She Can STEM - Liz Lee Heinecke - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Liz Lee Heinecke

ILLUSTRATOR: Kelly Anne Dalton

GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, STEM Biographies.

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: An inspiring collection of 50 bios of women pioneers in the STEM fields. Great content, great page design, great illustrations. Highly recommended.

Note: The content of this book was earlier published in ‘The Kitchen Pantry Scientist Biology for Kids’ in 2021.

When we say the word ‘scientist’, many of us (almost all of us?) would picture Einstein or Hawking or even Newton. How many of us would first think of Marie Curie or Rosalind Franklin?

The STEM fields have always been dominated by men, but this is obviously not due to a lack of feminine propensity towards STEM topics but due to the lack of opportunities and encouragement. Thankfully, there have been at least a few women in history who shattered their shackles and went on to have an illustrious career in a STEM field, even though they didn’t always win plaudits for their minds and their work. (I am sure there have been many more women contributors in the STEM subjects over the ages, but their names have been lost in the annals of history, which, as we all know, has been written by men.)

This amazing book brings forth the biographies of 50 such women pioneers from across time and cultures. Women who were sometimes but not always supported by the men in their lives. Women who left an indelible mark in their field of expertise but whose contributions were still not acknowledged most of the times. These 50 trailblazers come from the four fields of biology, chemistry, physics, and ecology. I liked how there is a colour-coded tag about their field in the index and on their biography page, thus making it easier for children to flip through their favourite scientists subject-wise.

The introduction at the start of the book is inspiring as well as infuriating. When you see how much injustice has been doled out to many of these women in terms of recognition and acceptance, you will find their journeys even more admirable.

The structure of the book is somewhat similar to that of the Rebel Girls books. On one side, we have a sketch of the scientist, and on the other side, we have the biography. The bio is divided into even-sized text blocks, each with its own heading. The content thus becomes very easy to focus upon and to assimilate.

Every page also has a special “Try This at Home” section, with a simple activity related to that scientist’s specialty. Most of these are easy for children to do by themselves, or with minor adult supervision.

While there were some popular names herein, many of these women were totally unknown to me. The diversity of the included bios proves how intelligence and capability has nothing to do with gender.

A common theme you will notice across many of the bios is how many of these women didn’t get credit for their creation/discovery, which were attributed to a male scientist who either partnered with them or used their research later. History has never been fair to women, and this book proves it in chunks!

The illustrations complement the bios well. Because they are all drawn by the same illustrator (unlike in Rebel Girls), there is a consistency to the quality of the graphics. At the same time, illustrator Kelly Dalton imbues each sketch with the distinct personality and field of the women scientist in focus, making each graphic appear distinct.

Much recommended to every child (girl or boy or other) who is interested in or wants to be inspired towards the STEM fields. The book is aimed at ages 7-12, but it can work for younger teens as well.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for the DRC of “She Can STEM : 50 Trailblazing Women in Science from Ancient History to Today”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.