Canadian Women Now and Then by Elizabeth MacLeod, Illustrated by Maia Faddoul
$19.99 CADThis timely and relevant collection of fascinating stories about groundbreaking Canadian women, present and past, offers an inspiring, one-of-a-kind look at Canadian history.
Canadian women have long been trailblazers, creating art, making discoveries and setting records --- and often battling incredible odds and discrimination in the process. Here, award-winning children's writer Elizabeth MacLeod presents biographies of more than one hundred of these remarkable women, from the famous, such as Margaret Atwood, to the lesser known, such as multi-award-winning mathematician Karen Yeats. There are stories of activists and architects, engineers and explorers, poets and politicians and so many more. Each category pairs a historical groundbreaker with a present-day woman making her mark in that same field. Included are stories of Indigenous women, immigrants, women with disabilities and women from the LGBTQ+ community. Together, they tell the story of Canada. And together they offer a vision of what's possible, to inspire all children to blaze trails of their own.
This unique look at Canadian history is engagingly written with a storyteller's touch, making this a book that will be read for both research and pleasure. Organized by profession, it includes women in science, the arts, sports, politics, activism, law, business and more. The clean, modern design, along with the color portraits of each woman by Maia Faddoul, make the pages accessible and inviting. This excellent resource for social studies lessons also contains a time line of significant dates in Canadian women's history, a list of author's sources, further resources and an index.
Hardcover 80 pages, ages 9 - 12
Elizabeth MacLeod became a writer at a young age. When she and her older brothers were supposed to be doing homework, instead they were sliding crazy drawings and silly stories under one another's bedroom doors. Elizabeth couldn't draw (unfortunately, she still can't), so she wrote wild tales about mad scientists and creatures from alien planets. Not a lot of homework got done!
While at the University of Toronto, Elizabeth didn't take a single writing course. Instead, she studied science, graduating with an honors degree in biology and botany. That science training came in handy when she started in children's publishing as the managing editor at OWL Magazine. Then she became an editor and writer at Kids Can Press, where she's written on subjects ranging from Albert Einstein and horses to Mount Everest and Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Now Elizabeth is a very nosy freelance writer who loves finding out why people do the things they do, so she especially liked writing the books in the “Snapshots: Images of People and Places in History” series (for kids ages 8 to 12) and the “Inspiring Lives” series (for kids ages 6 to 8).
A proud Canadian, Elizabeth loves writing about people who live in Canada and have changed the country --- and sometimes the world. As a female writer, she thinks it's vital that kids know about the courageous women who have improved our lives, so she's really pleased to share her book Canadian Women Now + Then with readers. Elizabeth wrote about a different kind of brave Canadian in her book Bunny the Brave War Horse, the incredible true story about a horse from Toronto, Ontario, who served with amazing courage in World War I.
Elizabeth and her husband live in Toronto, where their cat, Cosimo, is usually sprawled across her desk!
Maïa Faddoul was born in Montreal, Quebec, to an Argentine mother and a Lebanese father. Her maternal grandfather was a theme park illustrator, and she'd always been interested in drawings and imagery of any kind. Having studied both illustration and design at Dawson College and UQAM, she now works as a multidisciplinary illustrator and designer, creating empowering, bright and colorful imagery, often with an important message.
Her upbringing, heavily rooted in core intersectional feminist values, has led her to work on many projects centered on women and the LGBTQ+ community, in the hopes of using her talent and creativity to help bring more visibility and power to young and misrepresented groups across the globe. This aspect of her work has allowed her to collaborate on a variety of great projects with clients such as Teen Vogue, Showtime, Time's Up, the National Film Board of Canada and many more.
Maïa still lives in Montreal and works from her colorful and bright downtown studio which she shares with her partner and fellow illustrator.
