A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women

When John Adams began considering what laws should be made, his wife Abigail wrote from the family farm: "I desire you would remember the ladies." A familiar line in American history, but here is the rest of it: "If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound to any laws by which we have no voice or representation." Is it any wonder that Writer Lynne Cheney and illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser begin their alphabet Almanac of Amazing American Women with Abigail Adams? Cheney, herself the wife of a Vice President and accomplished children's writer, and Glasser, a former ballet soloist and professional children's illustrator, have jointly produced several books about Americana: Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America and America : A Patriotic Primer. This one about women throughout American history is dear to the hearts of both women. Because Abigail is first in many ways, she gets a two-page spread filled to the edges of the pages with depictions of life on the Adams farm, which Abigail ran single-handedly while John helped found a country. Glasser's illustrations are a delight to the eye. A child could spend quite a while on each of these pages, just reveling in the details of the lively illustrations. B is for Elizabeth Blackwell, the center figure and the first woman to earn a medical degree, with four other healers in the four corners, plus names of nine other written in the empty spaces. It is fun to follow the trails of words and count the extra names. There is a fabulous home-spun illustration representing Emily Dickinson, America's "greatest poet," along with names of other women poets tucked in here and there in the rose-entwined trellis lining all four sides. F for First Ladies is another two-page spread with Glasser depicting each first lady on a teacup, teapot, sugar bowl, creamer. It is quite elegant and prettified. Barbara Bush is quoted: "Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House as the president's spouse. I wish him well!" And so the book goes. The P section is a fold out of four pages illustrating performers: Sarah Caldwell (conductor), Tina Turner, Maria Tallchief (ballerina), Gilda Radner, Mahalia Jackson, just to give a flavor of the names. Other letters: Trailblazers, W for Edith Wharton and women writers, X marks the ballot, Z for Babe Didrikson Zaharias and other strong women, N for Louise Nevelson and other creators of beautiful things, and K for Mary Kies and other inventors and entrepeneurs. If you cannot tell I think this is an absolutely fabulous book for children, then I did not gush enough. Oh, in case you didn't know, in 1924 Gertrude Muller started a company to market the potty seat she had invented. Glasser's illustration is too precious. Very highly recommended for all ages.

You might think that from the title of "A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women," that Lynne Cheney (yes, the wife of the Vice President of the United States), is going to introduce us to twenty-six women, one for each letter of the alphabet. You might be wondering if Cheney is going to go by first names or last names, since Abigail is Abigail Adams (the wife of the first Vice President of the United States) and you could go either way. The answer to the second question is the Cheney uses last names but more importantly on the first point she introduces us to a lot more than twenty-six American women. For example, "D" is for Emily Dickinson, the country's greatest poet, but the names of other poets from Edna St. Vincent Milay to Sylvia Plath, while "F" is for the First Ladies from Martha Washington to Laura Bush, and includes a great quotation from Barbara Bush's great commencement speech at Wellesley College in 1990. Then you should see the four page spread that opens up to show all the performers for "P," from Carol Burnett to Katharine Hepburn, or everything that is crammed into the two pages on "U" for US history. The back of this book includes Notes on the Text that provides details about all 28 of those poets and some of the First Ladies. The illustrations are by Robin Preiss Glasser, who collaborated with Cheney on "America: A Patriotic Primer." Hopefully one day young readers will be able to appreciate the details that Glasser puts into her art, such as having Carol Burnett in the infamous curtain dress from the "Gone with the Wind" parody and doing the painting of Mary Cassatt in the style of a Mary Cassatt painting. This book intends to bring to light the "remarkable (although often unmarked) achievements of American women." Young readers should be captivated just by what they learn about Abigail Adams on the opening spread of this engaging volume, and if what little they learn here about Althea Gibson, Elizabeth Peabody, Jane Addams, Nellie Bly, Anne Sullivan and the rest of these American women inspires them to find out some more details about even a half-dozen of them, that would certainly be a step in the right direction.

My daughters and I can sit for hours on each page, discussing the women profiled and their impact on history. I loved discovering favorites of mine such as on the Anne Sullivan/Helen Keller picture my six year old delightedly intoned: ?It?s the teacher!!? referring to the play ?The Miracle Worker? we saw several months ago).There are also lesser known forerunners: Mary Katherine Goddard, first woman publisher in America in the 18th Century, Elizabeth Blackwell, the 1st Woman to earn a medical degree.Another story about the books namesake: A is for Abigail: we read about the impact Abigail Adams had upon the political process within the context of her time. How she participated in the US Revolutionary war in a different way than the men AND it was significant as well. We also learned how her vast letter writing to her husband, future president John Adams, effected our history, especially in her words, ?I desire that you should remember the ladies.?Excellent for girls and boys alike, this is one that can be visited again, and again, and again.

Lynne Cheney once again has written engagingly about the history of our nation, this time the history of our women. Beginning with Abigail Adams, the book includes everyone from Mia Hamm to Harriet Tubman. Having only twenty-six letters in the alphabet does not stop Mrs. Cheney from schooling girls everywhere about their influential ancestresses: many women are mentioned in side pictures and quotes, and one letter (U is for Us) is devoted to a colorful two-page history of women's progress in every different aspect of life. Robin Priess Glasser's illustrations depict each historic figure in their element. I found this book even better than the last - it mentioned many interesting woman I had never heard of before, and certainly want to learn more about. Mrs. Cheney begins the book with Abigail Adams' famous quote, "....remember the ladies." After this book, I am sure that no one will forget us any time soon.