I love that there seem to be lesser-known figures and events coming to the forefront of Children's Picture books. This book is packed with information about Grace and the telephone operators of World War I, it is also really fitting that I read it on 11/11. I will definitely be recommending this to teachers librarians looking for biographies!
Thank you for the early read!

I enjoyed Grace Bunker and Her Hello Girls. I love short slice history for my classroom and my own children and Claudia Friddle offered that up in full. The illustrations were good and the writing was tight and to the point. I am happy to be able to show my daughter great women in History and this book is definitely going to add to that growing library of wonderful women in history.

SUCH an interesting book! And what a fun mix of traditional illustrations and a comic-style of illustrations. I love these books that show female involvement in our history. More please!

I love learning about famous women, or not so famous women who did great things. Who would have thought of the need to have telephone operators on the front, but the army knew they needed them, and knew that the women were already trained, so why not use them.

I think it is amazing that Grace Banker had everything that the army needed, college educated, bilingual and skilled in training others on how to be a phone operator. Pity the civilian world was not as impressed.

The book follows up with pictures from that time, as well as more details about her life.

What an amazing book about an amazing woman.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This was an amazing glimpse at history! I loved reading Grace’s story, especially the excerpts from her own journals/letters. The illustrations are amazing and the photos at the end really bring her story to life. I highly recommend this for any child who loves history.

First sentence: Grace Banker opened the newspaper on a brisk December morning in 1917--the world was at war, and General John J. Pershing, the commander of US troops across the Atlantic, was calling for female telephone operators to join the fight against Germany.

Premise/plot: This nonfiction picture book biography stars Grace Banker one of the female telephone operators recruited to serve overseas in France during World War I at great risk to her own life. (She became the Chief Operator of the 1st Unit of World War I telephone operators.)

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one! I had not heard of Grace Banker or the 'Hello Girls.' (Earlier this year or maybe late last year I came across a sentence or two in another book mentioning telephone operators during the first world war, but I had no idea really about what these women experienced.) I found the story fascinating. It is a well written narrative--well researched too. I loved all that back material which provided more context for understanding their place in history.

With a vintage flair this illustrated story with a graphic novel feel at times tells the tale of the switchboard operators of WWI who made communication possible. I love this biography of a woman on the front and how essential women were even if it's not well discussed.