Review: Amazing Annie
Amazing Annie: The Spectacular and True Adventures of Annie Kopchovsky
by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Adriana Predoi
Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Amy Brook Cohen
Buy at Bookshop.org
Amazing Annie tells the remarkable story of Annie Kopchovsky's 1894-1895 journey around the world on a bicycle. Setting off from Boston and heading eastward, she completed the trip in just over 14 months, becoming the first woman in history to circumnavigate the globe by bike.
Annie faced all kinds of challenges, such as when her skirt kept getting entangled in her bike wheels. But she always found a solution for every problem. For this one, Annie went out and bought pants - not the done thing for a woman in 1894!
All along her journey, Annie regaled the people she met with stories about her journey - many of them full of hyperbole or pure fabrication - she loved to spin a great story!
Early in the story, we learn that Annie, a Jewish immigrant to Boston from Latvia, is tired of experiencing discrimination just because she is Jewish. She longs for new experiences. Later in the book, when Annie arrives in Jerusalem, on her way to the Near East, she gets to touch the Western Wall. The experience of visiting Jerusalem is exciting to her, and the page is striking in both its clarity and simplicity. This page stands out to the reader - the moment feels important, not incidental. A fascinating page of backmatter at the end of the story gives us some more information about Annie’s Jewish identity. We learn that Annie used a fake name: Annie Londonderry - for her trip, because of fears that she would be met with antisemitism, which was rife in Europe at the time. Krensky explains the idea in simple, easy to understand language, and the backmatter page in its entirety offers just the right amount of supplementary information for the young reader.
Amazing Annie tells the remarkable story of Annie Kopchovsky's 1894-1895 journey around the world on a bicycle. Setting off from Boston and heading eastward, she completed the trip in just over 14 months, becoming the first woman in history to circumnavigate the globe by bike.
Annie faced all kinds of challenges, such as when her skirt kept getting entangled in her bike wheels. But she always found a solution for every problem. For this one, Annie went out and bought pants - not the done thing for a woman in 1894!
All along her journey, Annie regaled the people she met with stories about her journey - many of them full of hyperbole or pure fabrication - she loved to spin a great story!
Early in the story, we learn that Annie, a Jewish immigrant to Boston from Latvia, is tired of experiencing discrimination just because she is Jewish. She longs for new experiences. Later in the book, when Annie arrives in Jerusalem, on her way to the Near East, she gets to touch the Western Wall. The experience of visiting Jerusalem is exciting to her, and the page is striking in both its clarity and simplicity. This page stands out to the reader - the moment feels important, not incidental. A fascinating page of backmatter at the end of the story gives us some more information about Annie’s Jewish identity. We learn that Annie used a fake name: Annie Londonderry - for her trip, because of fears that she would be met with antisemitism, which was rife in Europe at the time. Krensky explains the idea in simple, easy to understand language, and the backmatter page in its entirety offers just the right amount of supplementary information for the young reader.
Amazing Annie is a pleasure to read aloud - Krensky makes great
use of both repetition and subtle humour, and the vibrant illustrations
really help bring the story to life; they also brilliantly capture the
time period and Annie’s chutzpah and determination.
Annie was a true adventurer and free spirit, and she makes a fascinating subject for this slice of life biographical story. Krensky has written a gem of a story, capturing the escapades of a one of a kind Latvian Jewish immigrant woman, a woman whose ambitions were far ahead of her time. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who is passionate about enjoying the stories of strong, inspirational Jewish women.
Annie was a true adventurer and free spirit, and she makes a fascinating subject for this slice of life biographical story. Krensky has written a gem of a story, capturing the escapades of a one of a kind Latvian Jewish immigrant woman, a woman whose ambitions were far ahead of her time. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who is passionate about enjoying the stories of strong, inspirational Jewish women.
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Reviewer Amy Brook Cohen is a writer and teacher; her essays and articles have been published widely on both sides of the Atlantic. Amy is currently at work on her first children's picture book. She lives in London, England, with her husband and two children.
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