Different Like Coco

It may be news to you but I've always been a bit obsessed with fashion designers.  I learned to sew when I was a kid and I loved to fiddle with my clothes or make them my own when I was a teen.  Just little things here and there.  And while I still love to make things, I don't have a talent for pattern making. 

However, as I've written about before, I would devour Vogue magazine and early on learned about different up and coming designers.  So you can imagine that Project Runway is one of my favorite shows.  And that a picture book about Coco Chanel would be just up my alley. 
What I love about Coco Chanel is that she's in iconic name in fashion, but she was a rule breaker even early on.  In Different Like Coco, Elizabeth Matthews shows that Chanel rose to the top despite her less than desirable circumstances.  What's more, she was innovative AND true to herself.  The pictures are gorgeous, depicting the contrasts between fashion trends of the time and Chanel's own designs.  Matthews brilliantly covers Chanel's years as a child through her early design years to her groundbreaking fashions and boutique in Paris. A quick, informative, and gorgeous read about an amazing person and designer.

Excerpt from Different Like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews

I read Different Like Coco as it was one of dozens of books that the girls' wonderful librarian had on display in honor of Women In History month. As a side note, I've also read the Little People, Big Dreams picture book about Coco Chanel written by Isabel Sanchez Vergara and illustrated by Ana Albero.  I love this series because the stories are accessible and short and the pictures are stylized and beautifully done.  I'm debating buying the one on Amelia Earhart, which I also loved, because Little Lion is doing a report on her.  We've had quite a few dinner table discussions about the mystery surround Earhart's disappearance/maybe death.  These biographies are great conversation starters!

Tell Dr. Bookworm!

The official month of Women in History is ending, but I plan to showcase a few more picture book biographies leading into April.  Who is one woman in history who you think has been overlooked in the biography picture book genre?  Mini Me and I are currently working on one.  Let me know your answer in the comments.