Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story Of Elizabeth Blackwell (Christy Ottaviano Books)

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell (Christy Ottaviano Books)

About the AuthorTanya Lee Stone has written several books for young readers, including the young adult novel A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl. She lives with her family in Vermont.Marjorie Priceman has twice received Caldecott Honors, one for her illustrations in Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! and one for Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride. She is the illustrator of Who Said Women Can't Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone. She lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.In the 1830s, when a brave and curious girl named Elizabeth Blackwell was growing up, women were supposed to be wives and mothers. Some women could be teachers or seamstresses, but career options were few. Certainly no women were doctors.But Elizabeth refused to accept the common beliefs that women weren't smart enough to be doctors, or that they were too weak for such hard work. And she would not take no for an answer. Although she faced much opposition, she worked hard and finally-when she graduated from medical school and went on to have a brilliant career-proved her detractors wrong. This inspiring story of the first female doctor shows how one strong-willed woman opened the doors for all the female doctors to come.Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone is an NPR Best Book of 2013This title has Common Core connections.From Booklist*Starred Review* Women not able to be doctors? There? a crazy thought! Yet one woman had to be first. Stone and Priceman combine their considerable talents to tell the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, who fought the scorn, the sneers, and the barriers on her way to becoming a physician. Priceman? always active art works particularly well here, beginning with her depiction of young Elizabeth, who liked to explore and was willing to take on both fights and challenges. As an adult, prompted by a friend who wished for a woman doctor, Blackwell decided to apply to medical school-and so the rejection began. Once accepted, she was treated abysmally by her fellow students, until she proved herself smarter than any of them. The gouache- and india-ink artwork, featuring rich colors accented by heavy lines, delights. Whether it? a landscape tilted on its side, smaller vignettes that take Elizabeth from waking to sewing circle to tea and back to bed, or a flurry of No, no, no, no . . . swirling around a spread, the pictures feel like poetry in motion. They highlight Stone? almost staccato text, short and snappy, easy to read yet full of information about both Blackwell and her times. The extended author? note will further intrigue readers. Grades K-3. --Ilene CooperReview?ere's a refreshing introduction to a regularly but often dryly cited female 'first'.