Reviews

Florence Nightingale by Demi

nerfherder86's review against another edition

3.0

Story of the famous nurse who worked to improve nursing care and hospital conditions; became the "Lady with the Lamp" for making her rounds in Crimean War hospitals at night. She became bedridden herself for much of her later life, a fact I didn't know, but she continued to work from her bed! She lived to age 90! Gives a timeline and "further reading." The illustrations are the usual beautiful tiny detailed drawings one expects in a Demi book.

maidmarianlib's review

4.0

Such unique illustrations that add to the sense of setting. Good information in the text.

kristinajean's review

2.0

This book does not add anything new to the perspective of female nurses or empowerment. The one saving grace of this book are the multimedia illustrations--the color saturation is mesmerizing.I wanted to touch every purple and gold because they were so bright and rich. Yet the illustrations felt all too two-dimensional in creativity and scene.

It might be a decent primer on Florence Nightingale, but it is not a stand out picturebook biography.

tashrow's review

4.0

This picture book biography shines thanks to its rich artwork. It tells the story of Florence Nightingale’s life beginning with her wealthy childhood in England. Florence’s mother was known for her parties, but Florence liked to spend time by herself and even as a child pretended that her dolls were sick and needed to be in a doll hospital. Florence traveled in Europe as a teenager and realized that she was called to help people. Her parents were dismayed when she declared that she wanted to be a nurse. Then later Florence got a chance to help in an orphanage and her parents allowed her to choose her own way. Florence excelled at organization, documentation and hygiene. She transformed the different places she worked at, eventually going to Turkey to help the soldiers during the Crimean War. Florence grew ill later in her life, but never stopped working on improving nursing and patient care around the world. She was an inspiration for many both as a nurse and a woman.

Demi writes with depth and detail in this biography. She paints a clear picture of Nightingale from childhood through her development as a nurse and finally as a world-renowned expert in nursing. It was fascinating to learn of Nightingale’s wealthy background and her unwillingness to turn her back on her calling.

Demi’s art is as rich as ever with her saturated colors that give way to other pages with rich yet delicate texture. Nightingale appears wearing her deep blue dress that somehow shines on the page even though it is often the darkest color there. Ones eye just travels straight to her and the heart of the story.

Rich and detailed, this is a winning picture book biography to introduce children to a major female figure from history. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

mikolee's review

3.0

Beautiful illustrations by Demi tell the traditional bio of the games Florence Nightingale.