Doing Her Bit : A Story About the Women’s Land Army of America by Erin Hagar - OPTIONAL

Hagar, Erin Doing Her Bit : A Story About the Women’s Land Army of America, illustrated by Jen Hill. PICTUREBOOK. Charlesbridge, 2016. $16.95. Content: G. 

In 1917,  American men had left the farms to make more money in factories or to train to be a soldier, but the war in Europe was placing an increased demand on American resources like wheat, and people were needed to work on the farms.  So, girls like Helen joined the Women’s Land Army, where they were trained to work on a farm, and (hopefully) hired by farmers needing good hard workers.  

This is a story based on real life events.  Initially, these women had a hard time getting hired by the farmers who didn’t believe that women could work as hard/long/well as men.  The story is told simply and with very little commentary on the gender inequality issues of the last century.  Reproductions of the recruitment posters and photos of the workers are the end papers, also includes a bibliography. I’m having a hard time placing this in an appropriate educational setting - Picturebook format and simply told story = elementary,  but how relevant is this for that age group as all the characters are adults.  Not enough information short of reading the sources in the bibliography for a middle school report.   

EL, MS OPTIONAL - Lisa Librarian