Customer Reviews

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer

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You Forgot Your Skirt Amelia Bloomer demonstrates all the bestthings a picture book can be. Tracy Mack (editor) left nothingunattended to...the dust jacket folds out into a poster after you follow the recommended directions to cut off the flaps. (But don't throw the flaps away! Even the bios on the illustrator and author are well written and informative! ) The endsheets have a big, bold illustration that encourages readers to predict. Even the ISBN number is strategically placed on the bottom of a fainting lady's blossoming dress! Chelsey McLaren's wonderful illustrations skate across the pages, almost dancing with the text's style and strategic position on each page. These illustrations deserve high praise! Shana Corey's ability to speak to the reader with a capricious voice and questions to make one think, make for a rare "read-aloud" biography that works incredibly well! There are few picture books that come as close to being perfect as this one does! I'd recommend this book for all ages. Specifically, as a book that can be used in grades as early as Kindergarten/First all the way up to Sixth and beyond as there is an excellent Author's Note that serves as a springboard to study the fascinating period of our history when women were elbowing their way to the front to gain more rights! As a second grade teacher I have already purchased multiple copies for my classroom!

Do you know what bloomers are? Well, if you don't, read the book YOU FORGOT YOUR SKIRT, AMELIA BLOOMER! Amelia is a girl who hates dresses! Amelia was not a proper lady! Amelia thought proper ladies were silly. She thought it was silly that ladies could not work! So she started her own newspaper. She thought it was even sillier that ladies had to wear big, heavy dresses. So she did something about it! My favorite part is when she made the bloomers and wore them. She sort of looked silly and sort of looked cool. I really liked this book because I learned a lot about Women's History. I learned what bloomers are too! And if you want to know what bloomers are...then read this book! - By Danielle S. Age 7

Amelia Bloomer is a wonderful character, a rebel and achiever who will appeal to any girl from 2 to 20. The story is educational, inspirational and, most importantly, fun to read! Amelia is a woman who does not accept her "proper" place in society and sets out to change the rules. She is tireless in her efforts and is ultimately successful in changing the "proper" place for all women. The illustrations are beautiful. The drawings bring the story and the woman to life, and one can feel Amelia's spunk. I look forward to more books from this duo!

My five year old daughter brought this book home from the school library and was eager to read it because she loved the pictures and the "fancy" writing. (The typeface used is quite scrolled and unusual). She was enthralled with the story and had me read it to her three times in a row. She was especially thrilled to hear that this is a true story and a part of our history. The book has nice, large, colorful pages and is written in a light humorous tone. A very entertaining book on a women's history for children.

My young daughter *adores* this book - we read it over and over and over. She LOVES Amelia Bloomer, loves the story, loves the whimsical and wonderful artwork, and NEVER tires of reading this book! [Neither do I - which is really saying something!]

This is a great introduction to the women's rights movement without being anti-male or overbearingly feminist.

Amelia Bloomer is a wonderful heroine and my daughter never tires of emulating her. She even requested some bloomers to wear which led me to an internet search for "real" bloomers [which we found!] and she loves wearing them under her dresses now.

This book is so much fun to read and look at - it is just Fabulous all the way around!

"They're closing down girl land..."

Those words are from a song on the album, "Free to Be...You and Me"which came out when i was but a wee laddy. The words to this song very strongly came to mind while I was reading this book.

I love this book. No two ways about it. Not only is it informative, but it's funny, it's light, and it has great artwork. I think the thing about this book that appeals to me the most is how is shows that "femininity" and the rigid reinforcement of can often lead to ridiculous things (such as Victorian fashion). I especially like the ending of this book because it shows that while Amelia Bloomer eventually stopped wearing her bloomers, she triumphed after all. This is a great book for young kids of both sex, so make sure little boys get to read it too.

Back in the 19th century, "proper ladies" were not allowed to vote, were not supposed to work and worst of all dressed in enormous hooped dresses that were hot, heavy (20 to 40 pounds) and very impractical. They wore corsets that were so tight it was hard to breathe or even digest and their skirts were so wide they were always getting stuck in doorways and chairs. "What in the world was proper about that?" Amelia Bloomer was definitely not a proper lady. She tried to change the law so that women could vote. She started her own women's newspaper named, The Lily, and hired other women to work with her. But best of all, she started a fashion craze that changed women's clothing forever..... Shana Corey and illustrator, Chesley McLaren have authored an amusing and delightful story, based on historical fact, that traces the beginnings of practical, comfortable and easy to wear clothing for women. Ms Corey's easy to read text is humorous and chock full of fun facts and complemented by Ms McLaren's charming, colorful fashion artwork. An author's note at the end fleshes out the story even more with additional fascinating information about the beginnings of the women's rights movement and fashion reform. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! is a treasure and a little piece of history that shouldn't be missed.

I just bought this book as a birthday present for a five-year-old girl. The words, illustration, even the typeface are delightful. It is a happy, colorful, and whimsical introduction to women's rights for children. I plan to buy more copies for the other little girls in my life. I was happy to see the review of a seven-year-old girl here. Who would know better whether this is a good children's book?

Synopsis: Amelia Bloomer lived in a time before women gained the right to
vote. Many ladies did not work, but Amelia Bloomer started her own newspaper. She believed it was foolish that women wore heavy, wide dresses with corsets so tight they fainted easily. A friend comes to visit Amelia, and brings her cousin, who is wearing new clothes: she wore a short skirt of baggy pants legs. Amelia copied the pattern and made her own, which she wore around town. Townspeople were shocked at the unseemly sight, but when Amelia wrote about the clothes in her newspaper many women thought the idea was brilliant. Bloomers became a new style of clothing.

Evaluation: You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer will provide children with
knowledge of the women?s rights movement. Using clear language and comparisons, readers also learn about women?s fashion during the early 1900s. This book offers insight into the restricted roles of women, who were somewhat trapped in their heavy clothing. Teachers will find the author?s note helpful in providing background and additional information regarding Amelia Bloomer, Bloomers, and the fight for women?s rights. Paintings in the book were done in opaque watercolors. The paintings will provide visual representations of items readers may not be familiar with, such as corsets, petticoats a printing press and bloomers. Humor is used in the artwork to demonstrate how restrictive the clothing of the time was.

This book is a lot of fun for children, who love the exaggerated art and the silly expressions -- and who learn an important part of history while enjoying the story. What they learn is that part of the long struggle for women's rights (right to vote, to own property, to keep their children) included the right to wear functional clothing. The story centers on Amelia Bloomer, who came to be credited with the invention of bloomers: long, full trousers that women wore under their bulky skirts. The ending is a bit weak, tapering off into a look at the styles of women's clothing today without stating a clear conclusion on the terms used throughout the story ("proper," in particular).