I am very proud - and very privileged - to be bringing you this blog post today as part of the Shevolution blog tour!
It has been a while (almost eight months, in fact) since I last shared a blog post or book review here. As a Year 6 teacher, I don't have as much free time to read and blog as I would like. I wrote and scheduled a few back in September, when the new school year started, but I have struggled to sit down and write things like this. I am trying to be better but I also need to be kind to myself.
Anyway, today I am here to talk about this incredible new non-fiction book - Shevolution - and, as part of the blog tour, I am going to focus on one incredible woman from this book who deserves to be part of women's history.
Firstly, Shevolution is a journey through women's history to see who the "original influencers" were and share the wonderous stories of some truly incredible women.
Well-written by Lou Treleaven and beautifully illustrated by Petra Braun, this book truly captures the importance of women and their struggles, determination and persistence in history.
Here is a rundown of what the book entails from the synopsis:
Everyone alive on the planet today can trace their ancestry back to just one woman. But who would she have been? What would her life have been like? And what has happened since for her billions of descendants?
In an all-encompassing whistlestop tour through prehistory, history, and on to the future, Shevolution spans an extraordinary 200,000 years, tracing the life of the woman scientists call 'Mitochondrial Eve' and following the journeys of the female pioneers who have shaped us all.
Around the world, girls and women – who have ruled kingdoms, governed empires and led pirates – have had to fight to gain, and keep, basic human rights even into the 21st century. Shevolution includes their stories, giving voice to the unsung sheroes of our day.
Travel with us through early human history, first societies, ancient cultures around the world, the rise (and fall) of empires, featuring female leaders, the suffrage movement, the women's rights movement, intersectionality and ... the fight to get pockets back!
This beautifully illustrated book takes you on a tour through women's history around the world, featuring snapshots of what life might have been like for our theoretical common ancestor 200,000 years ago and for women and girls at key moments since.
From that summary, I'm sure you can understand why I was so excited to read this book and why I am so proud to be a small part of this amazing blog tour!
As part of my stop on the blog tour, I would like to focus on one fantastic woman in particular: Sojourner Truth. Sojourner Truth features in the 'Women and Slavery' section of this book, alongside the likes of Harriet Tubman and Mary Prince. You can see Braun's stunning illustration of her below.
Sojourner Truth was a slave. She was bought and sold four times across New York before escaping and becoming a preacher. Born Isabella Baumfree, she renamed herself Sojourner Truth as a symbol of what she had been through and who she had now become after her life as a slave. She was a strong advocate for women's rights and spoke out fervently against the slave trade. She was also instrumental when it came to supporting freed slaves, helping them to rebuild their lives.
She is probably best known for her passionate, powerful speeches. In 1851, she delivered one of her most memorable speeches, known today as the 'Ain't I a Woman?' speech. Most notably, she would respond to those who argued that men were superior to women with the statement that even Jesus Christ owed his existence to a woman - Mary.
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