Here Come the Girl Scouts!

I was never a girl scout. I think it had to do with the uniforms. I  had to wear a blue and white number to my Catholic elementary school and one uniform in my life was enough, thank you. That said, if Here Comes the Girl Scouts were around back then, I might have been tempted to sign up. Shana Corey does a great job showing the appeal of girls banding together to enjoy nature and friendship in this biography of its founder, Juliette Gordon Low.

Low, or Daisy as she's called throughout this picture book, was a girl with gumption who became a woman of even more gumption. She was in her early fifties when she started a group for girls based on the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides in England. Not one to waste time, Daisy travels the country raising money for her brainchild and spreading her belief that girls could do anything. The book, liberally sprinkled with sayings from the Girl Scout handbook, concludes with an author's note that goes into greater detail about the facts covered in the text. The mixed-media illustrations convey the can-do spirit behind the Girl Scouts. We see Daisy in action as she rides an elephant, fishes off a pier while in dinner party attire, and flies in a monoplane. Later on she goes hiking and camping with her scouts with the same energy and enthusiasm.

The Girl Scouts celebrated their 100th anniversary in March of this year. This book will help kids understand why the occasion is so momentous.

Here Come the Girl Scouts!
by Shana Corey
illustrations by Hadley Hooper
Scholastic Press, 40 pages
Published: 2012