Annie Edson Taylor went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Mabel Stark wrestled with tigers. Sonora Webster Carver plummeted forty feet on horseback into a tank of water. These and the eleven other women profiled in this book performed between 1880 and 1929, when females were expected to stay home and raise families, not entertain crowds with acts of derring-do. Their bravado, equal to that of any male thrill-seeker, made them inspiring at a time when women were testing the waters of equality and freedom. Julie Cummins’s conversational text and Cheryl Harness’s posterlike illustrations bring a colorful era in history to life.
Julie Cummins has milked cows and climbed silos, ridden subways and lived in a high-rise. She currently lives in New York City, where she has a spectacular view of the Empire State Building, and vacations in the country, where she enjoys the lake views.
Cummins highlights ten women who performed a variety of dangerous stunts during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These women performed stunts for a number of reasons, with earning a living being one of the top ones. Stunts include going over Niagra Falls in a barrel, taming tigers, plane stunts, bareback circus riding stunts, and more. Perhaps the most amazing story included is that of Sonora Carver who performed high-diving on horseback from great heights into relatively shallow pools. Needless to say, she suffered a serious injury that resulted in blindness, but she continued to perform for another eleven years.
The author is careful to explain the dangers--and the thrills-- of each of these stunts. Unfortunately, there is an almost paternalistic tone in the writing, with much focus on the femininity of the performers. In the introduction Cummins states that "one hundred years ago...women didn't have conveniences like electric hair curlers, microwaves, or cell phones....Doing anything other than staying at home and taking care of husband and children was unthinkable," which she then contradicts both in the stories of the women covered in the book, and more importantly in the chronology at the end of the book in which she lists various accomplishments of women in medicine, politics, law, education, science, and more.
Cummins gives source information and describes the interesting process of discovering and researching the women included.
The illustrations by Cheryl Harness have great child appeal.
I've come to the conclusion that there need to be about a billion more books like this. In US society we tend to assume "man" for "default human". Further, we tend to assume white, anglo-saxon, protestant, not-disabled, straight, middle-or upper- class, etc. It doesn't matter that one doesn't have to fit any of those criteria to be newsworthy or historically interesting. What matters, I think, is reminding everyone again and again if need be, that plenty of people have achieved interesting lives without fitting into some, or even all, of those norms. So bring them on, all the lists anyone can think of, all the people who are intriguing in whatever fields. Let the children's libraries of the US and other nations be chock full of increasing obscure lists of Women Athletes, POC Inventors, Non-Christian or Utterly Irreligious Military Heroes, Disabled Scholars, GLBTQ Entrepreneurs, Poor Scientists, and cetra. I'm confident that in some way everyone who ever lived was important and interesting, if only for never having been recognized as important or interesting, and I would like every kid, with whatever identities they may have, to be able to find people like them who have done fascinating things.
I both love and am frustrated by these kinds of books. I love them because there is no other place to hear about the remarkable people the author compiles, showcasing their fascinating stories with such brevity that readers are desperate for more. I NEED MORE! The reason for my frustration is that often times there is nothing more. At best, there may be another compendium of similar ilk that are also limited in scope of its information. How is this possible? The ten women in this book are each fascinating and yet few have additional material one can easily obtain from the public library.
Really enjoyed the stories and learning about these women, only one of whom I'd even heard of before (thanks to Disney). The length of each biographical sketch was perfect for bedtime reading for my toddler, even he probably didn't understand much of the story, and the illustrations kept him interested.
The only drawback for me was the very short, undetailed nature of the stories, but as they are brief sketches, they couldn't really delve into them the way I'd want as an adult. Great starter for kids though!
Sticking with my theme of strong women whom history has forgotten, another gem. ALL new names...women who walked on bi-plane wings, who tamed (mostly) tigers, who were shot out of cannons, who went over Niagra in a barrel. Women who created daring circus acts, and used technology -- planes and automobiles -- to dare death and destruction. As I read with my 'young readers' eyes, the format was not necessarily welcome. This might be a better book to read to youngsters, than to give them to read.
If there's one thing I know about human beings it is this: They're much more likely to pay attention to you if they think you're about to get hurt. That's sort of the basis behind everything from the success of Harry Houdini to the extreme sports you run across on daytime TV. Basically, if someone thinks that you are mere moments from an untimely demise, they are MUCH more inclined to give you their money. Men have been doing stuff along those lines for years, but less lauded in today's Fear Factor age are the women who also willingly, repeatedly, placed themselves in harms way. I'm talking about the girls that threw themselves into Niagara Falls, walked on planes, or dove with horses. Now, Julie Cummins has compiled a book giving props to the more than thirteen ladies between the years of 1880 to 1929 that made names for themselves by doing the impossible over and over and over again.
One hundred years ago if you were an average woman living in America your career choices pretty much began and ended with marriage and childbirth. One hundred years ago if you were an extraordinary woman living in America your career choices pretty much began with getting shot out of cannons and riding horses bareback, or ended with taming tigers and doing plane stunts. Welcome to the world of women stunt performers. In this book, author Julie Cummins has compiled a list of various high stunting dames, risking their lives over and over to give their audiences the requisite amount of thrills desired. You'll see the LaRague Sisters doing a dangerous one-car somersault act in 1908. Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick jumping out of planes to test aerial life preservers. Or Mlle. D'Zizi leaping over elephants on a bike traveling at "a terrific clip". Collected here for our contemporary amusement and edification are a group of women that looked death right at the eye on a regular basis and achieved a modicum amount of fame in the process.
I don't consider myself an uninformed individual, but of all these women in this book the only one that I had heard of before was Sonora Webster Carver. And to be perfectly truthful, the only reason I'd even known her story was because it was turned into a live action Disney movie in 1991 called Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. So it is a pretty good guess that this book will cover characters the like of which your kids, students, and patrons have never known. Maybe you'll encounter the stray child familiar with the Robert Redford film The Great Waldo Pepper who knows what a wingwalker is, but don't get your hopes up. Plus I enjoyed the fact that lots of little facts in this book ended up explaining things I'd never even thought to consider. Why were pilots sometimes called "barnstormers"? Cummings speculates that "some showoff pilot may have actually flown through a barn, christening the Barnstorming Era." Sounds like as good an explanation as any I could come up with.
The end of the book contains a Chronology of the events listed as well as a section dedicated to Sources and Acknowledgments. I would have preferred a straight out Bibliography, but the ways in which Cummins got her information made this impossible. Listing her Sources also allows Cummins to detail how difficult it was to get some of this information. "Only two women had books written about them." That meant finding sources elsewhere. "The early period proved to be the biggest challenge: in many cases the only resources were archival files, newspaper clippings (often so fragile the paper crumbled in your hand), and tidbits in out-of-print books." The rest of the page details how she found her information, the places she had to go, and the people and historical societies that provided her with her facts. It makes for fascinating reading in and of itself.
Cheryl Harness has provided the illustrations in this book and she is certainly an interesting choice. In almost every case, Harness employs two different styles on each person. When they're first introduced we get a realistic, often exciting view of the woman. Many of these images may have been based on photos, and if so then I'm pleased with how they've been rendered here. Then, as we read more about that woman, cartoonish sketches accompany her history, fans, and tricks. I enjoyed the mix of styles and the fact that every single page has an image on it so as to keep the eye moving and the reading kid-friendly. This is one well-designed pup.
A lot of librarians get kids excited about reading by doing "booktalks" where they make the book in hand sound like the coolest thing since sliced bread. The problem with booktalking, though, is that you always want to have a non-fiction selection to promote alongside your three fiction titles. And finding the right kind of non-fiction title with the requisite inherent interest can be a daunting task. So, as it stands, Women Daredevils is going to be the answer to many a librarian's prayers. For that matter, it will fill many a kid's needs as well. Any child inclined to know more about women athletes or women who dared to cheat death is going to find at least some of the stories here fascinating. I can guarantee that there's nothing like it in your library right now. Fun, heady stuff you never knew you needed to know.
I had quite a bit of trouble appreciating the totality of the book. The topic is fun. But, there is an over-emphasis throughout the book on just how incredibly scandalous these daredevils were that it becomes really heavy-handed. I think I would have preferred to just read about their daring deeds and admire their courage and be reminded occasionally of their ahead-of-their-time personalities.
p. 9: The "example of how scandalous" it was for woman cannonball was that another performer, a man, performed dressed as a woman.... the logic just doesn't quite pan out here -- an example of the author's forced attempt at making the text exciting.
p. 12: the illustration of the fall with a barrel going down does not show scale or the crowd. It does not deliver what the text describes at all.
p. 17: no longer as relevant and as known is Evel Knievel -- many children who will be reading this book this year and in the years to come will have trouble understanding what the significance of Evel Knievel is as a comparison.
p. 20: awkward writing -- The fifteen-year-old teenager... p. 27: again -- the exclamation: "by a girl!" by now, we've GOT it! These are "women daredevils" after all. p. 27: the generalization of 1908 young women as proper, demure, genteel and definite did not risk their necks seems wrong. I imagine that by 1908, MANY young women no longer fit such descriptions. (1889 Nellie Bly travels around the world in 72 days.) (1890 National American Woman Suffrage Association is formed.) (1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago) (1895 Lillian Wald opens the Henry Street Settlement in New York City.) (1900 Female missionaries associated with Oberlin College are among those killed during the Boxer Rebellion in China. ) (1904 Helen Keller graduates from Radcliffe College.) (1904 Mary McLeod Bethune founds the Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls, now Bethune-Cookman College.) (1905 Mary Colter designs Hopi House.) (1907 Marian and Edward MacDowell found the MacDowell Colony, an artists' retreat.)
This is from nasa.gov: "Her nickname was "Tiny" because she was only four feet tall and weighed a mere 85 pounds." Contradicting the 4'6" in the book. p. 29: puzzled: how did her demonstration of the life preserver work out? And how was she "leaving a big mark in the pages of aviation."? How could she "inherit" the passion from her adopted father?
Notes on illustrations and design: There is a stuffiness to the book due to the red frame. Red here seems to be a contracting color which gives viewer a feeling of air being squeezed out and thus leaves the viewer feeling breathless, but not in an exciting way. The same design with two boxes throughout the book becomes tedious and confining, too. The pictures themselves are flat and amateurish, without pleasing mixture of colors.
Typo: p. 4: "The chill of the thrill never loses it appeal." (bottom)
There is an overly zealous tone to the writing that renders it almost insincere.
Title: Harness, C., & Cummins, J. (2008). Women daredevils: thrills, chills, and frills . United States of America: Dutton Children's Books.
Call Number: 920
Reference Type: Biographical Reference
Description: This book provides brief biographical references of women who were considered “daredevils”. The book utilizes images to entice readers in grades three through six.
Price: $17.99
Relevance and Relationship: The library currently has multiple biographies of male wrestlers and sports stars, but lacks biographies of women involved in sports or physical activity. The education system is attempting to promote gender equality, so it is important to maintain a library collection that reflects gender equality.
Purpose: This book is intended to provide female readers with examples of women performing physical feats. The book is relatively inexpensive and could be purchased for classroom libraries and the school library.
Validity: This book is recommended by NCSS and is listed on the NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (2009).
Format: Print.
Arrangement/Presentation: The book is arranged in chronological order and primarily uses images with brief biographical text. In addition, the author attempts to provide only factual information by addressing myths and legends.
Diversity: Female readers can see examples of strong women who defied gender expectations in the early 1900s. When young females can identify with the subjects of books, they are more likely to be motivated to read.
Reviewed By: Bush, E. (2008). Women daredevils. Bulletin of the center for children's books , 61(6), 245.
Cummins, J. (2008). Women daredevils: Thrills, chills and frills. New York : Dutton Children's Books.
Citation by: Donna Johnson
Type of Reference: Biographical Reference
Call number: Ref 791
Content/Scope: This 48 page book features stories about ten women daredevils in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. There are several illustrations that are visually appealing. This book is suitable for students in 3rd through 6th grade.
Accuracy/Authority/Bias: Julie Cummins has written several books on historical women and daredevils.
Arrangement/Presentation: The biographies are arranged in chronological order. Each includes illustrations as well as connections to historical events and the status of women in society at the time, which was a defining period in the fight for women's rights. The book also recommends related fiction readings for students.
Relation to other works: The LMC collection's biography section is due for updating. While there are some biographies of women present, there are few related to women accomplishing exciting feats like these daredevils did, and this one volume encompasses ten such stories. One of the subjects, Annie Edson Taylor, was also the subject of a book by Nancy Kelly Allen, who recently visited the school.
Accessibility/Diversity: All subjects are women; however, one featured woman became blind and continued performing stunts.
Another book plucked from the plum pile of my school librarian's new book stash, Women Daredevils is hard to put down. The odd but irresistible tales of women not afraid to make a splash during a time that discouraged them. Who was the first person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel (and survive?) A woman. Who was brave enough to have a high-diving horse show and take the heart pounding plunge? A woman. These tales and more await the reader looking for a strange trip back in time. I plan to pick a few unique women when we begin our biography unit. For too long we have studied "old, dead, white guys." Long live the women!
I had never heard of most of these women before, so it was especially interesting for me. I liked how the author pointed out that not only did the women's feats draw crowds, but their skimpy costumes also drew crowds and criticism. All of the women in this book performed around the turn of the century, when showing even an ankle was scandalous. I'll bet the men liked it! I also liked the way the author talked at the end of the book about how she did the research on these people. Overall, an entertaining and interesting book. Highly recommended!
This interesting and informative book recalls the lives of ten of history's most spunky women. They were daredevils, putting on death-defying feats for the entertainment of others (and for their own thrills... or for fame and fortune in some cases). The women in this book were shot out of cannons, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel, danced the Charleston on the wings of an airplane, drove automobiles in loop-the-loops, or rode horses diving off platforms into a pool of water. And so much more. This is a women's history book sure to spark the interest of elementary and middle school kids.
Sequoyah nominee: 2010-2011 (Children's) Reading Counts Reading Level: 11.0 or 11.4 (attempting to resolve discrepancy) Lexile: NC1140 Booklist Age Recommendation: Grades 3-6 *Good for students with high reading levels *Book has an extremely high lexile score for the interest level
This is a quick read that can be handed to kids who need a non-fiction book for a report. I think it will interest boys as well as girls if you can get them past the title.