• Age: 9 to 13
• Grade: 4 to 8
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Maria Montessori, founder the Montessori method of self-directed learning Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, her "miracle worker", USA Christa McAuliffe, high school teacher who died in the space shuttle Challenger, USA Dorval Onesime, a Native Metis educator in the early 1900s from Saskatchewan, Canada Denise Fruchter, a special education teacher with tourettes syndrome from Toronto, Canada Malalai Joya, campaigning for girls’ education in Afghanistan Erin Gurswell, founder of Freedom Writers, USA Raden Ayu Kartini, campaigned for the education of women, Indonesia Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, taught art in Terezin Ghetto during WWII, Austria Marva Collins, African American teacher dedicated to improving schools in US cities, USA

Helen Wolfe’s career spanned over forty years in publishing, social work and education. Her extensive teaching experience was in special education, history, English, guidance and English as a Second Language. For almost thirty years her work focussed on helping ESL adults to achieve their potential. Helen has also authored over thirty teacher’s guides to accompany books and a documentary for students for all levels and ages, with a particular focus on Holocaust literature and education. In 2011, Second Story Press published her first non-fiction chapter book for young readers entitled, “Terrific Women Teachers."

 

Helen Wolfe's profile page

Readers will be fascinated by Wolfe's stories of courage, perseverance and dedication to the cause of education. One particularly interesting feature of this book is the "black box" explanation of various challenging concepts such as: arranged marriages, ADHD, and domestic violence. Wolfe has managed to take a fresh approach to the series, The Women's Hall of Fame, by examining the teaching profession through the unique stories of ten fascinating women.

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Every book in "The Women's Hall of Fame Series" is a treat for readers--especially female readers--in the intended age group as well as for those who have left their tweens and teens behind them. Not only are the books pleasing to the eye, but they also have substance.

CM Magazine

Potential teachers, as well as any reader whose life has been touched by a teacher, will find inspiration in the success of these remarkable women, which has often taken place in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Centre for Children's and Young Adult Books

Terrific Women Teachers (Women’s Hall of Fame)

The latest books in The Women’s Hall of Fame Series introduce us to some familiar and not-so-familiar teachers and journalists. Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Maria Montessori and Christa McAuliffe are teachers whose work and lives are well known. Their contributions, not only to the teaching profession but also to the idea of life-long learning, are an inspiration to many. Other teachers, whose lives are not so well documented, have also motivated children and adults to grow and flourish, often in discouraging circumstances. Onesime Dorval was a Métis Quebecois who was a pioneering teacher in French and English in Saskatchewan. Raden Kartini was an Indonesian woman living at the end of the nineteenth century. She had a hunger for knowledge and freedom. While her life was short-lived, she paved the way for the education of girls in her country. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis worked with children at the Terezin concentration camp, including Hana Brady (of Hana’s Suitcase). Marva Collins, a black teacher in Chicago, and Erin Gruwell, a teacher in Los Angeles, are two others who continue to educate and inspire children around the world.

Journalism can be an exciting, glamorous, tough and often dangerous profession, especially for women. The journalists profiled here are, indeed, fearless. Mary Ann Shadd Cary was the first black woman journalist in Canada and she spoke out on slavery and other issues. Nellie Bly took bravery to new heights by pretending to be insane and spending two weeks in a mental institution and then writing about the experience, and also by taking a solo journey around the world in 80 days after the Jules Verne book. Canada’s Doris Anderson and Barbara Frum were strong voices in the feminist movement of the late twentieth century. Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who covered the Russian war in Chechnya, was gunned down in 2006 for trying to tell the truth about Russia’s involvement there.

These are two well-written and compelling books about important historical and contemporary women. This is a great series that should continue to find a place in every school collection.