Today you are 100 years old Girl Scouts USA! To all Girl Scouts, whatever your ages, RIF says “Happy Birthday and congratulations to you for belonging to this grand organization!”
Among the most special memories I have of childhood are those created in Brownies and then after “flying up” to Girl Scouts. What are some of those memories? Camp, uniforms, friends, my mother as the leader, badges, camp, special trips, serving as my daughter’s troop leader, camp…can you tell I was particularly fond of camp? Indeed I was! The photo shows l to r: me, my mother the Scout Leader who had been a Scout herself, my sister Martha. I was a brand new Scout having completed my “Brownie” years, and I was eager to fill that badge sash!
Recently I saw my first copy of HERE COME THE GIRL SCOUTS: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey and illustrated by Hadley Hooper. This book published January 1, 2012 by Scholastic Press and reviewed Sunday, March 11, 2012 in The New York Times is a wonderful addition to Scouting literature for the early elementary aged reader. Publishers Weekly said it best for me when praising both the narrative and the artwork by saying it ”portrays the Scouts and their history in a fresh, unstuffy manner.” The cover said exactly that – unstuffy – to me on first viewing. Juliette Gordon Low always came off a bit prim and proper when portrayed to us during my Scouting years. But clearly when you look at the record, she was far from it…perhaps to the dismay of some matrons of her time (which makes me smile). Committed to diversity and ”good deeds” as well as camping and other activities considered fully out of place by many in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, Juliette held her head high and moved Girl Scouting forward – perhaps a bit ahead of its time!
Today’s 2.3 million active Scouts carry on Juliette’s proud tradition; and the 50 million Girl Scout Alumnae are evidence of the power of Girl Scouting: Two-thirds of our nation’s most accomplished women in public service, business, science, education, the arts, and community life were Girl Scouts.
I first admired Shana Corey‘s work in MERMAID QUEEN; what a delightful book as discussed at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast with a captivating interview of Shana at Cynsations. You will also find an informative conversation with the author about her work on the Girl Scout book on her publisher’s site.
Hadley Hooper’s work is frequently featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Visit her tumblr site for excellent examples of the Girl Scout book illustration.
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