Trailblazing Canadian’s Series
It’s wonderful to be able to learn about historical figures throughout Canada who have made a positive contribution. Readers are lucky to have a wealth of information at their fingertips thanks to the Trailblazing Canadians series. These first two books are inspirational and reflect life at key historical moments in the past.
In both books Haley Healy has kept the language simple and easy to understand for even the youngest readers. Readers will be inspired by the fierce determination of these courageous women from Canadian history. This series is a narrative non-fiction series, biographies written like a story. We journey through time to meet with these incredible women and learn what life was like in their time.
In Lilian Bland: An Amazing Aviatrix, readers learn all about Lilian Bland, the first woman to design, build and fly her own plane. Future aviators will be inspired by Lilian’s perseverance and her bravery. Haley Healey ensures that readers understand that she was a woman who marched to her own beat, often in jobs that were traditionally only done by men.
In Kimiko Murakami: A Japanese-Canadian Pioneer readers learn all about Kimiko’s life, through her childhood, her time in war camps, and how she and her family returned to Salt Spring Island years after the war. In this book, readers also learn about a very dark time in Canadian history, one that is not featured in children’s books nearly enough. Haley Healy describes the injustices faced by Kimiko and her family as well as other Japanese-Canadians during the second world war. Even though Kimiko was a Canadian citizen, the first Japanese woman to drive a vehicle on Salt Spring Island and her family ran a successful farming business, it didn’t protect them from the racist and unjust policies of the Canadian government.
Both books feature a timeline at the end so readers can better appreciate the time in history where both these women were making their mark. I would have loved to see a little more backmatter in the books with photographs or a little more detailed information so that the books could grow more with readers.
Kimiko Fraser’s illustrations are beautiful. For both books, she took inspiration from archival photographs and information available in Vancouver and Salt Spring Island. Her art is simple and realistic conveying the styles and attitudes of the respective time periods.
