial segregation, she could not enroll in a traditional ballet school, so she sought out lessons from a private instructor. Her mother paid for the expensive lessons by sewing costumes for dance recitals.
As a teen, Collins was told to paint her skin white so she wouldn’t stand out on stage. It devastated her, and she refused. In some southern cities, she was barred from the stage entirely due to the color of her skin, and her parts were taken over by understudies.
Through all of this, she kept dancing, eventually gaining recognition as the first African American prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Collins’ story is one of incredible perseverance and grace in the face of ignorance and hate.
“Brave Ballerina” is more lyrical and less heavily detailed than the other books presented here, making Collins’ story accessible to all ages.
Mikayla Wobrak is the children’s librarian at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
