Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics [Hardcover]

Catherine Thimmesh (Author), Douglas B. Jones (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

When Abigail Adams asked her husband to “Remember the Ladies,” women could not vote or own property in America. Some seventy years later, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote, “To vote is the most sacred act of citizenship,” the government of the United States still did not treat women as equals, having yet to grant them the right to vote. But sixty-four years after that Geraldine Ferraro declared, “We can do anything,” and became the first American woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket. Today, surely our country is ready for a leader who, as Elizabeth Dole said, “will call America to her better nature.” This captivating book illuminates the bravery and tenacity of the women who have come before us. With an engaging narrative, fascinating quotes, and elegant illustrations, it not only shows how far women have come but also reveals the many unsung roles women have played in political history Step by step, these capable ladies have paved the way for our young leaders of tomorrow. They have enabled and empowered us to ask today: Well, why not the presidency?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Thimmesh provides 23 thumbnail sketches of women involved in politics in the United States and abroad. Her subjects are divided into six categories and tied together by cartoon vignettes of a young girl who wants to be president. Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sandra Day O'Connor, Geraldine Ferraro, and Margaret Thatcher are among the more obvious choices. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Nancy Pelosi, and Mrs. J. L. Burn are less well known. The author briefly highlights each individual's primary achievements and importance and includes a well-chosen quotation from each one. An impressive list of source material and a time line conclude the presentation. Jones's color cartoons add interest and supplementary tidbits of information. Kathleen Krull's Lives of Extraordinary Women (Harcourt, 2000) covers a longer time span and contains longer entries; Thimmesh's title seems aimed at a slightly younger audience. A good choice in this election year, Madam President is an entertaining and informative choice.–Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Delightful and informative in equal parts, Thimmesh's collective biography profiles women who took up the fight for women's political rights. A story about a girl who is ridiculed for wanting to be president frames the introduction to the many women who have cleared the path that will eventually lead to a female president. Divided into groups such as suffragettes, First Ladies, and politicians in the U.S and around the world, the profiles include Edith Wilson, Jeanette Rankin, Margaret Chase Smith, Frances Perkins, Nancy Pelosi, and Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The one- to two-page profiles are incisively written, highlighted by a quote, and illustrated with a wonderful, telling picture of each woman (e.g., Margaret Thatcher dressed in armor). In fact, it is Jones' pencil artwork, colored using Photoshop, which makes the book so enticing. With a hint of Robert McClosky's style yet still utterly modern, the illustrations personalize both the long list of women who have stepped up as well as the girl who is inspired by their stories. A time line and source notes are appended. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618396667
• ISBN-13: 978-0618396665
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,999,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherine Thimmesh is the Sibert Medal-winning author of Team Moon. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely and beautiful!, September 10, 2004

By 

Penrose - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my 11 year old niece who gave it rave reviews! She has passed it on to her cousin who also loved it. The girls are showing some interest in politics especially as it is an election year and they are learning alot about the basics of government at school.
The writing and the illustrations make, what could have been a dry subject, fun, hip and humorous. The characters are stylish, accurate and engaging.
We all need to encourage an interest in politics and voting in our youth. And its great to show little girls examples of strong female role models in a way that they can relate to.

I highly recommend this book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The women who have paved the way for the first Madam President, March 28, 2006

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics (Hardcover)

Pat Paulsen once said that in America every boy can grow up to be president; or, if he never grows-up, vice-president (remember how they portrayed Dan Quayle on "Saturday Night Live"?). But what about if you are a girl instead of a boy? No girl has ever grown up to be president and only one has grown up to even run for vice-president on a major party ticket. However, at this writing the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 election is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Running for president is not the same as being elected, but Catherine Thimmesh highlights this progress in the sub-title of her book, "Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics."

This book looks at the women who have played key roles in political history, and one of the interesting things is that instead of proceeding chronologically from Abigail Adams to Condoleezza Rice it does so within the context of specific categories. Thimmesh begins her book with a kids talking about what they want to be when they grow up. When one young girl says she wants to grow up to become president, a young boy scoffs at the idea. Others then come up with alternatives, such as marrying a president. Thimmesh then looks at a half-dozen first ladies: Abigail Adams, Edith Bolling Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalynn Carter, and Clinton. Each is covered in a two-page spread that tells why each is remembered, with a key quotation highlights in blue print.

From marrying the president the book turns to voting for president, and looks at Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charlotte Woodward, Susan B. Anthony, Sara Bard Field, and Mrs. J.L. Burn, and the parts they played in getting women the vote. One of the strengths of this book is that it looks at women whose names are not usually remembered in this regard, so it does get beyond the usual women who are remembered. The next category is working in Congress, beginning with the first Congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin, and the first Senator, Margaret Chase Smith, and ending with Nancy Pelosi the current minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then the book looks at women who have been appointed by presidents to serve in the Cabinet and elsewhere: Frances Perkins, Madeleine Albright, Sandra Day O'Connor, Condoleezza Rice.

The briefest category has Geraldine Ferraro, the only women to run on a major party ticket (twenty years ago), and the final category is devoted to women who have been presidents and prime ministers in foreign countries: Sirimvao Bandaranaike of what was then Ceylon, Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, and Benzair Bhutto of Pakistan. When young readers get to the end of the book George Washington will help point out that to become president all you need to be is an American citizen, born in the States, and at least thirty-five years old. Clearly, at that point there is nothing else to be said to make the case for a woman becoming president. The back of the book has a Timeline that looks at the history of women and politics in the United States (notice that the first line covers 146 years, the second 58, and the final one only 22 years as the political evolution of women was been speeding up).

If Senator Clinton gets the nomination there will be many who will not vote for her because she is a woman, and there will be many who will vote for her because she is (and even more who will simply not vote, which is arguably worse than exhibiting a gender bias in either direction). So having a woman run for president or even winning and being the first Madam President does not mean sexual equality is at hand. But most young people who read this book will have every reason to believe that the first woman president of the United States is going to be elected during their lifetime. Final Note: The illustrations in this book were hand drawn by Douglas B. Jones with pencil on paper and then color was applied using Photoshop on a Mac. I mention this because they struck me as looking somewhat unique and this process might just explain why in case you were wondering too.