Away with words : the daring story of Isabella Bird

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Title:

Away with words : the daring story of Isabella Bird

Author:

Mortensen, Lori, 1955- author.

Caldwell, Kristy, illustrator.

Summary:

“Isabella Bird was like a wild vine stuck in a too-small pot. She needed more room. She had to get out. She had to explore.” Exploring was easier said than done in Victorian England. But Isabella persisted, and with each journey, she breathed in new ways to see and describe everything around her. Question by question, word by word, Isabella bloomed. First, out in the English countryside. Then, off to America and Canada. And eventually, around the world, to Africa, Asia, Australia, and more. This dashing picture book biography about the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society takes readers around the world with a daring nineteenth-century female explorer and author. Kristy Caldwell’s detailed illustrations illuminate Bird’s travels around the world, and Lori Mortensen’s back matter, author’s note, and bibliography will satisfy the curiosity of readers who want to learn more.-- Amazon.com.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 24 x 29 cm

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal Subject:

Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy), 1831-1904-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

Women travelers -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Women -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Author(s):

Caldwell, Kristy,

Publisher:

Peachtree Publishers,

Publication Date:

2019

ISBN:

9781682630051

Publication Information:

Atlanta, Georgia : Peachtree Publishers, 2019.

Call Number:

J 920 BIRD

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003416578	Juvenile Nonfiction	920 BIRD	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

This dashing picture book biography takes us around the world with a daring Victorian female explorer and author.

Exploring was easier said than done for a young woman in nineteenth-century England. But somehow Isabella persisted, and with each journey, she breathed in new ways to see and describe everything around her. Question by question, word by word, Isabella bloomed.

First, out in the English countryside. Then, off to America and Canada. And eventually, around the world, to Africa, Asia, Australia, and more. Always more-more places, more questions, more words-and all those experiences became books, in which she described the land she traveled, the people she met, and the dangers she experienced.

And finally, Isabella returned home to England, where she became the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society and was presented to the Queen. But to wild-vine Isabella, the world was home.

Back matter features an author's note, bibliography, and timeline.

Author Notes

A former high school dance teacher and sign language interpreter, Lori Mortensen is the author of over one hundred book, fiction and nonfiction, including picture books, early and leveled readers, graphic novels, and middle grade. She lives in northern California.

A Louisiana native, Kristy Caldwell received an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts and has illustrated several picture books and graphic novels. She lives in New York with her partner, theater director Kelly O'Donnell.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-This picture book biography of Isabella Bird describes her as "a wild vine stuck in a too-small pot," a fitting description for an inquisitive young woman who lived during the Victorian era. The text discusses Bird's health problems as a small child and how curiosity about the world she saw from the back of her father's horse helped her to "forget about her aches and pains." Her eventual journeys around the world led to fame for her travel books and even membership as the first woman in London's Royal Geographic Society. Digital illustrations show details of the era's fashions, as well as scenes from Bird's adventures, like climbing up Kilauea. A photo of Bird accompanies the author's note. There is also a time line, bibliography, and a source list for all the quotations from Bird's writing that are incorporated into the book. This title would be a good addition to a unit on groundbreaking women, or for a discussion of societal expectations then and now. VERDICT An engaging biography for intermediate grades.-Suzanne Costner, Fairview Elementary School, Maryville, TN © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

As a child in the 1830s, adventurer and writer Isabella Bird suffered from mysterious maladies that improved when she indulged her wanderlust. At 22, "Isabella sailed away. Away from England. Away from family. And away from what a young Englishwoman could and couldn't do." Working in a crisp style, Caldwell depicts moments from Bird's travels, whether riding a steamship on the Mississippi, dining with a friend's pet apes in Malaysia, or nearly freezing while crossing a Persian desert. Mortensen writes in a precise, poetic manner, touching on Bird's psychological complexity and her periods of darkness. This volume captures the spirit of a woman who embraced new experiences and played by her own rules; an author's note and timeline conclude. Ages 6-10. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.