SHIRLEY CHISHOLM DARED

Shirley St. Hill was all the things a proper little girl was not: spirited, opinionated, and determined to get her way.

This picture-book biography of Shirley Chisholm opens with her early life in Brooklyn, New York, right before her immigrant parents send her and her younger sisters to live with their grandmother in Barbados. After six years the family is reunited in New York, where, nightly, Shirley listens to her father and his friends discuss politics, especially matters regarding Black people and women in America. Shirley becomes active in her community and frequently speaks up for others. She marries Conrad Chisholm and keeps up her activism. When a seat opens up in the New York State Assembly, Shirley runs for it and wins. She faces backlash for being a woman in politics, but Shirley remains undaunted. Three years later, Shirley makes history as the first Black woman elected to Congress. Williams imbues her account of Shirley Chisholm’s life with the voice of an oral storyteller, punctuating it with emphatic declarative statements that act as a refrain. It makes for an inspiring and rousing read-aloud that will give children an excellent sense of Chisholm’s determined character; such traditional elements of a biography as birth and death dates can be found in the author’s note. Harrison’s folk-art–inspired illustrations are as forthright as both the text and their subject. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A timely and inspiring biography of a great woman who broke barriers and used her voice to elevate those around her.