Advance Review: Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised their Voices & Changed the World SC/HC

As we know, comics come in all shapes and sizes and cater to a range of readers.  Knoff Books for Young Readers are certainly aware of their power as they set about promoting a serious issue for readers aged between 5-12 years of age, which is the perfect foil in which to get the books message across.

The book, through it’s litany of creators and artists, seeks to promote the great contributions made by 25 women who were brave enough to raise their voices, to have their say and in doing so changed the world.  Throughout the chapters which cover titles such as, Grow”, “Tinker”, “Play”, “Create”, “Rally”, and “Explore the reader is  introduced to people such as  Eugenie Clark, who swam with sharks, Raye Montague, who revolutionized the design process for ships, Hedy Lamarr, a beautiful actress and brilliant inventor, Julia Child, a chef who wasn’t afraid to make mistakes, Kate Warne, the first female detective, who saved the life of President-Elect Abraham Lincoln to name a few.

The books various artists use a variety of cartoon or comic strip styles to get their point across; and it works extremely well.   Those  include, Emil Ferris (My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Rosemary Valero-O“Connell (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me), Josephine Baker by Alitha E. Martinez (Black Panther: World of Wakanda), Lucy Knisley (Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos), Hedy Lamarr by Sarah Winifred Searle (Sincerely, Harriet), Lucy Bellwood (Baggywrinkles: a Lubber“s Guide to Life at Sea), Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!),  Yao Xiao (Everything Is Beautiful, And I“m Not Afraid),Emily Flake (Lulu Eightball) andBessie Coleman by Shannon Wright (Betty Before X) to name just a few.

That’s an equally impressive list of creators to honor the sacrifices and the massive changes that these 25 women made.  As an means to inspire kids, this book does its job.  Even if you are not the target audience, it is worth a look so that you can be the one to show your child that their lives, the things they maybe take for granted were made by those who didn’t enjoy that level of freedom.  You never know, you might learn something too!

Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised their Voices & Changed the World is available in both soft and hard cover and will be in comic book stores on February 5th.

by Kazoo Magazine (Author)