Founding Mothers: Remembering The Ladies (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts is an excellent and informative picture book that tells the tale of the ladies that helped build this nation. So often history books glide over these women, or ignore them completely and I believe this is an excellent supplemental source to give children the facts. School Library Journal via Books in Print says, “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 chapters 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.” I have paired this book with Dubs Goes to Washington and Discovers the Greatness of America by Eileen McGann (copyright 2013). This story is about a dog that does indeed go to Washington D.C. to find his favorite tennis ball and in doing so educates children about various elements that went in to the making of America. “Kids will learn a little about our founding fathers, our patriotic traditions, the message of our national monuments, and the importance of our war heroes who fought for our freedom (Books in Print). By pairing these two in either an English class working on an Americana or Fourth of July project/unit or a History class learning about the founding of America, children will get not only the stories of the founding “fathers” as are dominantly depicted when reading about the beginnings of America, but also the stories of the strong women who helped build this great nation. I was really excited to read this book, but it fell a little flat for me. I wanted more distinction between the personalities, but rather the women presented all sort of sounded like the same person. More direct quotes or writing from a different perspective (i.e. 1st person) might've changed that.The artwork was nice, but I wanted photos or images closer to being historical documents. While I enjoyed the artwork for another project, here, it just added to the sameness across the presentation of ladies.I exoected a bit more in terms of back matter too. The acknowlegement is far longer than even some of the articles about the founding mothers and the only other section included is a webliography.Grades 3-5.
What do You think about Founding Mothers: Remembering The Ladies (2014)?
It was interesting to learn that these women didn't just sit by the fires and knit.
—Sec210
Interesting stories of the women behind the scenes, and not familiar to us all.
—Pual
