FROM RAGS TO RICHES

Name: FROM RAGS TO RICHES
Author: Leslie Sills
ISBN: 0-8234-1708-5

A HISTORY OF GIRLS’ CLOTHING IN AMERICA

by Leslie Sills ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2005

The history of what people wear is never simple, hemmed about with culture, nurture, mores and occasionally cockamamie ideas. Sills strives to address all of these issues in a busy format, but doesn’t always hit the mark. Her chapters are only a few pages in length and her pictures—most of them photographs—are well chosen. However, the text is printed on papers that reflect many kinds of printed cloth, visually interesting but hard to read. Her subject is American girls’ clothing and the confining aspects of girls’ clothes—from swaddling and stays to hoopskirts to bustles—is highlighted in the 12 chapter headings. She’s so breezy, though, that sometimes information isn’t complete—like why bobbed hair was such an innovation (freeing girls from caring for very long locks) or incorrect (the derivation she gives for “nylon, for instance). Young female readers will be delighted with the photos of Lucia, who designed her own dress, and astounded at how late the idea of females wearing pants came along. (glossary, index, bibliography, Webography, author’s note, lists of museums and organizations) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: May 31, 2005

ISBN: 0-8234-1708-5

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005

Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORY

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Essential.

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IF YOU LIVED DURING THE PLIMOTH THANKSGIVING

by Chris Newell ; illustrated by Winona Nelson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 2021

A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”

Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction

Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021

Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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FARMER GEORGE PLANTS A NATION

by Peggy Thomas & illustrated by Layne Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2008

A pleasing new picture book looks at George Washington’s career through an agricultural lens. Sprinkling excerpts from his letters and diaries throughout to allow its subject to speak in his own voice, the narrative makes a convincing case for Washington’s place as the nation’s First Farmer. His innovations, in addition to applying the scientific method to compost, include a combination plow-tiller-harrow, the popularization of the mule and a two-level barn that put horses to work at threshing grain in any weather. Thomas integrates Washington’s military and political adventures into her account, making clear that it was his frustration as a farmer that caused him to join the revolutionary cause. Lane’s oil illustrations, while sometimes stiff, appropriately portray a man who was happiest when working the land. Backmatter includes a timeline, author’s notes on both Mount Vernon and Washington the slaveholder, resources for further exploration and a bibliography. (Picture book/biography. 8-12)