Review Detail

What worked: True story of Kip Tiernan and her message of compassion and empathy for the homeless. This story moved me so much. It starts when Kip was young and helped her grandmother in a soup station during the Great Depression. Kip learned from her grandmother to have compassion for those who were in need.

The illustrations add to this powerful picture book's message that small acts of kindness can in fact lead to great things. I loved how the author shows Kip when she was younger and then how she noticed how women would dress as men at shelters because there were no such places for them to go to. Kip fought to make a difference. I loved this quote:

"Sometimes all you need is just plain stubborn hope."

Kip clung to that hope even when she had a hard time getting funding to open a shelter for women. It was through her stubborn persistence she was able to open Rosie's Place in Boston. The first shelter for women.

As a former first-grade teacher, I love not only the illustrations but the message that Tiernan had of not only having empathy for those less fortunate but that little acts of kindness do matter.

Strong, powerful story of Kip Tiernan and her quest to open a women's shelter when there were none.