Girl Takes Drastic Step! How Molly Lamb Bobak Became Canada’s First Official Woman War Artist

Children often get asked what they want to be when they grow up. The answer may change slightly or drastically as the child matures, or they may stay committed to their childhood dream. From a young age, Molly Lamb knew she wants to be an artist, and, as she grows up and the world changes, she realizes what she wanted to specialize in: Molly is determined to become a war artist. Making it as an artist can be difficult, and Molly’s dream comes with extra hurdles, including having to join the Canadian Women’s Army Corp (CWAC). As soon as she’s signed up, she starts a diary that she’s positive will show she’s qualified for her dream job: a diary of headlines and sketches.

No matter how good her sketches were, she wasn’t getting anywhere; it was still believed that women didn’t belong on the battlefront. Luckily, Molly wasn’t the type of person who back down from a challenge. She completed basic training and asked to be assigned to the battlefront so she could record what was happening; instead, she was assigned to kitchen duties, tank repair, butchering, and dishes.

When a sergeant sees Molly’s portrait of the butcher, Molly’s climb through the artistic ranks begins, from capturing moments from CWAC’s track and field day, to theatre sets and runner-up at the National Art Gallery’s Canadian Army Art Exhibition. Her success and skills get her reassigned once more: Molly becomes Canada’s first official female war artist and is sent to the frontlines to record history as only she can!

Children often think about what they want to be when they grow up, but not everyone is as unwavering and determined as was Molly Lamb. As she refines her goal of becoming an artist to a war artist, Molly isn’t deterred by the extra steps she’ll need to take, including joining the Canadian Women’s Army Corp. She proved that a passion many people would have written off as just a hobby could become a successful career, one that, until Molly, hadn’t been open to women.

In the same way Molly sketched and doodled everything around her, Girl Takes Drastic Steps!: How Molly Lamb Bobak Became Canada’s First Official Woman War Artist full-colour art captures the experience of being a woman in the military in the 1940s, including Molly’s moments of disappointment which she overcame with her positive attitude.

Closing with a note from the author telling readers how she learned about and was inspired by Molly Lamb, the book ends with a question to get readers thinking about their own path: “Do you know what your headlines will be?”.