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Founding Mothers

Remembering the Ladies

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

#1 New York Times bestselling author and celebrated journalist Cokie Roberts brings young readers a stunning nonfiction picture book that highlights the female patriots of the American Revolution. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

Beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Honor–winning artist Diane Goode, Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies reveals the incredible accomplishments of the women who orchestrated the American Revolution behind the scenes.

Roberts traces the stories of heroic, patriotic women such as Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Phillis Wheatley, Mercy Otis Warren, Sarah Livingston Jay, and others. Details are gleaned from their letters, private journals, lists, and ledgers. The bravery of these women's courageous acts contributed to the founding of America and spurred the founding fathers to make this a country that "remembered the ladies."

This compelling book, based on the author's acclaimed work for adults, Founding Mothers, includes a rich time line, biographies, an author's note, and additional web resources in the back matter.

Parents and educators looking for a more in-depth book beyond the Rosie Revere and Rad Women series will welcome Founding Mothers.

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    Kindle restrictions
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 18, 2013
      They wrote letters and literature, kept the home fires burning, ran the family farm, rallied support for the troops, and even fought alongside them. The women of the American Revolution get sprightly, affectionate tributes from Roberts, who covered this material for adults in 2004’s Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation. Goode (the Louise the Big Cheese books) contributes quill-drawn portraits and historical vignettes, beautifully rendered in sepia tones and delicate watercolor washes reminiscent of images from journals and letters of the era. Together they celebrate the already beloved (Dolley Madison, Phillis Wheatley, and Deborah Sampson, who fought disguised as a man) and redeem a few figures from stereotype (who knew Martha Washington was such a dynamo?). Roberts’s disciplined concision—the major profiles run just five or six paragraphs, along with a smattering of single-paragraph nuggets—means that some stories feel rushed or missing a narrative arc. But readers will close the book confident that Abigail Adams herself would feel that these ladies are well remembered. Ages 7–12. Author’s agent: Robert Barnett, Williams & Connolly. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

    • School Library Journal

      January 1, 2014

      Gr 3-6-Most children know that the "Founding Fathers" are the men who helped the 13 colonies develop into the United States. What about the women of the time period? While some of them, such as Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, and Deborah Read Franklin, are famous because of their husbands, Roberts goes deeper into the historical record to find individuals who were quite accomplished in their own right. In addition, many less-well-known women aided the war effort, ran businesses, wrote, spoke, and generally contributed a great deal to the development of the nation. The book begins with a time line of women in history from 1765 to 1815, followed by double-page chapers that detail individual women, including First Ladies Washington, Madison, and Abigail Adams, as well as others such as Sarah Livingston Jay and Catharine Littlefield Greene. A formal portrait and lovingly re-created signature are accompanied by a more humorous illustration of each figure. In addition, sections about writers and warriors highlight other significant accomplishments. Grammarians may not appreciate the author's colloquial style, but the conversational tone is appealing. Beautifully intricate illustrations, rendered with antique pens, sepia ink, and watercolors, suit the text well. Thoughtful design, well-chosen facts, and an approachable format combine to make a book readers will enjoy and appreciate.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

      Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from December 1, 2013
      ABC and NPR correspondent Roberts and Caldecott Honoree Goode forge an attractive and compelling version for young people of Roberts' adult book of the same title. Goode's illustrations are often breathtaking. On the endpapers, she has reproduced in sepia tones with antique pens some of the source documents that allow readers to know these women. Roberts' lively text is illuminated with flourishes and curlicues along with winsome or whimsical portraits in what looks like ink and watercolor. Some women get two-page illustrated spreads, like Esther DeBerdt Reed, who wrote one of the endpaper pieces and who raised thousands of dollars for Washington's troops. They bought linen for 2,000 shirts for the soldiers, and into each was sewn the name of the woman who made it. There are briefer vignettes on women writers and women warriors, as well as an illustrated timeline from 1765 to 1815. Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison and Martha Washington are included of course, and there's also Mercy Otis Warren, who wrote letters and poems championing the cause of freedom, and Eliza Lucas Pinckney, whose "little schemes" included raising silkworms and cultivating indigo as a cash crop. Roberts' "Letter of Introduction" sets the stage, and the acknowledgments from writer and illustrator tell a compelling story of research and support. It is a wonderful package, adding the women who made it work to the men we thought we all knew. (websites) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

      COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      December 15, 2013
      Grades 3-6 Adapting her best-selling adult book Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (2004), celebrated journalist Roberts illuminates the lives of 10 women of Colonial America for a young audience. Drawing from their own writing and correspondence, Roberts explores each woman's distinguished contribution to the birth of our nation: Catharine Littlefield Greene worked with Eli Whitney on the cotton gin, Eliza Lucas Pinckney established indigo as a viable crop, and Phillis Wheatley wrote poems of freedom. Among the two-page individual biographies, spreads dedicated to women writers and women warriors offer meaningful context about the lives of women at the time and glimpses of other noteworthy achievements. Goode's curvilinear watercolor gestures capture the style of the period even as they honor their subjects with contemporary respect. A letter of introduction, a conclusion, acknowledgments, and a list of websites round out this engaging and educational historical reference.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 29, 2004
      ABC News political commentator and NPR news analyst Roberts didn't intend this as a general history of women's lives in early America—she just wanted to collect some great "stories of the women who influenced the Founding Fathers." For while we know the names of at least some of these women (Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Eliza Pinckney), we know little about their roles in the Revolutionary War, the writing of the Constitution, or the politics of our early republic. In rough chronological order, Roberts introduces a variety of women, mostly wives, sisters or mothers of key men, exploring how they used their wit, wealth or connections to influence the men who made policy. As high-profile players married into each other's families, as wives died in childbirth and husbands remarried, it seems as if early America—or at least its upper crust—was indeed a very small world. Roberts's style is delightfully intimate and confiding: on the debate over Mrs. Benedict Arnold's infamy, she proclaims, "Peggy was in it from the beginning." Roberts also has an ear for juicy quotes; she recounts Aaron Burr's mother, Esther, bemoaning that when talking to a man with "mean thoughts of women," her tongue "hangs pretty loose," so she "talked him quite silent." In addition to telling wonderful stories, Roberts also presents a very readable, serviceable account of politics—male and female—in early America. If only our standard history textbooks were written with such flair! 7 illus. not seen by PW
      . Agent, Bob Barnett. (On sale Apr. 13)

      Forecast:
      If booksellers position Roberts's book as a history of early America—and not as a women's studies text—it could have greater appeal.

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2014
      In clear, energetic prose bristling with purpose, Roberts introduces ten women who made unique contributions to America's early years. An illustrated timeline precedes the parade of notables; the two-page mini-biographies provide solid information about these wives, mothers, sisters, and female friends. Pen and watercolor illustrations dance across creamy pages. Websites.

      (Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
Kindle restrictions

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:6.8
  • Lexile® Measure:1120
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:5

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