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

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.

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.

Great book to introduce little girls to the history of American womens' right to vote. Starts as a bit of a biography, showing ELizabeth as a little girl, growing up, and the differences/similarities between then and now. Excellent illustrations--visually engagin--giving a glimpse into the clothing, ammenties, styles of the past.

I checked this book out of the library as a way show my young daughter why I'm so fired up about voting. It's written in language a young child can understand. My daughter was amazed that anyone ever thought it was a disadvantage to be born female. We'll be buying this book for our home library.

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.