2014 Amelia Bloomer list The Best Children's Books of the Year 2014, Bank Street College The story of Mary Edwards Walker, the doctor and women's rights activist who served in the Civil War and receive the Medal of Honor. Mary Edwards Walker was unconventional for her time: She was one of the first women doctors in the country, she was a suffragist, and she wore pants! And when the Civil War struck, she took to the battlefields in a modified Union uniform as a commissioned doctor. For her service she became the only woman ever to earn the Medal of Honor. This picture book biography tells the story of a remarkable woman who challenged traditional roles and lived life on her own terms.

From the award-winning creator of My Dad Used to Be So Cool and Tough Guys Have Feelings Too comes a charming picture book inspired by the true story of Mary Edwards Walker, a trailblazing 19th-century doctor who was arrested many times for wearing pants. Once upon a time (but not that long ago), girls only wore dresses. And only boys wore pants. Until one day, a young girl named Mary had an idea: She would wear whatever she wanted. And she wanted to wear pants! This bold, original picture book encourages readers to think for themselves while gently challenging gender and societal norms.

A suffragist who wore pants. This is just the simplest of ways Dr. Mary Walker is recognized in the fields of literature, feminist and gender studies, history, psychology, and sociology. Perhaps more telling about her life are the words of an 1866 London Anglo-American Times reporter, "Her strange adventures, thrilling experiences, important services and marvelous achievements exceed anything that modern romance or fiction has produced. . . . She has been one of the greatest benefactors of her sex and of the human race." In this biography Sharon M. Harris steers away from a simplistic view and showcases Walker as a Medal of Honor recipient, examining her work as an activist, author, and Civil War surgeon, along with the many nineteenth-century issues she championed:political, social, medical, and legal reforms, abolition, temperance, gender equality, U.S. imperialism, and the New Woman. Rich in research and keyed to a new generation, Dr. Mary Walker captures its subject's articulate political voice, public self, and the realities of an individual whose ardent beliefs in justice helped shape the radical politics of her time.

Did your dad used to be cool? Wondering what happened to his rock band playing, skateboarding days? This funny and relatable story shows children how their parents are still cool after all, even if it's not in quite the same way!Parents and children will both enjoy engaging with this book, presented in Negley's unique style where words are minimal and the emotive illustrations really carry the story along.

A true story of the female lumberjacks who helped save Great Britain's war effort. In World War II, Great Britain needed lumber to make planes, ships, and even newspapers—but there weren't enough men to cut down the trees. Enter the fearless Lumber Jills! These young women may not have had much woodcutting experience, but they each had two hands willing to work and one stout heart, and they came together to do their part. Discover this lyrical story of home front heroism and female friendship.

“I will always be somebody.” This assertion, a startling one from a nineteenth-century woman, drove the life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only American woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. President Andrew Johnson issued the award in 1865 in recognition of the incomparable medical service Walker rendered during the Civil War. Yet few people today know anything about the woman so well-known--even notorious--in her own lifetime. Kaminski shares a different way of looking at the Civil War, through the eyes of a woman confident she could make a contribution equal to that of any man. This part of the story takes readers into the political cauldron of the nation’s capital in wartime, where Walker was a familiar if notorious figure. Mary Walker’s relentless pursuit of gender and racial equality is key to understanding her commitment to a Union victory in the Civil War. Her role in the women’s suffrage movement became controversial and the US Army stripped Walker of her medal, only to have the medal reinstated in 1977.

STARRED REVIEW! "Weatherford never talks down to her audience...using figurative language and rich vocabulary to tell her story...Green's debut as a picture-book illustrator is brilliant...A fine introduction to an important American artist."—Kirkus Reviews starred review Dorothea Lange saw what others missed. Before she raised her lens to take her most iconic photo, Dorothea Lange took photos of the downtrodden, from bankers in once-fine suits waiting in breadlines, to former slaves, to the homeless sleeping on sidewalks. A case of polio had left her with a limp and sympathetic to those less fortunate. Traveling across the United States, documenting with her camera and her fieldbook those most affected by the stock market crash, she found the face of the Great Depression. In this picture book biography, Carole Boston Weatherford's lyrical prose captures the spirit of the influential photographer.