Friday, May 22, 2020

Legends From My Mom's Closet by Sasha Olsen - REVIEWED!

About the Book:

Legends from Mom s Closet documents Sasha s summer, where she spends most of her time indoors because of stormy weather. Due to her boredom, she turns to learning about legendary people through books and research. She comes upon some incredible women, like Frida Kahlo, and delves into these legends lives which lead her to feel extremely inspired. She turns her inspiration into art by rummaging in her mom s closet for vintage pieces to dress up as the legends she learned about. Sometimes she faces little troubles, but she quickly overcomes them in a mission to spend a day in a legend s shoes and document it. Through this diary, readers will also learn the importance of vintage clothing and the need to prevent fast fashion. Legends from Mom s Closet is abundant with colorful photos and illustrations for other kids to truly get a feel of Sasha s imagination. She even shares little fun facts and a how-to for each icon.Experience the creativity a kid encounters when exploring what s right around them and let it inspire you too!

About the Author:
Sasha Olsen is a 10-year-old author, environmental activist, ballroom dancer, bookworm,
pianist, and enjoys anything artistic. She always finds new hobbies and things to do, which
usually ends up in her trying to juggle everything. She lives with her family in Bal Harbour,

Florida, where she also spearheads the conservation movement “I Want My Ocean Back.”
Legends From Mom’s Closet is her first book.

My Review:

“Cleopatra was awesome, but so am I and all the women I know!”  p. 37
“…do you think she ever got tired of being herself?”  p. 46 (Audrey Hepburn)
“Get inspired to learn more and be creative.  New people and new things surround you.  Read, read, read.”  p. 120

It is an exceptional 10-year-old who enjoys research and writing!  As a parent of adult children, I can honestly say, I’d love to meet her parents too!  However, I won’t distract a moment from this very extraordinary book!

This is far more than just a dress-up activity!  Sasha actually reads about every character she portrays and shares what she learns in a way that other readers her age will remain engaged.  Sasha chooses a diary format to tell her story.  Who on planet earth doesn’t love to read someone else’s diary?!  Seriously!  She begins by sharing the source of inspiration to choose the character, then goes on to share what she learned in the process of choosing the clothing and props.

At this point, the reader is totally engaged and ready to learn interesting and little known facts about the character.  This is a far more interesting way to learn than  doing an internet search!  She then shares her own artful interpretation of the character in a drawing – typically in crayon – and ends the chapter with hints and tips to recreate your own character!  All along the way, there are amazing photos of Sasha as her character.  At the end of the book, you learn that all of her props were found in her home or the building she lived in.  This kid doesn’t do anything to excess that would harm the world around her!

This was an unexpected and very pleasant discovery of a book!  I’ve always been drawn to children’s books, and am so honored to review this one!  I look forward to watching Sasha as she grows and follows what is certain to be a fascinating life path!  BRAVO!!

Learn more here!
  • Author's Facebook: LINK 
  • Author's Instagram: LINK
  • Author's Website: LINK
  • Amazon: LINK
  • B&N: LINK

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

An Interview with Sasha Olsen: Legend's from Mom's Closet

Sasha Olsen has accomplished more in her ten years of living than most people!  She has become an activist on behalf of the world's oceans, and has published her first book!

Legend's from Mom's Closet  showcases Sasha's limitless search for knowledge, born from a Summer trapped indoors by inclement weather.  Her love for reading and research will open many doors for her during her lifetime!  Enjoy this brief interview, and come back on Friday for my review of this very unique and fascinating exploration of women who have impacted history in meaningful ways!  Welcome, Sasha!

In your book, Legends from Mom’s Closet, you share tidbits about and dress up like
legendary women you read about during a rainy summer spent indoors. A lot of kids
your age would spend a rainy summer watching TV or playing video games. What
made you decide to start reading books about famous women?

Well, I actually love to read, especially biographies. I don’t usually spend a lot of time
using any devices. I didn’t specifically start reading books about famous women, but I
started looking around for books to learn more about legendary people. I just happened
to meet these iconic women through their amazing stories and spending a day in their
shoes!

What is the biggest lesson you learned from getting to know all of these female
legends?

I learned many lessons! Most of all though, I learned that women are super strong.
Women work very hard and can get through anything that might stand in their way of

achieving their goals. Women are so inspiring!

What inspired you to use your mom’s clothes and your grandmother’s vintage pieces
to recreate all of their iconic looks?

Actually, I just went into my mom’s closet and started trying on her shoes and dresses.
This was after I read about Frida Kahlo. So, I just got the idea to try and dress up as her! I
thought my mom might be really upset with me for playing with her things, but she
loved the idea. If the legend was wearing something like I really couldn’t figure out
where to get, I would call my grandma for advice. Most of the time, she had exactly

what I needed!

How did you decide which legends to include in Legends from Mom’s Closet?

I didn’t choose them before. I just started to read about people who I didn’t know much
about yet and it ended up being all women! After, I just decided to share them in this

book.

Your other passion is the environment. Tell us what you learned about vintage fashion
versus fast fashion.

When I was started my movement Iwantmyoceanback and this project, I was doing a lot
of research during that time. I wanted to know more about what are the biggest things
that pollute our oceans and cause problems for our planet. I found out like clothing is
one of the biggest ocean pollutants and some fabrics, like polyester, have plastic in
them so it breaks down and hurts our sea animals. After finding this out, I realized that
it’s very harmful to buy fast fashion because people just buy the clothes and throw them
away soon after. It inspired me to learn more about vintage and how we can buy
secondhand instead, and just reuse clothing!

Ultimately, what do you hope your readers take away from your book?

I hope readers learn how important it is to let your creativity run wild! I want other kids
to know that we can get inspired and have fun while also learning new things and
growing our knowledge. It’s also very important that we learn more about how fast
fashion affects our oceans and that we stop it! We need to win the war against fast
fashion to help save the planet.

Purchase your copy HERE!