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

In this book, Kathleen Krull provides a rapid-fire pace of biographies of noteworthy women through the ages. With roughly four pages on each person, Krull covers notable persons over a wide span of countries and years, up to and including the present. Moving chronologically, the extraordinary women profiled vary from the very famous (i.e., Eleanor Roosevelt) to the less remembered (i.e., Jeannette Rankin), although not all the women are necessarily role models. Indeed, in her introduction to the book, Krull notes, “Like any group of individuals, male or female, this one includes the good, the bad, and some who were both.”

In addition to providing basic overviews of each woman’s life and contributions, the book contains little show more details like Isabella I reportedly only taking two baths in her entire life or that Queen Victoria’s favorite author was Jane Austen. These interesting tidbits are likely to hold a lot of appeal for children who can alternatively be repelled or recognize themselves in the historical figures, depending on the particular factoid. Either way, these kinds of details help children to connect with the women profiled rather than seeing them as remote and lost in history.

The watercolor illustrations with their bobble-head figures will likely appeal to children’s sense of humor, and these likewise include the little details. For example, Queen Victoria’s necklace with the image of Prince Albert on it, Marie Antoinette’s pet pugs, and Cleopatra’s homemade cosmetics are all featured in the illustrations as well as being mentioned in the text.

In a book about women who accomplished much, Krull never forgets to contextualize the lives of these women, especially about gender inequality. These women are outliers who worked against the grain by using extreme measures – i.e., dressing as men, facing death threats, etc. – while other women of their times often faced worse fates – i.e., feet binding, arranged marriages, etc. Despite eventually rising to fame, the women profiled were held back in many ways, such as limited educational opportunities, even among royalty notwithstanding the common wisdom that these are people born with the proverbial silver spoon in the mouth.

While interesting in its own right, this book could serve as a starting resource for a child who has to pick a famous historical person for a biography project. At the end of the book, the author even provides a list that culls the “most useful” books for kids on these extraordinary women. The book is also designed in such a way that it can be read cover to cover or can be skipped around for specific time periods or types of people (i.e., ruler vs. activist).

And, the book is peppered with economic topics throughout, covering a lot of ground because of the various roles these women played in history, many working within the government in some fashion. In addition, when describing the cultural milieu of their times, other economic topics are touched upon. For instance, poverty is alluded to in reference to both the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Where applicable, the brief biographies include the educational backgrounds of these women and reference caring labor in their roles as wives and mothers. Amongst others, some specific economic facts about the women in this book are these:
- Marie Antoinette’s entertainments provided jobs for thousands as “she considered their employment her political duty.” (p. 42)
- Amongst Golda Meir’s talents was raising money, including $50 million in one U.S. trip alone. Her position in the Israeli government allowed her to make decisions about how the state would be involved in education, employment, and housing.
- Indira Gandhi worked 18 hours a day as prime minister of India, saying she was “a person with a job to do.” (pg. 77)
- As first lady, Eva Peron devoted millions to charity and worked to ensure that the poor in Argentina had employment opportunities, medicine, and other basic necessities, even keeping money in her desk to distribute when needed.
- Wilma Mankiller “ruled over a population of 140,000, with an annual budget of $75 million and 1,200 employees” as chief of the Cherokee Nation. (p. 84)
- After winning $1.3 million along with her Nobel Peace Prize, Aung San Suu Kyi established a fund for Burmese minorities and refugees, focusing on health and education needs.
- Growing up in poverty in Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu worked all day on plantations and later as a maid while her spare time was spent at the riverside looking for snails to sell. Later in life, like Suu Kyi, she used her Nobel Peace Prize money to establish a foundation for minorities and refugees, focusing on civil rights.

In sum, Lives of Extraordinary Women is an excellent book for teaching children about economics, history, and the important roles that women have played in society over the years.

I reviewed this book for EconKids: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/older-children-and-young-adults-2007-and-earler/2216... show less

Retelling: This book gives a personality sketch of each of the following extraordinary women: Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, Isabella I, Elizabeth I, Nzingha, Catharine the Great, Marie Antoinette, Victoria, Harriet Tubman, Tz'U,HSI, Gertrude Bell, Jeannette Rankin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Eva Peron, Wilma Mankiller, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Rigoberta Menchu. Following each description of the historical figures personal quirks is a description of what historical contributions they are remembered for.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book did not sugar coat the more horrifying details of ages where death was much more common than it is today. People plotted and killed. Leaders, never-mind women leaders, were show more not safe.

The most interesting characters I thought were Tz'U-Hsi and Gertrude Bell because neither of them believed that women should be in leadership roles and both of them were. Bell thought herself an exception to the general rule about weak women. Tz'U-Hsi said "Never again allow women to hold the supreme power in the state." show less

This short, non-fiction chapter book is a historically accurate account of impressive and influential women leaders of the past. I was blown away by some of the accounts of their deeds. I am sad to say that I had not heard of every woman included in this book, but after reading it I think it is an excellent addition to any humanities classroom or young woman's bookshelf! I think what I enjoyed most was how the author mixed events in each leader's life with tales of their own personality and personal history. For example, I had no idea Queen Isabella I was so powerful and acted as the real decision-maker when it came to ruling Spain. Her cruelty and influence in the Spanish Inquisition rocked me for a moment, because she is so often show more taught in school as just the ruler who funded Columbus' journey to the New World.

I think this would be a great mentor text in a history project that asks students to research an influential historical figure. Students could read through the book, or even just selected excerpts, and then pick a leader to research more in-depth for their own projects. Reading Level: Grade 3 and up. show less

This book has too many words! I only rate it a three because I like that it talks about a wide range of women, from activists to queens. The book is divided in a way that is reader-friendly. If you want to read about Harriet Tubman, you just go to her section. The empress of China, Tz'u-hsi, has a section. Joan of Arc, and Golda Meir have sections. I like how the book is organized, and how it honors women from all over the planet! However, I got really tired when I was reading this book. Many times I lost my place. Other times I would read an entire page and recall nothing! I think this book will stay in my classroom library, as a resource. Sometimes students are asked to write a biography, and some of these women may be of interest to show more them. show less

This collection of short biographies on memorable women throughout history packs a lot of interesting information into each short story. Among the women include in this book are Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Nzingha (a West African queen), Catherine the Great, Harriet Tubman, Tz'u-hsi (a Chinese empress), Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir (prime minister of Israel), Indira Ghandi (prime minister of India), Wilma Mankiller (chief of the Cherokee Nation), Aung San Suu Kyi (revolutionary leader inBurma), and Rigoberta Menchu (a Guatemalan leader who focuses on Native Indian rights).

Each short biography includes quirky, interesting details about the woman in question and keeps the reader interest and engaged. I appreciated the broad show more range of women described in this book, although it was still dominated by white wome of European ancestry. I think this book would appeal especially to female readers, because it really stresses empowerment and is obviously all about famous women throughout history. I think that male readers could also enjoy this book, but that it would be preferred by female readers. show less

This book gives short introductions to 20 extraordinary women throughout time. From Cleopatra to Harriet Tubman to Eleanor Roosevelt, the collection is surprisingly diverse, including women from Africa, Asia, India, Latin America, and Native America (although it must be said that a full half of the women are European and/or white American). This is a great choice for women's history units and will likely inspire children to find out more about some of these powerful ladies.

Well-written book about the lives of quite a good number of famous women in history to exerted some degree of political influence. Includes a lot of interesting and unusual details that are momorable and make these biographies unique.