Common Sense Media Review
By Amanda Bindel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Textbook companion of women's roles in history lacks depth.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Lessons in Herstory
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
LESSONS IN HERSTORY uses augmented reality to show women's role in historical events. Scanning a picture of a man's profile picture at the beginning of a chapter in the book shows a cartoon-style picture of a woman, her dates of birth and date, and a few short facts explaining how she impacted history -- some directly related to the man; others related to his accomplishments. For example, scanning the picture of Zebulon Pike who discovered Pike's Peak brings up Julia Archibald Holmes who was the first women to climb it. Even without the book, kids can read the profiles of 70 women.
Is It Any Good?
The fantastic idea of highlighting women's roles in history is diminished by the lack of depth and small amount of content offered. The book that Lessons in Herstory connects to actually does a good job of including women throughout the book on its own -- with more depth and actual photographs of the women. It'd be nice to see some expansion of the time periods covered, especially to women's more recent achievements in history. Each profile is very brief. Links to more information would be helpful as well. With the limited time period covered, too, there's a lack of Black women represented who aren't somehow tied to slavery and little to no representation of other minorities. Though there's an option to share a profile of the woman, selecting that crashes the app.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why it's important for tools like Lessons in Herstory to highlight women's roles in history. Seek out resources that highlight minority and other underrepresented groups roles in history as well.
Choose a woman from Herstory to research further, or choose a woman not featured and create a Herstory-style entry for her.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Subjects : Social Studies : historical figures
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : May 30, 2019
- Genre : Education
- Topics : History
- Publisher : Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Inc.
- Version : 1.9
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 12.1 or later
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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