Susan B. Anthony

by Alexandra Wallner, Alexandra Wallner (Illustrator)

Overview

During Susan B. Anthony's life, women and men were not considered equal. Women could not own property or vote; nor could they receive good educations. But Susan envisioned a time when women would be treated fairly and so became a voice for change. Her speeches and articles about women's suffrage made her unpopular--people threw rotten eggs at her and even threatened her life--yet she did not give up.

In clear and simple words and jewel-like paintings, here is the essential story of the woman whose passion for justice led to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823419531
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	900L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Alexandra Wallner's Lucy Maude Montgomery was called "gracefully written and prettily presented" by Kirkus Reviews. She is a graduate of the Pratt Institute and is known for her vivid folk art paintings. She lives in Mexico.

Alexandra Wallner has written and illustrated many biographies for children about remarkable women, such as "Grandma Moses", "Abigail Adams", and "Beatrix Potter". She is inspired by Lucy Maud Montgomery, who always believed in her writing and never gave up. She and her husband live in Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

By her fiftieth birthday she was known as the most loved and hated woman in America.” This biography of tireless suffragist Anthony depicts her experiences as a teacher, organizer, and orator, with particular emphasis on the sober realities of her era. For example, after being laughed at by men and boys for wearing bloomers, “she gave up wearing . She believed that people should listen to what she had to say, not watch what she was wearing.” Wallner’s folk art–style tableaus have a flat, stylized quality that calls to mind the work of Grandma Moses. Unfortunately, the brittle tone (“She used money she had saved from teaching to travel to many towns, often in winter when people were so bored they would come to any meeting and even pay money just for something to do”) can result in a dry reading experience. Ages 6–10. Agent: Libby Ford. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

This picture book biography is a straightforward account of Susan B. Anthony's life. Author and illustrator Wallner has previously written about other historical figures, such as Betsy Ross, Beatrix Potter, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and Abigail Adams. Here, Wallner turns her focus to the woman described as "the General" of the women's rights movement. Beginning with her childhood (one of six children, raised in Massachusetts by parents who believed in educating their sons and daughters) Susan's upbringing showed her from an early age how different life could be for women. The story continues, touching upon many of the turning points in Susan's life: job as a teacher; her start as a public speaker; meeting Elizabeth Cady Stanton; leading conventions and organizations about women's suffrage, abolishing slavery, and the temperance movement; publishing The Revolution magazine; and being arrested for attempting to vote. After fighting for reform for over fifty years, Susan died at the age of eighty-six, fourteen years before the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. Wallner ends with Susan's famous, "Failure is impossible" quote. Gouache illustrations depict the Susan and her contemporaries in a folk-art style. A timeline, bibliography, and source notes are included. Reviewer: Emily Griffin

Children's Literature - Emily Griffin

Gr 2–4—This picture-book biography focuses on America's foremost champion for women's rights. The text does a good job of covering Anthony's life, from her strict upbringing in Massachusetts to her death after 58 years of working for reform, and her passionate role in the women's-suffrage movement. Wallner's folk-art paintings, done in her well-defined style, balance the text. Some illustrations, however, are visually confusing. For example, at first glance, the Currier and Ives print in the book appears to show a person's arm protruding from Anthony's mouth. It takes further study to realize the arm belongs to a person in an image positioned behind her. Nonetheless, the bright colors and many details make this an appealing experience for young readers; the period outfits are an education in themselves. All things considered, a valuable addition—Janene Corbin, Rosebank Elementary School, Nashville, TN

School Library Journal

Susan B. Anthony worked to win women the right to vote her whole long life, but she did not live to see it done. Wallner uses her flat decorative style and rich matte colors to depict Susan B. Anthony's life, layering on details: Susan catching snowflakes behind her parents' house; working in her father's mill (briefly) and then departing school when the money ran out; writing at her desk; speaking passionately in front of small groups and rowdy crowds. It's a little too wordy and a little less than engaging in describing a life in which Anthony traveled alone, hired her own halls, spoke tirelessly about women's suffrage, published, created forums where women could speak freely and was arrested for registering to vote. Her life-long friendship with suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton is touched on, as are the virulent attacks against her ideas and her person. She died in 1906. Votes for women did not come to pass in the United States until 1920. She said, "Failure is impossible," and she was right, but unfortunately her steely determination does not come through in this book. (timeline, bibliography, source notes) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews