Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was an entrepreneur in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who created hair care products for Black women. She is considered the first female self-made millionaire. After dealing with hair loss and dandruff, she was introduced to products that could grow her hair. When those products made her hair grow, she developed her own formula to help women across America. Madam C.J. Walker was an inspiring woman.

I love the Rebel Girls books about women who have accomplished incredible achievements, so I was excited to try their new chapter books about specific inspiring women. Madam C.J. Walker is a huge inspiration considering she created products for Black women during a time when Black people were fighting for civil rights in America. She was turned away from the powerful Black and white men who she approached for help, so she had to achieve it all on her own.

I can remember learning about Madam C.J. Walker in school, but I didn’t know the extent of all that she achieved throughout her lifetime. It’s quite inspiring so see someone who overcame every obstacle and became a success. I highly recommend this beautifully illustrated book!

Thank you Rebel Girls for providing a digital copy of this book.

Very accessible, but not sugar-coated biography for young readers. Great for any collection where kids are already very into Who Was...?

Thank You netgalley and rebel girls for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I knew about Madam C. J. Walker superficially, this book got me to find out her journey in such an amazing way. To show her story in a way that doesn't cut off any struggles or experiences while keeping it simple enough for young minds to understand is one of the best things

I look forward to reading more of these stories.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book follows Sarah Breedlove from her childhood, as the first child of her parents that was not born in slavery, to her later life as the first female millionaire and global businesswoman. The focus is on Sarah's later life when she created her hair business under the name of Madam C.J. Walker. The end of the book invites the reader to contemplate creating a business of their own.
The writing is good for middle-grade readers. It is filled with illustrations.

I recently saw the Netflix series about Madam C.J. Walker and loved it, so I was thrilled to see that there was a Rebel Girls book about her! I'd never heard of her before the show and I love that she's going to be introduced to more young people through this book.

The book itself is wonderful, it's a great concise telling of her story, easy to understand for kids but also enjoyable for adults to read. And there are some beautiful illustrations which really help bring it to life.

This is a great addition to the Rebel Girls series!

Thank you Rebel Girls and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

this was a wonderful read.

well written, filled with important information about not only the persons history but the time she lived in and what she accomplished overall as well.

it’s written in a way that easy to understand and read without being too easy or simplified. it’s the perfect length to give all the info and details but not too much to feel like to much.

perfect read for kids but also their parents and anyone else at any age.

wonderful book and great addition to the reben girl presents series!

Sarah Breedlove was a captivating woman who jumps from the page in this middle grade chapter book. The strength and determination that she had is inspiring to readers of all ages. Although the book was full of facts and information, it read smoothly like a story, a perfect way to read non-fiction! There was also illustrated pictures woven throughout the book which allowed me as a reader to really envision the scenes. Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for a gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

The Rebel Girls series is just fantastic. First they started with books that taught a little bit about amazingly inspirational women in the Good Night Stories series, and now they have graduated to chapter books that highlight a specific inspirational woman.

Madam CJ Walker Builds a Business is the first in the chapter book series that I have read, and I absolutely enjoyed it. It did such an amazing job honoring Sarah Breedlove Walker and her successes in her hair growing business. She battled racism and sexism to become America's first female self-made millionaire.

Madam CJ Walker is one of those names I recall from history class, but prior to reading the book, I admit that had you asked me to tell you about her, I would have struggled. So while I am not exactly the target demographic of this book, I found it entertaining and educational. It's perfect for young readers or for parents to read to young children. If i had a child of my own, they would have the full Rebel Girls collection.

Madam C. J. Walker became the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Sarah Breedlove Walker worked hard from a very young age. Often, she would have to wrap her hair to keep it out of the way while working. Wrapping her hair so often lead to breakage and damage and a lack of growth. She decided to create products to help black women care better for their hair. She encountered sexism as well as racism but she let nothing stop her from becoming a successful self made woman.

While these books are targeted to children, they can be very informative and educational for adults as well. This one covers the life of CJ Walker, and I learned a bunch about her that I never knew, like that she wasn’t just an activist, but she was also a smart business woman at a time when it wasn’t fashionable for a black woman to be in business. Always informative and a quick read. Review posted to Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, LibraryThing.

Another inspiring Rebel Girls chapter book, this one focusing on the life of Sarah Breedlove Walker (Madam C.J. Walker), America's first self made female millionaire. Sarah was the first in her family to not be born into slavery, but she still faced many obstacles. She had to work from a young age, often as a laundress. As she grew up, she began to struggle with her hair; it had trouble growing and easily broke off. She saw that there were not many products available that catered to Black hair, so she decided to invent her own. This led to great success, and she was able build an amazing company that not only provided a necessary product, but also uplifted other African American women.

This story is definitely inspiring. Madam C.J. Walker had to fight against racism and sexism in pursuit of her dream, and she succeeded. This is a great biography for middle grade readers, short and with pretty illustrations. Would recommend.

A beautiful and informative book that highlights an amazing woman and her story.

The pictures were brilliant and I loved learning more about Walker’s story! A highly engaging read that I know people will love.

Thank you for the chance to read it!

Things that I love to read: middle grade, non-fiction, history, women being absolute champs, and books with pretty art.

So with all that in mind it should be pretty obvious that I just loved both of these books! I’ve read a couple other things from Rebel Girls and have really liked them so I was super excited to see that I was auto approved to read some new titles. I flew through both of these because they were just really well done.

I know that these are middle grade books and therefore easier reads, but they were still super interesting and gave really good insights into the lives of these trailblazing women. I knew who both of them were beforehand and knew about their main accomplishments but getting to learn about their upbringings and what inspired them was really great. I also just loved the illustrations that are all through the books. They’re so pretty and colourful and give such a good visual to the story.

Honestly these books are just exactly what they say they are – you get an in depth look into the lives of women who ran stuff and made names for themselves. I enjoyed reading both of them and definitely want to read the other titles from this series.

I was not feeling this book. The art isn't really that attractive and the story was told in odd time skips. It made me feel like I was jumping and maybe missing something.
I do appreciate that it is a recount of tge life of a real historical figure with an impact on today. And it's a children's book at that, which was a nice thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for providing me with an e-ARC. This review is my own opinion.

Madam C.J. Walker Builds a Business tells the story of Sarah Breedlove and how she became America's first female self-made millionaire. The illustrations and how her story is told are great for children around middle-grade age. I learnt a lot about Sarah and this also made me watch Netflix's Selfmade, inspired by Madam C.J. Walker's life (also a great show!). It is nice to see her celebrated like this.

At the end of the book are also activities that will inspire young children to build their own business, too!

I love these stories and learn so much from them. This is the story of the first black woman to become a business woman. Just hearing the story from where she came from to how she survived was so incredible. She fought against all odds to succeed. This is the second one I have read and I hope to read a lot more in the future.

Want to read a book about working hard and succeeding? The inspirational life story of Madam C.J. Walker is the perfect book for you. From a young life she worked hard with no reward but continued hardship. This follows her entire life though and you will see how working hard paid off. Her ingenuity, her discipline, her persistence and her caring for others propelled her onto success. I also liked reading how she found happiness just working in her garden towards the end of her life. This book is written well, easy to follow, and a must read!

Every girl boss needs to read this. Every entrepreneur needs to get their hands on this book.

Everyone knows who Madam C. J Walker is and thus I went into this story excited . The story begins with young Sarah in a huge family to how she built her company from the ground up. We get to see glimpses of how she decided to get into hair, specialize in black hair as well as admiring the opportunities that she provided for black women. It's an inspiring read and an ode of sorts to black women and their crows. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Another beautiful book from Rebel Girls! I loved the way this book went beyond just a story by giving actionable challenges for readers in the back. Sarah Breedlove’s journey to being an entrepreneur is inspiring but getting just as much page-time is the story of her activism, which I didn’t know much about! Such a great read for boys and girls. The chapters are short, and the book is beautifully designed. Guardians and mentors of readers should know that this book contains strong themes of racism and mentions lynchings several times.

I didn’t know a lot about Madam C. J. Walker prior to this book and that’s exactly while I love Rebel Girls. They are exposing my kids to so many woman of different experiences and backgrounds and providing so much inspiration.
These longer format books are of great value, and although my kids were a bit young for some of the content at this point, I still think they provided important exposure. I would definitely add a hard copy to my shelves and continue to read this as they grow.
Thank you Rebel Girls for the digital copy through NetGalley!