Book Review -- Making Their Voices Heard by: Vivian Kirkfield (a repost)

So fun fact, some of these sites where my reviews were posted no longer exist. Happily, I still have my draft for this one. Originally posted on franticmommy.com as part of the Read Your World campaign, I wrote a review for Making Their Voices Heard.

My original review.

I was generously given a copy of Making Their Voices Heard by the writer herself, Ms. Vivian Kirkfield. She gave it to me in celebration of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. I’m happy to say I’m glad she did. 

Making Their Voices Heard is the story of a surprising friendship, especially against the backdrop of the racially charged 1950s. Marilyn Monroe owed her most famous performance in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to her study of Ella Fitzgerald’s music. When she went to thank Ella for her influence, they found they had quite a bit in common. This story tells how two women who seemed to be from two different worlds helped each other stand up and make themselves heard. 

This story is definitely meant for older children (my daughter is four-years-old.) However, I wanted to share this story with my daughter because it is a wonderful example of women helping each other. It had mixed results. My daughter thought the book was very pretty, but the story was a bit over her head. She was more interested in the lady singing than anything else. I spent more time arguing with her about giving my phone back to me, than reading the story. 

As an adult, I was very inspired by the story. When you are talking about two icons as big as Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald it is easy to just believe the portrait popular culture gives us of these ladies. Yes, this is a children’s book, so the relationship is highly glossed over, but Ms. Kirkfield makes an effort to explain that both these women were intelligent and driven. It felt age-appropriate for an early reader and it celebrated diversity, #readyourworld. I recommend this book for young girls because it’s nice to see a story where there is no white knight. That’s refreshing. I give it 4 out of 4 stars.