What do you think?
Women Who Broke the Rules
Judy Blume
A new series complete with full-color illustrations that celebrates amazing women, from acclaimed author Kathleen Krull!
In the vein of the popular Who Was? series and Jean Fritz's much-beloved biographies, Women Who Broke the Rules celebrates the bold and brave women who have forged their own paths - breaking rules along the way - to help shape our country's past, present, and future.
Judy Blume wrote her way through controversy and censorship to become a pioneer who helped make it okay for kids and teens to discuss their everyday concerns, including the kinds of things people don't always like to talk about. Now more than forty years into her career of writing frank and funny books, Judy still has the amazing ability to connect with young readers and adults.
In the vein of the popular Who Was? series and Jean Fritz's much-beloved biographies, Women Who Broke the Rules celebrates the bold and brave women who have forged their own paths - breaking rules along the way - to help shape our country's past, present, and future.
Judy Blume wrote her way through controversy and censorship to become a pioneer who helped make it okay for kids and teens to discuss their everyday concerns, including the kinds of things people don't always like to talk about. Now more than forty years into her career of writing frank and funny books, Judy still has the amazing ability to connect with young readers and adults.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 9, 2015
Wow.
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
July 16, 2015
As a lifetime fan of Judy Blume, I really enjoyed this book! It is divided into 6 short chapters and contains some fun illustrations. I am anxious to read the other books in this series.
December 23, 2022
My 12-year-old daughter and I are ten books in to our Judy Blume reading project, so imagine our joy when we walked by this 2015 biography of Ms. Blume at the library the other day.
Turns out. . .
Judy Blume's father was a dentist (just like Sally J. Freedman's dad)!
Her brother was a hellion in kindergarten (just like Fudge)!
She had anxiety as a child, and was afraid of thunderstorms, swimming, and dogs (just like Sheila Tubman)!
She was positively boy crazy, from the age of six on (just like Deenie and her friends)!
She felt such heartache and shame when she and her husband divorced (just like the Newman family in It's Not the End of the World).
Judy Blume has been married three times, had cancer twice, and her childhood was about as complicated as most of ours.
She was told, at the start of her career: “You have no talent,” and “from 1982 to 1996 she was the most banned author in America.”
She says of her life, “Anyone who thinks my life was cupcakes all the way is wrong,” but she also says, “I'm really happy being me. . . I have no regrets.”
This biography is upbeat, filled with fun illustrations, and was well worth the 30 minutes we spent reading it.
Turns out. . .
Judy Blume's father was a dentist (just like Sally J. Freedman's dad)!
Her brother was a hellion in kindergarten (just like Fudge)!
She had anxiety as a child, and was afraid of thunderstorms, swimming, and dogs (just like Sheila Tubman)!
She was positively boy crazy, from the age of six on (just like Deenie and her friends)!
She felt such heartache and shame when she and her husband divorced (just like the Newman family in It's Not the End of the World).
Judy Blume has been married three times, had cancer twice, and her childhood was about as complicated as most of ours.
She was told, at the start of her career: “You have no talent,” and “from 1982 to 1996 she was the most banned author in America.”
She says of her life, “Anyone who thinks my life was cupcakes all the way is wrong,” but she also says, “I'm really happy being me. . . I have no regrets.”
This biography is upbeat, filled with fun illustrations, and was well worth the 30 minutes we spent reading it.
January 24, 2015
This exceeded my expectations. I learned a lot from this well written biography. Would make an excellent addition to any elementary classroom or school library.
January 30, 2023
Reading this little book about Judy Blume made me think of Mr. Rogers. I do hope that Judy and Fred recognized their kinship in helping kids to be honest about their feelings rather than bottle them up. I was not a Judy Blume reader as a kid, but am working through her substantial list as an adult. They are fun to read and no doubt a bit ahead of their time. My hat is off to her.
February 14, 2019
This was a very interesting Biography about Judy Blume. Even though she is an older written, it is hard to enter a classroom without seeing her exceptional children's literature. This Biography would be good for second or third graders to introduce them to Biographies and the exciting world of Judy Blume. This book is written in very short and accessible chapters and includes extra information in the back about the author, as well as an index.
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August 17, 2016"How Jewish author Judy Blume wrote her way through controversy and censorship to become a pioneer who helped kids and teens discuss their everyday concerns." Review by Dina Weinstein for the Jewish Book Council.
Read
December 14, 2017I love this biography of Judy Blume! I learned a lot about her and would use this to inspire young children (especially girls).
2015
Genre Biography
2015
Genre Biography
May 4, 2019
Wished the listing of books included more than the ones for young readers. Well written overall.
November 20, 2021
Natural born story teller goes through school and attends writing classes, submits stories, rejected then published. Wants to write stories about real life. marry, divorce, marry, divorce, remarry. Bouts with cancer, multi houses, TWO THOUSAND LETTERS A MONTH!
December 25, 2015
Quote: "I don't care about rules and regulations of writing for children. She wanted to write what children's lives were truly like: "It's really hard to be a child, and no one has shown just how hard it is."
The Kathleen Krull's book: Judy Blume, I found this quote to not only validate my own motives for writing children's books, but it also endeared me to Judy Blume. I'm in my late 50's and have never heard of Judy Blume. I never had kids of my own nor did I read as a child, so I missed the opportunity of having Judy to help me along my childhood path. Maybe had I found her in my youth, I might not have be so compelled to write myself. So I guess that's the reason for not finding her...yet.
Ms. Krull's book did inspire me to want to know more about Judy Blume and start reading her. And I think that's one of the best things to come from reading a person's biography, the need to find their life's work. I find the story engaging and enlightening to the motivation behind Judy's need to write and to be honest in that writing (she apparently felt 'fake' in her relationships with her family due to the social norms of the time.)
This biography is interesting in its journey of Ms. Blume's life. But to be really honest, I was so distracted by the illustrator's work, that I came away without as good overall reaction to the book as I would have liked. This was a good education to me, as a author, as to how the illustrations can make or break a book.
I felt that David Leonard's illustration's were distracting. I didn't feel that there was consistency with the image of Judy throughout. She is almost 'blah' in the renderings. I tried to tell myself that the illustration style was just not my cup of tea. But when I got to page 16 where she is in a classroom, she is a flat non-detailed drawing compared to the rendering of other people on the page which were rich and more developed.
My biggest concern was there seemed to be one facial pose that was reused many times throughout the book. One with her hair being very oddly drawn and then her mouth is open and always from the same side of her face with the same minimal expression. Did the artist have only one photo of Judy that he used for reference? (pages: 19, 21, 23, 29, 31, 38) I have seen this same rendering issue in books where the illustrator is not as experienced, is that the case here?
I found that I liked the cover drawing of Judy by artist Edwin Fotheringham better than the interior illustrations by David Leonard. As someone who is in the learning stages of children’s books, I really dissect a book from the front cover to the back cover, and I know that the cover should tell us what to expect on the inside, and I think this failed. For I really am drawn to books that have good illustrations (from my perspective), and in a way, this cover lied to me. The illustration image on the cover was not in alignment with the interior images. A disappointment.
If a reader is looking for a book that encapsulates the bio of Judy Blume, this is a good book. But if you are like me, a person that wants a full experience of text and images, then this might not be the best overall option.
The Kathleen Krull's book: Judy Blume, I found this quote to not only validate my own motives for writing children's books, but it also endeared me to Judy Blume. I'm in my late 50's and have never heard of Judy Blume. I never had kids of my own nor did I read as a child, so I missed the opportunity of having Judy to help me along my childhood path. Maybe had I found her in my youth, I might not have be so compelled to write myself. So I guess that's the reason for not finding her...yet.
Ms. Krull's book did inspire me to want to know more about Judy Blume and start reading her. And I think that's one of the best things to come from reading a person's biography, the need to find their life's work. I find the story engaging and enlightening to the motivation behind Judy's need to write and to be honest in that writing (she apparently felt 'fake' in her relationships with her family due to the social norms of the time.)
This biography is interesting in its journey of Ms. Blume's life. But to be really honest, I was so distracted by the illustrator's work, that I came away without as good overall reaction to the book as I would have liked. This was a good education to me, as a author, as to how the illustrations can make or break a book.
I felt that David Leonard's illustration's were distracting. I didn't feel that there was consistency with the image of Judy throughout. She is almost 'blah' in the renderings. I tried to tell myself that the illustration style was just not my cup of tea. But when I got to page 16 where she is in a classroom, she is a flat non-detailed drawing compared to the rendering of other people on the page which were rich and more developed.
My biggest concern was there seemed to be one facial pose that was reused many times throughout the book. One with her hair being very oddly drawn and then her mouth is open and always from the same side of her face with the same minimal expression. Did the artist have only one photo of Judy that he used for reference? (pages: 19, 21, 23, 29, 31, 38) I have seen this same rendering issue in books where the illustrator is not as experienced, is that the case here?
I found that I liked the cover drawing of Judy by artist Edwin Fotheringham better than the interior illustrations by David Leonard. As someone who is in the learning stages of children’s books, I really dissect a book from the front cover to the back cover, and I know that the cover should tell us what to expect on the inside, and I think this failed. For I really am drawn to books that have good illustrations (from my perspective), and in a way, this cover lied to me. The illustration image on the cover was not in alignment with the interior images. A disappointment.
If a reader is looking for a book that encapsulates the bio of Judy Blume, this is a good book. But if you are like me, a person that wants a full experience of text and images, then this might not be the best overall option.
December 13, 2015
I really enjoyed this book! I had the honor to meet Judy Blume at ALA in 2014 and she is just such a lovely lady! She was gracious and really listened to each person and took time to talk a few moments even with a line that stretched down most of the length of the Vegas convention center. Mind you, this was while recuperating from Chemo! Her publisher had people running the length of the line begging people to ask for no more than 2 autographs because she was still weak and recuperating.
Back to the BOOK. Krull, as usual, turned out a fantastic bio of Blume. She did it for the difficult to write for grades of 3-4 but the book could be read by 5th and 6th graders as well. It covers Judy Blume's career as well as her discovery of and fight against book censorship. This has become a life long mission of hers. It points out many of today's popular authors for youth credit her books with giving them the idea to write. There is also a chapter on how Judy keeps turning out material with a description of how she tries to write 7 days a week. Sadly, Blume has announced her retirement which she well deserves! This last bit of information is not in Krull's book since the announcements came after the publication of this title.
A bibliography of Judy's books follow, sources both for kids and adults, and websites. Highly recommended!
Back to the BOOK. Krull, as usual, turned out a fantastic bio of Blume. She did it for the difficult to write for grades of 3-4 but the book could be read by 5th and 6th graders as well. It covers Judy Blume's career as well as her discovery of and fight against book censorship. This has become a life long mission of hers. It points out many of today's popular authors for youth credit her books with giving them the idea to write. There is also a chapter on how Judy keeps turning out material with a description of how she tries to write 7 days a week. Sadly, Blume has announced her retirement which she well deserves! This last bit of information is not in Krull's book since the announcements came after the publication of this title.
A bibliography of Judy's books follow, sources both for kids and adults, and websites. Highly recommended!
July 1, 2015
Reading a biography about popular funny, children's author Judy Blume, that share her story in an honest entertaining style is refreshing. A pioneer author of the realistic fiction genre, Judy Blume's type of writing was honest and didn't fit the "perfect family" mold of children's fiction books at the time, yet young readers loved it. Kathleen Krull mentions favorite books Judy loved growing up such as the Betsy Tacy series, but the fact that she couldn't find any books about real life problems, led her to write pretend book reports in school that "were" about real life issues, her teachers never realized she made up the stories. With lots of great anecdotes such as this, one learns that books such as Harriet and the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, and E.L. Konigsberg' From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and Beverly Cleary's books inspired her tremendously. Kathleen Krull packs lots of fascinating details that will lure a new generation into reading Blume's humorous Fudge series as well as the titles from other authors mentioned in this biography, AND inspire future writers.
October 26, 2015
Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=8259
I was first introduced to this series at Kid Lit Frenzy in June when Alyson shared these four biographies with us (along with an informative Q&A and a fun quiz), and as soon as I read her posts, I knew I had to get my hands on them. I am a huge fan of well-done biographies because I think they are an essential part of spreading history into a new generation’s memory. I am an even bigger fan of well-done biographies of strong women. While there has been a good chunk of biographical picture books lately about women, I am very happy to see that students will have longer biographies to explore strong women from history. I also really like that Krull’s series has a mix of contemporary and historical figures and is filled with diversity. Next Krull will be sharing Coretta Scott King and Mary Todd Lincoln’s life.
I was first introduced to this series at Kid Lit Frenzy in June when Alyson shared these four biographies with us (along with an informative Q&A and a fun quiz), and as soon as I read her posts, I knew I had to get my hands on them. I am a huge fan of well-done biographies because I think they are an essential part of spreading history into a new generation’s memory. I am an even bigger fan of well-done biographies of strong women. While there has been a good chunk of biographical picture books lately about women, I am very happy to see that students will have longer biographies to explore strong women from history. I also really like that Krull’s series has a mix of contemporary and historical figures and is filled with diversity. Next Krull will be sharing Coretta Scott King and Mary Todd Lincoln’s life.
October 18, 2025
Immediately impresses the reader with good prosody. The main focus of the book is Judy's biography from childhood until she became popular. In the second half, I began to wonder if the story would neglect the nuts and bolts of how Blume fit writing into her mom schedule. Turns out it just separates that into its own chapter about her process. Ends with Blume's advocacy work, particularly against censorship, from 1980 until this book's publication around 2015. I appreciate finding out what a big thing censorship was in 1980, and take it as a history tip to compare the events surrounding it to today. The illustrations are good, expressive watercolour.
June 25, 2015
Biography about author Judy Blume for grades 2 - 4. There is a lot of focus on Blume's feminism which would probably best be understood by readers on the older end of the intended age range. The book covers Blume's childhood and career in short chapters with appealing illustrations. There was a quote about the importance of Blume's work which is only attributed to "one prominent writer," which is vague and sets a bad example for kids about attributing sources. The book includes an index, list of Blume's books for children, and a list of sources/further reading.
September 24, 2015
An entertaining and insightful illustrated biography about Judy Blume and the path that led to her becoming a successful author. The illustrations work well with the narrative. I was especially interested in the double page spread on pages 16 - 17 with the Cat in the Hat's hat in the trash can. And is that supposed to be Shel Silverstein at the writing desk next to her? This will also be a helpful book to read when talking about banned books.
January 28, 2015
Thinking of Judy Blume's influence on me as a young reader back in the 70s always makes me feel nostalgic. A great little biography for elementary students but I think the heavy emphasis on feminism will be lost on some of them. I am looking forward to more from this series of biographies on "Women who broke the rules."
January 21, 2016
This is a quick biography with engaging illustrations. It mentions Maud Hart Lovelace TWICE!! What's not to love? I read two other Krull biographies today and I have to say that she really hits the high points. She makes these women come alive in a small number of words. She may be my new favorite biographer!
November 16, 2015
This biography of Judy Blume tells of how and why she became a writer. It tells of her struggle to write the kind of book she wanted. You'll want to reread or read for the first time her books, after reading this book.
March 25, 2016
A wonderful installment to a wonderful series.
Taught me a lot about Judy.
Taught me a lot about Judy.
June 23, 2015
See my blog for a review on this book: pageandstorey.blogspot.com
March 30, 2017
I just think the whole series is awesome. Women with interesting lives who stood up to the challenges before them. I hope I can teach my daughter to do the same. Glad to have these books as good examples.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews