It's Her Story Josephine Baker: A Graphic Novel

Description: A graphic novel for children ages 7 to 10. Josephine Baker left a segregated America in 1925 and became the most famous entertainer in Paris, France. She went on to be the first Black woman to star in a movie, a volunteer spy during World War II, and the mother of twelve adopted children from around the world. Then, she returned to the States to dance for American audiences and bring her voice to the Civil Rights Movement. This is her story.

Brief description: Lauren Gamble is a multimedia writer from Mobile, Alabama. She uses her voice to tell character-driven stories about Black female artists through television, novels, and audio.

Review Quotes:

This is the story of Josephine Baker, a symbol of the Jazz Age in Paris, told as a graphic novel. It is part of a series of books that include figures such as Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart and Rosalind Franklin.

The story of Josephine's life is told from her early childhood to performing in Paris and then returning to America and campaigning in later life, as part of the Civil Rights movement. The format of the graphic novel allows the narrative of the historical events to be seen and commented on and gives a helpful perspective of what it was like in France and America for Black Performers during this time. It includes some really interesting information about her life, but sets it well in the historical context of the time, such as Josephine refusing to sign a contract which would only allow her to perform to segregated audiences.

For those readers who are familiar with the conventions of graphic novels, such as reading the multiple speech bubbles, narrative bubbles and varying sizes of frame to regulate reading speed, this is an easy read and gives lots of information. If graphic novels are not your usual preferred reading material, then this is a great introduction, and I liked the biographical-narrative genre. I also liked the use of colour palette within the framing to show the mood of some of these events and I am sure that it would help children to understand the feelings behind the facts. This would be a great addition to a topic on key figures or when exploring Black History month, although some of the content would mean it would be better suited to older KS2. I am sure it will help older children find out more information about Josephine Baker in an accessible way.