The A-Z of Wonder Women by Yvonne Lin

Hachette, 2018. ISBN 9781526361547
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Subjects: Women - Biography. Award-winning industrial designer Yvonne Lin is a leader in creating innovative products for women. She designed The A-Z of Wonder Woman for her young daughter Roni introducing her and other girls and boys around the world to positive female role models. She has drawn inspiration from leaders in various fields of endeavour, from ancient times to the current day. Women of different ethnicities, different ages and stages in their careers are presented in alphabetical order by their first names. She has included popular figures and those that are less well-known.
The book begins with English mathematician Ada Lovelace who invented the first punch card algorithms in the mid-1800s. Cathy Freeman runs across the page in her Australian Olympics uniform proud to be the winner of the gold medal in the 400-metre race. Florence Nightingale is celebrated as an English statistician who championed proper sanitary procedures in hospitals and founded modern methods of nursing. J K Rowling started a literary revolution when she wrote her Harry Potter series, encouraging reluctant readers around the world to read all 3407 pages.
Yvonne Lin commends Italian educator Maria Montessori, suffragette Kate Sheppard from New Zealand and Oprah Winfrey one of the most influential African-American women globally. The author has recognised comedian and producer Tina Fey as a "titillating tickler" and Yayoi Kusama the eccentric Japanese artist whose installations, sculptures and paintings have influenced Hockney and Warhol's styles.
The amazing layout of this book includes colourful backgrounds, portraits of each women, a concise account of their achievements and an encouraging quote. As a bonus thirty more influential women are mentioned at the conclusion of this informative book. The A-Z of Wonder Women is ideal for History and Social Sciences students as a stepping stone for researching women who have influenced changes across the globe.
Rhyllis Bignell