Book Title: You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!
Author(s): Shana Corey
Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Chesley McLaren
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright Date: 2000
Genre: Historical fiction
Brief Annotation: Amelia Bloomer was not a ‘proper lady’! When she thought it was unfair that women couldn’t vote, she tried to change it. When she thought it unfair that women weren’t supposed to work, she started her own newspaper. Most of all, Amelia thought it was ridiculous that women had to wear these heavy dresses that weighed them down and sentenced them to a life of physical (and metaphorical) immobility! One day Amelia Bloomer sewed herself an outfit with pants instead of a skirt and shocked everybody! Soon women started asking her for a pattern to make ‘bloomers’ for themselves. This would only lead to more rights for women!
Your Rating (1-5) and why: (5) This book has fantastically whimsical illustrations, but more importantly, it addresses a topic I’ve never seen in a children’s book before! It briefly touches on issues like suffrage and right to work, while mostly focusing on a simple topic like clothing.
Readers who will like this book: Kids who will enjoy this book are the students who like to ask questions! This is probably a topic that they’ve given little thought to, but it’s important to discuss how everybody is equal but not everybody has always been (or is!) treated the same.
Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: What are bloomers? Who wears bloomers? If you wanted to wear bloomers to school, would that be ok? Did you know that there was a time when some people would get mad if girls wore bloomers/pants to school? Let’s see!
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