Catherine Gourley

This is such an informative and fascinating book. I loved American Girls Collection when I was a kid and read so many of the fictional books. I was always so captivated by the stories and I think they encouraged my love and interest in history. This non-fiction book uses Samantha’s character to take readers on a tour of what life was like in America in 1904. It brings to life the many aspects of every-day life in the early Twentieth century. A new century brought on new ideas that show more challenged old-fashioned traditions and beliefs. I love that this book included a lot about the social reform that was taking place for women and girls, as well as the disparities between the wealthy and the poor. Authentic letters, photographs, and illustrations are brilliantly used to transport the reader back in history. show less

War Women and the News covers World War 2 in an enjoyable way I have never seen before. The title misled me a bit, as I expected to be read a book about the important female news correspondents during the Second World War. Instead, between the photograph-laden covers, I found a book about World War Two told using female war reporters as the vehicle to carry readers through major events in the war. I appreciated the surprise.
The specialized book focuses on the women's stories, rather than show more on the stories the women wrote. This also surprised me. I expected a text-heavy collection of news articles, but I found very few. I did find pages rich in anecdotes and photographs that illustrated life for women tasked with bringing the war the American newsstands, diners, and living rooms.
As a historian, as I encountered vignettes, factoids, and stories, I periodically often referred to the bibliography, which contains roughly 80 researched sources, ranging from periodicals to biographies. This, of course, satisfied a bit of my curiosity on the matter. So, I researched the author, Catherine Gourley, whose list of awards includes those from NCSS amongst others.
My only knock on the book is a lack of newspaper articles. I would have liked to read more works by the women covered in the book. show less

This book is for use by Middle grades and Junior High age kids. It is excellent for that age. I have been reading many books about women in the last year and I found this book to have an interesting choice of women who were featured. The real Gidget was one of them, as was a TV character named Beulah. Magazine advertisements and articles were also part of the mix of information given in the book. The women warriors were not necessarily military. Featured in that category were Rachel Carson, show more Charlene Hunter, and Mary Sharmat. Groups were also featured, so organizations like the Daughters of Bilitis and Women Strike For Peace had a place in this book. For what it is, it is very well done. I highly recommend for school and public libraires. show less

In 1986, American Girl™ introduced the character Samantha Parkington, a young girl growing up in America during the turn of the century. In addition to publishing several books about Samantha's life set in 1904, American Girl™ produced Welcome to Samantha's World in 1999, appropriately at the turn of another century.

Welcome to Samantha's World uses text, black-and-white photographs of historical persons, color photographs of relevant objects, and gentle watercolor illustrations to bring show more to life many facets of American life during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Although the character Samantha came from a wealthy family, this book does not just cover the life of the privileged but also discusses life as an immigrant, a minority, a woman without voting rights, etc. Children will be equally delighted to see photographs of the toys and games available to their peers in the 19th century and saddened to read about children sent away from New York City on orphan trains in hopes of finding a family to adopt them out West somewhere.

As this book covers a vast array of topics, economic concepts crop up quite often. In particular, the section on children working in factories and the spread devoted to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy are perfect sounding-off boards for discussing modern child labor laws and safe working conditions.

This book is a definite win for children who love history, but even those who don't usually enjoy reading about the past may change their mind after being introduced to this book with its many graphics, varied topics, and true stories of children growing up during a time of change.

I reviewed this book for EconKids. Read the full review here: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/new-picture-books-in-2006-and-earlier/2009-2011-02-0... show less