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The Book of Sisters: Biographies of Incredible Siblings Through History
Queens. Warriors. Witches. Revolutionaries. History is full of sisters making their mark.
Meet incredible women in this nonfiction book for kids, from Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret to tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Authors (and sisters!) Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson have scoured history for stories of amazing siblings, including:
• Why Egyptian ruler Cleopatra went to war against her younger sister Arsinoë
• How Native American sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief became America’s first star ballerinas
• What made samurai sisters Nakano Takeko and Nakano Yuko take on an entire army
Through the stories of the sisters, readers will go on a whirlwind tour of women’s history, from the courts of Imperial China to the French Revolution. And you’ll discover that stories about sisters aren’t anything new—they can be traced back to ancient tales, from Greek goddesses to Maya mythology.
Meet incredible women in this nonfiction book for kids, from Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret to tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Authors (and sisters!) Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson have scoured history for stories of amazing siblings, including:
• Why Egyptian ruler Cleopatra went to war against her younger sister Arsinoë
• How Native American sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief became America’s first star ballerinas
• What made samurai sisters Nakano Takeko and Nakano Yuko take on an entire army
Through the stories of the sisters, readers will go on a whirlwind tour of women’s history, from the courts of Imperial China to the French Revolution. And you’ll discover that stories about sisters aren’t anything new—they can be traced back to ancient tales, from Greek goddesses to Maya mythology.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published April 5, 2022
6 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 5, 2023
The Book of Sisters: biographies of incredible siblings through history by Olivia Meikle & Katie Nelson- 4.75 ⭐️
June 15, 2022
Wow what a meaty book The Book of Sisters is, packed with oodles of fascinating facts about sisters throughout history and around the world. I've read a couple of books by the new non-fiction publisher Neon Quid and thoroughly enjoyed them with The Book of Sisters being no exception.
The layout of the book is very clear with the text prominent on each page and not obscured by the images. There's a lovely balance of text and illustrations throughout that will very much encourage readers to keep on dipping in and out of this book. The publisher gives a reading age of 8-10 and I agree it would be a good book for 8 years plus. If you've got a more sensitive child there are several mentions of the death of some sisters not always in the most pleasant circumstances. For my eight year old reviewer this was some of her favourite parts! I wouldn't put an age cap on the book as at almost 40 I found this book totally enthralling and couldn't put it down. My five year old wanted to know what I was reading and I chose certain parts to share with her. She too found the facts fascinating and wanted more. It's well written and I particularly liked the voice of the authors. It's interesting that although written by the sisters Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson it very much has a feeling of one entity being behind the words - I suppose that's sisters for you!
The contents span a colossal time frame and I did find the interjections of sections throughout to help place the relevant sisters of the time extremely useful such as 'Ancient Egypt' and 'Tudor Times'. There were also sections to help you grasp more of an understanding of life at the time certain sisters were living such as 'Life in Ancient Rome', 'The Slave Trade', 'Native American Life' and 'The Cold War' to name a few. I found the use of maps, information about sisters and life at that time and place very useful. For example the story of the sisters Sarah and Sonia Chaminov is followed on by a section about Life as a refugee.
There's a diverse collection of sisters from around the world which was lovely to see represented in the book. I could very much see this being a book to spark the interest in many other areas of history for children.
Thanks Toppsta for sending this incredible book our way.
The layout of the book is very clear with the text prominent on each page and not obscured by the images. There's a lovely balance of text and illustrations throughout that will very much encourage readers to keep on dipping in and out of this book. The publisher gives a reading age of 8-10 and I agree it would be a good book for 8 years plus. If you've got a more sensitive child there are several mentions of the death of some sisters not always in the most pleasant circumstances. For my eight year old reviewer this was some of her favourite parts! I wouldn't put an age cap on the book as at almost 40 I found this book totally enthralling and couldn't put it down. My five year old wanted to know what I was reading and I chose certain parts to share with her. She too found the facts fascinating and wanted more. It's well written and I particularly liked the voice of the authors. It's interesting that although written by the sisters Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson it very much has a feeling of one entity being behind the words - I suppose that's sisters for you!
The contents span a colossal time frame and I did find the interjections of sections throughout to help place the relevant sisters of the time extremely useful such as 'Ancient Egypt' and 'Tudor Times'. There were also sections to help you grasp more of an understanding of life at the time certain sisters were living such as 'Life in Ancient Rome', 'The Slave Trade', 'Native American Life' and 'The Cold War' to name a few. I found the use of maps, information about sisters and life at that time and place very useful. For example the story of the sisters Sarah and Sonia Chaminov is followed on by a section about Life as a refugee.
There's a diverse collection of sisters from around the world which was lovely to see represented in the book. I could very much see this being a book to spark the interest in many other areas of history for children.
Thanks Toppsta for sending this incredible book our way.
July 7, 2022
My daughter (8 yrs) can not stop reading and rereading this book. So well done. I heard of it as the authors do my fav podcast and this book did not disappoint.
August 17, 2022
Loved the mix of famous, unknown but influential, and just regular-people sisters this book presented. The artwork was beautiful. It is for kids, so the stories and world context were super simplified, but it is a really great launching point for those interested in any of the time periods or events discussed.
September 18, 2022
Great book with short stories about amazing sisters all over the world. Good and bad relationships, but sisters ask the same.
May 6, 2024
Loved reading about strong, wise, cunning and even horrible sisters that the history books just don't talk about! The authors are sisters themselves and are podcasters of Whats Her Name. Entertaining and informative - the book and the podcast are highly recommended!
September 25, 2024
Es un libro con ilustraciones preciosas que logra recoger un gran número de historias de hermanas que cambiaron al mundo. Qué lástima que la versión traducida al español tenga varios errores de digitación. Para un libro con ilustraciones tan lindas y precisas, es una pena que se encuentren varios errores en la escritura.
August 18, 2024
A great read with beautiful illustrations.
July 8, 2022
💙Couldn't put it down!💙
⭐The Book of Sisters
✒🎨Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle
📔@neonsquidbooks
🧺@toppsta giveaway win
The Book of Sisters is, packed with oodles of fascinating facts about sisters throughout history and around the world. I've read a couple of books by the new non-fiction publisher Neon Squid and thoroughly enjoyed them with The Book of Sisters being no exception.
The layout of the book is very clear with the text prominent on each page and not obscured by the images. There's a lovely balance of text and illustrations throughout that will very much encourage readers to keep on dipping in and out of this book. The publisher gives a reading age of 8-10 and I agree it would be a good book for 8 years plus. If you've got a more sensitive child there are several mentions of the death of some sisters not always in the most pleasant circumstances. For my eight year old reviewer this was some of her favourite parts! I wouldn't put an age cap on the book as at almost 40 I found this book totally enthralling and couldn't put it down. My five year old wanted to know what I was reading and I chose certain parts to share with her. She too found the facts fascinating and wanted more. It's well written and I particularly liked the voice of the authors. It's interesting that although written by the sisters Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson it very much has a feeling of one entity being behind the words - I suppose that's sisters for you!
The contents span a colossal time frame and I did find the interjections of sections throughout to help place the relevant sisters of the time extremely useful such as 'Ancient Egypt' and 'Tudor Times'. There were also sections to help you grasp more of an understanding of life at the time certain sisters were living such as 'Life in Ancient Rome', 'The Slave Trade', 'Native American Life' and 'The Cold War' to name a few. I found the use of maps, information about sisters and life at that time and place very useful. For example the story of the sisters Sarah & Sonia Chaminov is followed on by a section about Life as a refugee.
There's a diverse collection of sisters from around the world which is lovely to see.
Loved it!
⭐The Book of Sisters
✒🎨Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle
📔@neonsquidbooks
🧺@toppsta giveaway win
The Book of Sisters is, packed with oodles of fascinating facts about sisters throughout history and around the world. I've read a couple of books by the new non-fiction publisher Neon Squid and thoroughly enjoyed them with The Book of Sisters being no exception.
The layout of the book is very clear with the text prominent on each page and not obscured by the images. There's a lovely balance of text and illustrations throughout that will very much encourage readers to keep on dipping in and out of this book. The publisher gives a reading age of 8-10 and I agree it would be a good book for 8 years plus. If you've got a more sensitive child there are several mentions of the death of some sisters not always in the most pleasant circumstances. For my eight year old reviewer this was some of her favourite parts! I wouldn't put an age cap on the book as at almost 40 I found this book totally enthralling and couldn't put it down. My five year old wanted to know what I was reading and I chose certain parts to share with her. She too found the facts fascinating and wanted more. It's well written and I particularly liked the voice of the authors. It's interesting that although written by the sisters Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson it very much has a feeling of one entity being behind the words - I suppose that's sisters for you!
The contents span a colossal time frame and I did find the interjections of sections throughout to help place the relevant sisters of the time extremely useful such as 'Ancient Egypt' and 'Tudor Times'. There were also sections to help you grasp more of an understanding of life at the time certain sisters were living such as 'Life in Ancient Rome', 'The Slave Trade', 'Native American Life' and 'The Cold War' to name a few. I found the use of maps, information about sisters and life at that time and place very useful. For example the story of the sisters Sarah & Sonia Chaminov is followed on by a section about Life as a refugee.
There's a diverse collection of sisters from around the world which is lovely to see.
Loved it!
April 7, 2022
The cutest book. The authors did such an incredible job to make sure that as many cultures as possible were represented during different historical periods. They did such a good job of writing this so school aged kids can read and understand the material, without being diminutive to kids and keeping the material interesting for adults to read, too! They also don’t shy away from hard topics (refugees, segregation, racism, etc), but again keep it to where kids can understand It.
The illustrations are adorable and vibrant, and do an amazing job of telling the stories. Seriously, I love this book. ♥️
The illustrations are adorable and vibrant, and do an amazing job of telling the stories. Seriously, I love this book. ♥️
January 6, 2026
Es un libro súper chulo para conocer efemérides ocurridas a lo largo de los siglos. Enfocado, sobre todo, a niños y jóvenes.
Es básico y con falta de rigor, pero no está mal para ponerte en situación. Recorre distintas partes del mundo contando leyendas y hechos importantes protagonizados por mujeres.
Ideal para personas que carezcan de conocimientos sobre la materia o se les haga pesada la Historia.
Es básico y con falta de rigor, pero no está mal para ponerte en situación. Recorre distintas partes del mundo contando leyendas y hechos importantes protagonizados por mujeres.
Ideal para personas que carezcan de conocimientos sobre la materia o se les haga pesada la Historia.
August 18, 2022
This book is an absolute treasure trove! So much more than just biographies, I am going to use this to teach so many concepts!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews