Cissie Palmer

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--Two relatively easy, objective biographies of late 19th-century Americans. Palmer was a wealthy Chicago social crusader who worked to improve the lives of working women and to advance city causes and the arts, and who served as president of the Board of Lady Managers for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. There is little else available on her for children. Young is fairly well known as a pioneer and leader of the Mormons in the late 1800s, and information about him is more readily available. Short chapters are followed by a time line and discussion questions/activities to help youngsters relate what they have read to life today. Unfamiliar terms are explained in boxes in the text. Clear reproductions appear on almost every page. Neither Alter nor Simon makes her subject larger than life. Simon does not shy away from a brief discussion of polygamy and the intolerance of other Christians toward Mormons because of it. The intended audience is questionable; while the open format and large, double-space type will appeal to third and fourth graders, the content is more appropriate for slightly older children. Adequate additions for most collections.--Peg Glisson, Dewitt Road School, Webster, NY