Kate Pankhurst, Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet, Bloomsbury, December 2020, 32 pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781408899298
Environmental activists! Animal liberation advocates! Earth warriors! Unite!
Saving the planet is thankfully on the to-do list of many young people today, and this book is a must for those environmental leaders in the making who want to know the strong, courageous, and powerful women who came before them. After all, someday, it may be YOU in the pages of history for saving our precious Earth and its creatures.
There are women whose names may be familiar to some, such as the iconic Jane Goodall. What is wonderful about Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet, is that it introduces us to names we may not be so aware of, like Maria Telkes, the “Sun Queen” whose inventions using solar energy were ahead of their time. Australian stories feature as well, with Aboriginal elders Eileen Kampakuta Brown and Eileen Wani Wingfield’s story of anti-nuclear waste activism a real inspiration.
If the name Kate Pankhurst rings a bell, it’s because the author is in fact the descendent of the one and only Emmeline Pankhurst, iconic suffragette, and fantastically great woman herself. Suitable for early primary and solo readers alike, with the format being visually enticing and full of bright illustrations and facts to boot.
I highly recommend this and the other book in the series, as additions to the school and home library, with plenty of source material for projects and biographies on great women; nay, great human beings!
Reviewed by Belinda Raposo