Changemakers: Women Who Boldly Built Zion
When I browse the children’s sections in bookstores, I am thrilled to see not only women and girls on covers but also diverse faces, hairstyles, and clothing. [This book] joins the ranks of these wonderfully inclusive stories.
As a child, my parents filled our home with books. I have distinct memories of illustrated Bible storybooks that brought to life the Old and New Testaments. We easily owned 50 or more of these books, and I can still recall that my favorite one told the story of Esther and was the only book in our collection featuring a happy, beautifully dressed woman on the cover. Now when I browse the children’s sections in bookstores, I am thrilled to see not only women and girls on covers but also diverse faces, hairstyles, and clothing. Changemakers: Women Who Boldly Built Zion joins the ranks of these wonderfully inclusive stories.
Written by McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel, with art by Jessica Sarah Beach, Changemakers: Women Who Boldly Built Zion (Signature Books, March 2025) is an illustrated children’s book about women from the Bible up to to the present day who influenced The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as we know it today.
I was impressed by how much I learned in this short but detailed collection. Each featured woman is introduced with a summary of their life and contribution to the Church, followed by a section with memorable facts and quotes by and/or about them. The collection includes the stories of New Testament characters Lois, Eunice, and Lydia, as well as the stories of Latter-day Saint women Emma Hale Smith, Aurelia Spencer Rogers, Adele Cannon Howells, Chen Lin Shu-Liang, Ada Davis, Mercedes Amparo, Priscilla Sampson-Davis, Ardeth Kapp, Olga Kovarova, and Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye.
Each section of the book concludes with ways we can be changemakers (for example: “God asks us to build Zion. We can be a changemaker . . . we just have to create and innovate!”), underscoring a lesson for the reader from each featured woman.
Changemakers begins with Lois and Eunice, a grandmother and mother. They are mentioned in the Bible only once, but their story is inspiring because they both understood the importance of passing on the teachings of Christ to younger generations. Commonly at that time, fathers influenced the religious traditions practiced at home. Because Eunice’s husband was of a different faith, Lois and Eunice took on the responsibility of teaching important principles from the Hebrew Bible and sharing their testimonies with Eunice’s son, Timothy. Their influence was so important that they are mentioned by name in 1 Timothy 1:5, “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.”
The remaining pages highlight the other 12 women’s lives and accomplishments. The book shows how their influences range: from translations of Church teachings and notable tenets of the Gospel, to the creation of well-known publications and artwork, and to the consistent missionary efforts to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ to all parts of the world. We can continue to pay tribute to their lives and positive additions to the Church by having this book on our shelves and sharing its messages with children and youth. McArthur Krishna, Anne Pimentel, and Jessica Sarah Beach have created a lovely and interactive addition to any home gospel library.
Ynna Padilla is a speech-language pathologist who enjoys reading novels, pilates, and surfing.
Categories: Book Review
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