May 29, 2011

My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?

My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?

My Name Is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry
Illustrated by Mike Litwin
2010

     Isabella is the coolest girl character I have found in a while.  She dares to dream of becoming anything she chooses, a different exceptional woman every moment of her day.  Just as her mom wakes her up with "Good morning, Isabella", she answers "My name is not Isabella!"  "Then who has been sleeping in my daughter's bed?" asked the mother. "I am SALLY, the greatest, toughest astronaut who ever was!"  Isabella is imagining she is Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel to space.  As her day moves along, Isabella imagines being Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Backwell, and finally her own mother.
     My Name Is Not Isabella is a perfect book to show girls that there's no limit to what they can accomplish, that they have the capacity to become whatever the set their minds to.  The best thing about My Name Is Not Isabella is that it conveys this message without being "preachy" or overly educational; it's a delight to read and a lot of fun as well.  The illustrations are wonderful and the play/changes on the typography really adds to the story and its message.  At the back of the book there is also short biographies on the amazing historical women that Isabella has dreamed of being.  This is a book to share with all the girls in your life!
   

1 comment:

  1. And also with the boys to make them remember that a woman is multitasking always :P

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