Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone

Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote Reviews

• 
  Nadine in NY Jones

  I still read to my kids at night, even though they are both quite capable of reading to themselves. Usually when I read a biography, they are antsy and bored, although sometimes they find it interesting. But THIS time, they were excited! This book brilliantly takes what could be a somewhat dry story and makes it completely accessible to schoolage kids. (One quibble, I would have liked a few more actual dates - in the followup, it says there is a Stanton Day celebrated in NY State every year on her birthday. News to us New Yorkers! We want to celebrate too! Lily asked, logically, "When is her birthday?" Good question! Not answered in this book! *) It starts when she is 4 years old and her baby sister has just been born - perfect! Kids can identify with other kids. My daughters were shocked and outraged to learn that women could not vote (I've told them this before, but kids ... never listen!), could not own property, could not go to college. They had A LOT to say about that! They did not understand why Stanton was "scolded" for stating that women should have the right to vote. It would have been nice if the book had gone a little more deeply into WHY so many people - even other women - were horrified at the thought of women being able to vote. So, the book's not perfect, but it's engaging, and it really energized my daughters (ages 6 & 9).
  
  * I looked it up: Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born November 12, 1815. Shoot, we just missed celebrating Stanton Day!
  
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabet...
  I learned from wiki that the Stantons moved from Boston to Seneca Falls NY because they were concerned about the effect of New England winters on Henry Stanton's health. LOL Moving to Seneca Falls didn't exactly get them out of the wintery zone!!
  
  
  I Googled "Stanton Day" and got ... nothing. After some digging, I did find this:
  http://www.answers.com/topic/elizabet... "Governor Herbert Lehman of New York declared November 12 Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day in 1941."
  
  I learned about this book on another great website:
  www.amightygirl.com
• 
  Darla

  Enlightening and accessible for even young children, this book gives us an overview of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life and her achievements. What would our world look like today without her and those who aided her in the effort to get women the right to vote?
• 
  QNPoohBear

  A picture book biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This is mostly a straight up biography. It simply gives facts about Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life in an easy to understand manner. I especially liked when she met her husband and he didn't laugh at her crazy ideas. I also liked how her father wasn't a villain, he just knew that her life would be easier if she had been born a boy. What I didn't like was the lack of a lot of dialogue. There's a little bit of dialogue taken from ECS's writing but not a whole lot, even when her friends find her idea of woman suffrage preposterous! I was also not excited by the folk art style illustrations. Elizabeth should have been shown in her signature bloomer costume she adopted after discovering how difficult it was to carry a baby downstairs in hoop skirts. The book includes an author's note and sources.
  
  This is a good, quick, simple biography to introduce children to one of my personal heroes.
• 
  Deborah

  A simple, short description of the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the leaders of the women's rights movement. This biography give a few key moments in Stanton's childhood and youth that encouraged her passion to fight for women to gain more freedoms.
  
  A nice introduction to the women's rights movement for children in early elementary school. The first page encourages children to think about girls not being taken seriously: "What would you do if someone told you you can't be what you want to be because you are a girl?"
• 
  Bernadette

  Tanya Lee Stone’s picture book biography (2008), Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote, shares the story of how a young Elizabeth grew up believing girls could do anything boys could. Even as a child Elizabeth was outraged by unjust laws. As she grew older she realized that only men could change those laws so she set out to earn women the right to vote. Her battle cry became: “Have it, we must. Use it, we will!” Lively illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon accompany Lee Stone’s text depicting first a young Elizabeth, later showing Elizabeth the suffragette. A perfect beginning biography for kindergarten to third grade students. This text would be an excellent companion text for classrooms studying equal or women’s rights.
  
  I listened to this book as an audio book but because that format had no illustrations, I also looked for and read the picture book. Young readers’ understanding of the time period in which Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up is essential and Rebecca Gibbon’s illustrations bring the fashion and lifestyle of people living in the mid-1800s to life.
  
• 
  Krista the Krazy Kataloguer

  I didn't like the illustrations at all. On one page there was a pregnant woman that looked like she was going to give birth to a cow! The text told the story of Stanton up until just after the first Woman's Rights Convention. A note at the end of the book talked about her life after the Convention. What annoyed me was that, in the end note the author referred to the fact that New York State has declared Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day an official state holiday, yet nowhere in the book does it provide the date of Stanton's birth, upon which the NY state holiday is based. It annoyed me because I live in New York State, and think the holiday should be celebrated more prominently, and I think it's important for interested children to know that there is an official state holiday named for her. I don't know as another state has an official state holiday named after a woman. So... I give 2 stars to this book!
• 
  Dolly

  Short, but interesting biography of
  Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The narrative is appropriate for younger children, and the author's note at the end of the book adds some amplifying biographical information about Ms. Stanton's life, along with the sources she used for the book.
  
  The illustrations, created using gouache and color pencils on paper, are engaging, but are a bit rudimentary for my taste. Still, the characters are very expressive and the settings are appropriately 'old fashioned' for that time in history.
  
  Overall, it's a good book about one of our country's leading suffragists. I enjoyed reading it and it is a decent book for a discussion with younger children about women's rights or the suffrage movement.
  
• 
  Holly Mueller

  I loved the way the questions in the beginning got my 4th grade girls riled up and involved in the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This is a lively and interesting biography of a great mover and shaker. I'm excited to follow up the civil rights unit we've been working on with Women's History Month!
• 
  Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)

  I remember reading an old Elizabeth Cady Stanton biography when I was in high school. I was fascinated with her life. This is a great picture book bio about her.
• 
  SamZ

  Short and sweet overview of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life and goals, although not super detailed. I wish there had been a little more info on the ways she tried to get the vote (marches, meetings, etc) as well as more inclusion of her actual speeches. Like most great leaders, Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the ability to use words to inspire, and they should have been included more in this story. Overall: a great place to start, could use a little extra beefing up.
• 
  Emma VanBuskirk

  This empowering book is a biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Feminism and women's rights are the main themes throughout the book. The rising action of the story was when Elizabeth and a group of women decided they were going to fight for women's right to vote so they can change the laws that don't allow women to do what they want. The author's note in the book's back matter, shares that women were not granted the right to vote until 18 years after the death of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1902. This book should be in every classroom library for young children to read!
• 
  Rebecca Caufman

  Elizabeth work to fight for women's right to vote.
• 
  Christine Smith

  Title: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote
  Author: Tanya Lee Stone
  Illustrator: Rebecca Gibbon
  
  Goodreads Star Rating: 4
  
  Categories/Genres: Non-Fiction/Picture Book/Biography
  
  Copyright date: 2008
  
  Estimate of age level of interest: K-3
  
  Estimate of reading level: 3.5
  
  Brief description: Biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton a 19th Century Women’s Rights Activist who fought for women’s equality through the right to vote.
  
  Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and sub genre and discuss how they appear in your book.
  Tanya Lee Stone’s simple prose and Rebecca Gibbon’s illustrations come together to create an accessible biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton an early 19th Century Women’s Rights leader. As a non-fiction, it follows many of the characteristics of the genre. For example, the author is highly qualified to write the book. Tanya Lee Stone is a historian and has written many stories for children about strong women including a book about Amelia Earhart and female astronauts. As a women’s historian myself, her facts are spot on and I loved how she blended short sentences with colorful and appropriate imagery to highlight Cady Stanton’s rebellion of her gender in 19th Century life. As a picture book, Rebecca Gibbon’s drawings and illustrations mimic paper dolls or “folk art “ as stated in the Library Media Connection review of the book.
  
  
  In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
  
  Elizabeth Leads the Way is a wonderful picture book that introduces students to the life of a young woman who faces discrimination because of her gender. It also illustrates how she fought against that discrimination by demanding a higher education, keeping her last name when she married, and by organizing the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. Tanya Lee Stone’s use of short and to the point prose was very accessible to children and she utilized brief, yet detailed examples to illustrate that discrimination. Knowing the complexities of Cady Stanton’s life, this is no easy task! As a read-aloud, it will make it easy for the teacher or librarian to stop and ask/answer questions that come up about Stanton’s life, especially her early life as a young girl.
  
  
  Awards if any.
  
  Comstock Read Aloud (2009)
  Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year. (2009)
  Star Review: Booklist
  
  
  Citations for published reviews:
  
  Booklist starred (April 15, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 16))
  Horn Book Magazine (May/June 2008)
  Kirkus Reviews (April 15, 2008)
  Library Media Connection (August/September 2008)
  Publishers Weekly (May 12, 2008)
  School Library Journal (May 1, 2008)
  
• 
  Unprinted

  Rebecca Gibbon’s drawings are a delight to the visual senses. What beautiful illustrations with bright and vivid colors and what refreshing traces! Allied with Tanya Lee Stone writings, this little book is a true gem to both children and adults. A spectacular reminder of how and why voting is important, but not only that, how hard some people fought to exercise their rights as intelligent creatures capable of choosing representatives, being respected and heard. The story of Elizabeth Cady Staton is uplifting not only on the feminine standpoint, but regarding humanity as whole. It also proves that age, race nor gender is not an obstacle for greatness. An special reading for this time of turmoil, restlessness and intolerance, her story might help people to go in pursuit of their dreams and beliefs in a more pacific and level headed manner – and I am saying this to both parties: left and right.
  
  Thanks for reading!
  To read more of my thoughts on books visit
  my book blog.
• 
  Elizabeth

  This picture book biography gives young readers a delightful introduction into one of America's foremost female reformers. The book introduces Elizabeth as a young girl, and continues chronologically with Elizabeth's realization of her less than equal status as compared to her male counterparts. We then see the steps she took to try and fix these inequalities. The book concludes with a more in-depth synopsis of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life, followed by a list of sources. The whimsical illustrations will be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. The book takes a light approach to the topic, and would compliment elementary school library collections.
• 
  MissDziura

  Tanya Lee Stone has written a biography about Elizabeth Cady Stanton for younger readers. She has written a good story that starts with Elizabeth questioning why boys had it so much easier than girls when she was a young girl herself. The story progresses with her life from becoming an accomplished student, to a wife, and finally one of the first activists for Women's Rights. Most students have heard of Susan B. Anthony but not Elizabeth Stanton, so this book does a great job through story and illustrations of telling her life. This would be an excellent classroom resource to read during Women's History Month to expose students to other women who wanted their voices heard.
• 
  Roxanne Hsu Feldman

  Note to self: second spread: Staton is supposed to be 4 years old in this picture.... the proportion of head/body is not right...
  
  Isn't her father (parents) instrumental in allowing her to be the woman she wanted to become by giving her an education and treating her with respect?
  
  The time frame is not specified in the book proper until toward the end of the book when the year 1848 is mentioned.
  
  Henry was also supportive.
  
  There is not enough of a build-up and the ending is a bit tepid.
  
  The illustrations are not all that inspiring either.
• 
  Liane

  Genre: Biographical Picture Book
  
  Reading Level: Late Early
  
  Topics & Themes: An abbreviated history of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
  
  Curricular Use: Read aloud or shared. Introduction of women in history or women's right to vote.
  
  Social: Women's rights and women's suffrage.
  
  Literary Elements: Questions asked directly to the reader then shows how Elizabeth responded to the questions. Prose. Overview of women's rights in the mid 1800s.
  
  Text & Pictures: Interaction of text and pictures. (Pictures not extremely appealing)
• 
  Veronica

  I bought this book for my daughter, whom I named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She loves having a book about ECS. We even took it into school for Women's History Month and I read it to her class. The illustration is amazing. Rebecca Gibbon who did the illustration also worked on
  a children's book about the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League created by Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley during World War II. And yes, we own that one too.
• 
  Amanda Andrews

  I love this book!! It tells the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and how she fought for women's right to vote. It is such a powerful story and a wonderfully written picture book that would be a great read aloud. It goes through her life from when she is a little girl to when she dies, and looks at many events in her life that are now apart of history. It is interesting to see how the people of her time reacted to her boldness! This story would be great to use when teaching about the 19th Ammendment in fourth grade, or in any other grade to teach about change agents!
• 
  Matthew

  A surprisingly straightforward biography of an amazing woman. With relatively light text, this shares the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who championed the cause of woman's suffrage, though her dream wasn't realized until 17 years after her death. This tells of the grave injustices that women suffered in our country for much of its history and how Elizabeth went about seeking to change that. Would be excellent for a women's history project. The information contained within is both simple, and valuable. Well done.