Menu

The Cottonwool Doctor – Non-fiction Biography

The Cottonwool Doctor children's non-fiction book freeThe cottonwool doctor, a children’s non-fiction book, provides the story of Magaret Ann Bulkly, who became Dr James Barry.

This exciting and inspiring biography details the career of a woman who pretended to be a man so she could be a Doctor.

Another great free children’s book from BookDash

The Cottonwool Doctor: The story of Margaret Ann Bulkly, known as Dr James Barry
Illustrated by Jean de Wet
Written by Michelle Matthews
Designed by Bridgitte Chemaly Potton
with the help of the Book Dash participants in Cape Town on 10 May 2014.

Text and Images from The Cottonwool Doctor – Non-fiction Biography

the cottonwool doctorOnce upon a time, about 200 years ago, there was
a girl called Margaret Ann Bulkly. Margaret lived
in a cool, green land called Ireland, in a country
called Great Britain.

Margaret was clever and curious. Margaret had big
dreams. Margaret was brave and fought when she
thought something was wrong.

the cottonwool doctorMargaret’s mother and father paid for her brother
to be educated as a lawyer. And then they used
the last of their money so that he could marry a
wealthy man’s daughter.

Margaret was clever and had big dreams. But there
was no money left for her to study, not even as a
governess or a nurse.

Margaret was brave. “I want to be a doctor!” she
said. But two hundred years ago a girl could not
become a lawyer or a politician or a doctor.

the cottonwool doctorMargaret had an uncle who was a famous painter.
His name was James Barry.

One of James Barry’s friends was General Miranda
from Venezuela. General Miranda had a library –
it was very beautiful and very big. His library had
more than 6000 books!

“I want to read this one! And this one! And this
one!” said Margaret. Margaret was clever and
curious. General Miranda was impressed.

<end of sample>

Or read along with the video below

 

About Book Dash

Book Dash gathers professional creatives – writers, illustrators, designers, editors – who volunteer to create high-quality children’s books that anyone can freely download, translate, print and distribute. Most of the work is done
on a Book Dash day, when small teams work for over twelve straight hours, each producing a new book.

Why Book Dash?

Books purchased from publishers cost too much. In order to distribute more books for South African children, Book Dash participants work as publishers in a single day, having a book with no publishers mean the book will be a lot cheaper the only cost will be printing the books. With these, anyone can run sponsored prints and the finished books can be handed to children.

Every child should have a hundred books when they reach the age of five. that means handing down 600 million free books to South African children who probably could not afford to buy them, More children grow up not learning how to read and write well, and every day we lose more of these children. Let us not neglect these children and help them overcome poverty by first teaching them how to read and to enjoy the worlds that a book can open up.

See more Inspirational books below

 

go green save the planet Save the Planet – Be Nice series book 4, revised edition - Save the Planet is a short simple book for young children, and beginner ESL readers, promoting values of conservation and ecologically-friendly behaviour. This book teaches children ten important lessons about conservation and actions that can help preserve and conserve our natural environment and the resources, for those of us, people and animals, who inhabit it. ...
With Love Gaia - A beautiful leaf flutters from the palm of Gaia, Mother Earth, with a message for Kaya and Kabir. What is the message? What does Mother Earth want to say to us? Is she hurting? How can we help? Read on to find out about Kaya and Kabir’s adventure and how the children organise their community ...
Walk with Gandhi - An enlightening text on the life of Gandhi, containing enlightening snapshots of Gandhi’s life, with lots of questions for reflection, making it very suitable for school use – social studies, history, art, or English. The Haiku, images, and text reflect the remarkable life of Mahatma (‘great soul’) who brought freedom to India through non-violent protest. ...
Gracie’s Guide Book to Growing up SUPER - Gracie’s big sister is a F-E-M-I-N-I-S-T. What does that mean? Can boys be feminists too? Find out the answers to these questions and more about being really SUPER in this very sweet guidebook, written by Gracie to her new sibling. Sample Page 1 from Gracie’s Guidebook to Being Super: Download the full book on the ...
how to be happy How to Be Happy – Be Nice Book 2 – Revised Edition - 10 life lessons on how to be happy by 10 friendly animal characters, including sight words and activities, perfect for school use, in a pdf and editable children's book released under CC-BY-NC.
Max and Keira Make a Change - An inspiring story detailing a connection between a heart transplant and his donor, and how you can make a change if you try and keep trying. Max and Keira achieve an important change in organ donor laws in the UK – saving hundreds of lives each year since the change was effected. This book is ...
always be nice Always Be Nice – 10 lessons in kindness, revised edition - Always be Nice is a short book for young children promoting kindness and manners and can be used as an early reader. The book is perfect for building confidence in reading with only 28 words most of which are simple words. This book also teaches kids ten important lessons about being kind to others. Each ...
My Wildest Imagination Journal - Every child deserves to feel good about who they are, who they want to be, and know they deserve to achieve even their wildest dreams. These free writing prompts pages are designed to help your child get started writing their own journal. They will help them use their imagination to make all their dreams come ...
I Am Grateful – I choose to look for the best in everything! - I Believe Gratitude Creates Joy! If you are not feeling good and want to stay in bed, because of bad thoughts roaming around in your head. Read this book before you get up, to improve your attitude and always stay focused on gratitude. There are so many things in this world to be grateful for, ...
I Am Strong, I Am Courageous, I Am Girl – Self help book for growing your confidence - As Long As I Stay Positive I Can Achieve Great Things! This little eBook features the character Abazora of the Azpazaz Bunch. This is a story with positive affirmations to remind you to be strong and courageous. Never let anyone tell you anything you want is impossible. Read this little book out loud to yourself ...

See more books by Bookdash below

 

The Dirty Smelly Beast early reader Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – fun early reader - Unathi and the Dirty, Smelly Beast – A mysterious dirty smelly beast is following Unathi home, or is it really a dirty smelly beast? Find out in this fun creative commons picture book from BookDash. This picture book is perfect for young children who want to start reading and understand common words with help. The ...
The Memory Tree – Dealing with a Death in the Family - Thembi and Thulani’s Grandpa is very sick. They are sad. Then Mommy and Daddy tell them Grandpa won’t be coming home anymore. They miss Grandpa Nathi. Daddy and Mommy find a special way to remember Grandpa Nathi. Illustrated by Agrippa Mncedisi Hlophe Written by Savnola Goldridge Designed by Jason Gien Edited by Mariam Mahomed Brought ...
Catch that Cat! - The Cat has stolen a sock and then ran off, but is there a reason why she stole the sock? Find out more in Catch that Cat from BookDash. Sample Text from Catch that Cat! Hurry. Hurry! Help me, catch that cat! She stole my sock and ran off … snatch her. Grab her. Catch ...
Brave Bora – A trip to the Doctor - Follow Bora with her toy Monkey Jojo and her Baba on a trip to the Doctor to get a scary injection. Find out if she can overcome her fears and how.   This book was brought to us by BookDash, see more from BookDash here on FKB below:  Spread the love
An Unexpected Adventure – Wordless Fun - In An Unexpected Adventure, a boy finds some exciting scenarios on a trip to the Library. In this book you can make your own words, teachers can use it as a word prompt for students, or it can be a fun exercise for parents and children to make their own words, it’s also very suitable ...
I Can Dress Myself – Wordless Book - I Can Dress Myself is an amusing short wordless book about a child getting herself dressed while Mum is sleeping. This story was brought to us by BookDash, if you enjoyed this story, see more stories from BookDash below.  Spread the love
Egg – A simple mystery - In Egg Crocodile, tortoise, penguin, and chicken find an egg, is it theirs? If not whose is it? Find out in this simple book for very young children. Text from Egg Egg My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My Egg? Not My Egg. My egg. Our ...
Tig’s World – An important question - In Tig’s World Tig asks her mom who is a scientist and her dad who is a writer what happens to the people on the bottom side of the earth and why they don’t fall off. Whose answer is right? Author: Sam Wilson, Illustrator: Dorian Dutrieux Sample Text from Tig’s World Tig’s mom is a ...
The Biscuit Jar Must Fall – Adventure in team work - The children are offered a reward of biscuits if they clean up, but when it’s time to get the biscuits their minder is nowhere to be found. An adventure in teamwork results as they endeavor to get the biscuit jar down from the shelf. Will they get it down in the end? Find out in ...
The Sea – Playing with Waves - The Sea is a story about a girl and her family who go to the beach to escape the heat. She soon realizes how much fun it is playing with waves. This book has a lot of repetitive words with illustrations perfect for young children learning to read to learn new words. This book is ...

Sponsored Links:

Note – if you sign up through these links, it doesn’t cost you any extra, but FKB receives a small donation, which helps us with our project to buy more FREE Hardcopies   for kids who need them


All our posts are checked by Grammarly, the FREE online grammar checker (We still receive a donation even if you only sign up for the free account :-):

 
Spread the love

Comments 3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

....