Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote [Hardcover]

Tanya Lee Stone (Author), Rebecca Gibbon (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Elizabeth Cady Stanton stood up and fought for what she believed in. From an early age, she knew that women were not given rights equal to men. But rather than accept her lesser status, Elizabeth went to college and later gathered other like-minded women to challenge the right to vote.Here is the inspiring story of an extraordinary woman who changed America forever because she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

 

Elizabeth Leads the Way is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1–4—Stone looks at the life of Stanton from childhood to her emergence as a pioneering leader of women's rights. The "strong-spirited, rule-breaking" girl asserted her independence by embracing physical and academic challenges and by questioning traditional viewpoints. This comes through in energetic, lucid prose that focuses on Elizabeth's ideas and feelings rather than on specific events. By consistently sticking to the subject's own experiences, without detours into historical details or even any dates, the author introduces a historical figure whom readers can relate to as a person. Excellent gouache and colored pencil illustrations, rendered in a lighthearted folk-art style, provide rich background for the brief text. They establish the time period through visual details and capture Stanton's spirit and the attitudes of those she encounters without overstatement. The book culminates with the event that propelled the woman into the national spotlight: her presentation at a convention in Seneca Falls, NY, in 1848, of the Declaration of Right and Sentiments, which included a call for women's voting rights. "Elizabeth had tossed a stone in the water and the ripples grew wider and wider and wider." An author's note briefly covers Stanton's subsequent accomplishments. Through words and pictures that work together and an emphasis on ideas and personality rather than factoids, this well-conceived introduction is just right for a young audience.—Steven Engelfried, Multnomah County Library, OR
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Most young people will be unfamiliar with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and what she accomplished. Stone goes a long way toward correcting that, wisely beginning with a pithy introduction that links the life of women in the early nineteenth century with that of readers today: “What would you do if someone told you you can’t be what you want to be because you are a girl? . . . your voice doesn’t matter? Would you fight for your rights? Elizabeth did.” What follows is a short, incisive biography covering some of the high points of Stanton’s life, beginning with her shocking realization about how unfairly the law treated women, which translated into Stanton’s lifelong work for women’s suffrage. In shorts text bites, Stone explains how Stanton met her abolitionist husband (and refused to give up her name), the origins of the women’s rights movement, and the effect of the Women’s Rights Conference in Seneca Falls, New York. This focus works well for the audience, though the brevity leaves some holes. Susan B. Anthony, for instance, is pictured, though unnamed. The child-pleasing artwork features characters a bit reminiscent of clothespin dolls, but the cameos of action, matched by full-page pictures, make the history accessible. A must for library shelves. Grades 1-3. --Ilene Cooper

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805079033
• ISBN-13: 978-0805079036
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tanya Lee Stone is an award-winning author of books for kids and teens. Stone went to performing arts high school in New Haven, CT and went on to major in English at Oberlin College (and study Voice at Oberlin Conservatory). After graduation she moved to New York and became an editor. Stone was an editor for more than a dozen years and has a Masters Degree in Science Education. She teaches Writing for Children at Champlain College.

After moving to Vermont, Stone became a full-time writer and has published more than 90 books for young readers. She writes picture books, nonfiction, and Young Adult fiction. Her newest nonfiction books have garnered some major awards. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick 09), received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, Jane Addams Honor, YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, Orbis Pictus Honor, and was awarded ALA's Sibert Medal for the best nonfiction book for young readers of 2010. The Good the Bad, and the Barbie won SCBWI's Golden Kite Award for the best nonfiction book of the year for 2011.

Her Young Adult novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (Wendy Lamb/Random House) was an IRA Young Adult Choice, an ALA Quick Picks, an NYPL Book for the Teen Age, and SLJ Book of the Month. Her newest nonfiction picture books, Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote and Sandy's Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder received starred reviews and were put on several state award lists. Elizabeth Leads the Way is also an ALA Notable, an Amelia Bloomer Award title, and a CBC Notable Social Studies Book.

Forthcoming titles include picture books about Elizabeth Blackwell and Jane Addams, as well as a YA nonfiction book about the first black paratroopers in WWII called Courage Has No Color.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, August 24, 2008

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote (Hardcover)

Already at a young age, Elizabeth understood that American society considered girls inferior to boys. As she grew older, she became increasingly angry that women did not have the right to claim ownership of property or the money they earned, they could not attend the same colleges as men, they were not allowed to vote, and they were expected to have babies and stay home to take care of their families. She realized that one of the most effective ways to change women's status as secondary citizens and to change the existing laws was to give women the right to vote.

Together with several like-minded women, she wrote the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, which called for a broad range of social, economic, legal, and political reforms to boost the status of women in American life. The Declaration was signed at the first American women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, NY, in 1848. The demand for women's right to vote was the most controversial reform proposed at the convention, and Elizabeth worked the rest of her life to fight for women's right to vote.

This well-researched book does a nice job in explaining to children that the right to vote plays an important role in improving women's economic and social status. By emphasizing this link, the book embraces several concepts in economics related to human resources, work, discrimination, and property rights. Historical narratives about Elizabeth Cady Stanton abound, but Elizabeth Leads the Way is one of the few accounts of Elizabeth's leading role in the women's rights movement that is accessible to younger readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational for kids and adults, December 20, 2008

By 

Linda L. Houghton "mediamom" (Lilburn, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote (Hardcover)

In "Elizabeth Leads the Way", kids and adults can learn about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and why she believed that women should have the right to vote. This book inspires the reader to take action on something that they believe in. While it's a picture book, it presents Elizabeth's story in such a way that all ages can catch her vision.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written biography for young readers, October 7, 2008

By 

The Well-Read Child "http://wellreadchild.blo... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote (Hardcover)

What is most impressive about this biography is that Stone effectively conveys a clear picture of Cady Stanton's personality and spirit AND gives a great overview of the beginning of the movement using clear and concise language. Rebecca Gibbon's illustrations are rendered in gouache and colored-pencil on paper and compliment the story's vibrant and fast-paced tone.

Readers are not overwhelmed with facts and leave with this message: Cady Stanton was a courageous, determined, and well-respected person whose efforts and persistence inspired others to continue in her footsteps and ultimately win the right to vote for women. It's a very inspiring and engaging story.