What are little girls made of?

Jeanne Willis

Book - 2021

A feminist reimagining of classic nursery rhymes depicts a Georgie Porgie who never dares to make the girls cry, a Little Bo-Peep who takes no-nonsense care of her sheep and a woman doctor who puts Humpty Dumpty together again.

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jE/Willis
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Subjects
Genres
Nursery rhymes
Picture books
Published
Somerville, Massachusetts : Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press 2021.
©2020
Language
English
Main Author
Jeanne Willis (author)
Other Authors
Isabelle Follath (illustrator)
Edition
First US edition
Item Description
"Nursery rhymes to empower young feminists" -- Cover.
"First published by Nosy Crow Ltd. (UK) 2020."
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 cm
ISBN
9781536217339
Contents unavailable.
Review by Horn Book Review

What are little girls made of? More than "sugar and spice and everything nice" in Willis's narrative-flipping revision of the classic rhyme. Her update? "Sun and rain and heart and brain / that's what girls are made of." Sixteen more nursery rhymes get a similar feminist refresh, with girls and women redrawn as capable, brave, and independent. Jill fixes Jack's broken crown -- and their scooter -- after a tumble down the hill; Little Miss Muffet contentedly sits on her tuffet while petting a spider; and Little Bo-Peep rescues her sheep from a slimy ditch. In Willis's clever rewrites, girls take center stage; there's a queen, not a king; girls fight pirates and build spaceships. Plus, they speak up for themselves, as in this showstopper: "Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, / kissed a girl as she walked by. / 'Don't kiss me unless I say!' / she said, and sent him on his way." Follath's mixed-media illustrations play nicely with pattern and texture. They're winsome and powerful portraits: a girl in a wheelchair can, of course, wear knight's armor and wield a sword. And what does this gender stereotype-busting book say about boys? Why, Joe can be a princess, and Kai can hold a teddy bear while pushing a pram, because what are boys made of? "Except for little things, much the same [as girls] / that's what boys are made of." Tanya D. AugerMay/June 2021 p.147(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Witty remixed nursery rhymes give little girls power, purpose, and presence. The original version of the nursery rhyme "Georgie Porgie" has not aged well. To kiss a girl and make her cry smacks of harassment. Author Willis gives the young White girl a voice, telling Georgie: "Don't kiss me unless I say!" Many well-known nursery rhymes are here similarly reworked: Humpty Dumpty has a Black woman doctor; instead of wringing her hands over her lost sheep, Little Bo Peep (a pale-skinned girl with a long, brown braid) rescues them from a pit of slime. With laugh-out-loud humor, the equitable spin refocuses these traditional vignettes. Knowing the originals intensifies the impact but is not necessary. With a sophisticated color palette and clever visuals, Follath's precise illustrations bolster the rewordings; readers will lose themselves in the detail and the content. Inherent in these poems is the kernel of truth that girls can choose to do or be anything. For that matter, boys can, too. Although this title keeps gender clearly binary, this diverse bunch of girls can choose to be fairy queens or crocodiles. The very last lines turn the spotlight on a dancing Black boy, capturing the essence of empowerment: "Ray is dancing a ballet--we play what we want to play!" More relevant, possibly more entertaining, and certainly more appropriate than the originals. (Picture book/poetry. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.