Fact Friday: Mary Seacole: bound for the battlefield by Susan Goldman Rubin

Image: Candlewick Press

Mary Seacole: bound for the battlefield by Susan Goldman Rubin. Illustrated by Richie Pope. Unpgd. Candlewick Press, October, 2020. 9780763679941. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Friday! What a rainy, dreary week this has been around here! The weather app promises a sunny day tomorrow, so make sure you get outside and stretch! Me? I have a date with a rake and a leaf blower. All that rain caused most of the leaves to fall and carpet my lawn. Plus, my hold on the audiobook of Rick Riordan's The Tower of Nero dropped into my phone and I can't wait to dive in to that!

Fact Friday features Mary Seacole: bound for the battlefield by Susan Goldman Rubin and illustrated by Richie Pope. This picture book for older reader highlights an unsung hero of the Crimean War, as well as of the history of nursing. You've most likely heard of Florence Nightingale and her efforts to serve the wounded during the Crimean War; but even she refused Mrs. Seacole's offer of help. This may have been due to Mrs. Seacole's treatment methods, which included herbal medicine and good food; but was more likely due to the color of her skin.

Mrs. Seacole was born in Jamaica to a Creole mother and a white father. Her mother was an herbal healer and her father was a Scottish officer. She grew up listening to his stories of war. Her father died when she was ten. She helped her mother run a boardinghouse and learned about medicinal herbs. As an adult, she packed up her supplies and headed to Panama, where there was an outbreak of cholera. Even as she successfully nursed many victims of the dread disease, she faced racism, not from her patients; from officers and doctors and other administrators. Undeterred, she focused on her mission to serve the sick.

The engaging text is broken up by brilliant full-page color illustrations featuring Mary, who loved colorful dresses, in a variety of situations. Quotes taken from Mrs. Seacole's autobiography, first published in 1857, are liberally sprinkled throughout and sourced in the back matter, which also includes two other books for further reading.

It's important for students to learn early that history books are often incomplete and favor the white, male story. Picture book biographies, such as this one, expand a reader's intellectual horizon. Mary Seacole: bound for the battlefield belongs in every school and classroom library.