Away with Words: The Daring Story Of Isabella Bird - Hardcover

Mortensen, Lori

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1682630056 ISBN 13: 9781682630051

Publisher: Peachtree, 2019

Synopsis

“Isabella Bird was like a wild vine stuck in a too-small pot. She needed more room. She had to get out. She had to explore.”
Exploring was easier said than done in Victorian England. But Isabella persisted, and with each journey, she breathed in new ways to see and describe everything around her. Question by question, word by word, Isabella bloomed. First, out in the English countryside. Then, off to America and Canada. And eventually, around the world, to Africa, Asia, Australia, and more.
This dashing picture book biography about the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society takes readers around the world with a daring nineteenth-century female explorer and author. Kristy Caldwell’s detailed illustrations illuminate Bird’s travels around the world, and Lori Mortensen’s back matter, author’s note, and bibliography will satisfy the curiosity of readers who want to learn more.

About this title

About the Author

A former high school dance teacher and sign language interpreter, Lori Mortensen is the author of over 70 books and over 350 stories and articles.

Kristy Caldwell received an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts.

From School Library Journal

Gr 2–5—This picture book biography of Isabella Bird describes her as "a wild vine stuck in a too-small pot," a fitting description for an inquisitive young woman who lived during the Victorian era. The text discusses Bird's health problems as a small child and how curiosity about the world she saw from the back of her father's horse helped her to "forget about her aches and pains." Her eventual journeys around the world led to fame for her travel books and even membership as the first woman in London's Royal Geographic Society. Digital illustrations show details of the era's fashions, as well as scenes from Bird's adventures, like climbing up Kilauea. A photo of Bird accompanies the author's note. There is also a time line, bibliography, and a source list for all the quotations from Bird's writing that are incorporated into the book. This title would be a good addition to a unit on groundbreaking women, or for a discussion of societal expectations then and now. VERDICT An engaging biography for intermediate grades.—Suzanne Costner, Fairview Elementary School, Maryville, TN

About this edition

• Publisher: Peachtree
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1682630056
• ISBN 13: 9781682630051
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 36
• Illustrator: Caldwell Kristy