Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?: A Who Was? Board Book

Who Was . . . ? Board Books Series

by Lisbeth Kaiser

Brand New Deliver In 6-18 Working Days

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, Feminism, Politics, History

26 pages, Board Book

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Lisbeth Kaiser is a writer and bestselling children’s book author whose words have appeared on websites, commercials, billboards, and even toothbrushes. Two of her books in the Little People, Big Dreams series, Maya Angelou and Emmeline Pankhurst, were selected for the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Book List, recognizing the best feminist books for young readers. She most recently launched Who Was? Board Books, a new set of biographies for preschoolers from the #1 New York Times Bestselling Who Was? series.

Lisbeth studied English and economics at Tufts University. Before writing books, Lisbeth was the Copy Director at SpotCo, where she wrote ad campaigns for Broadway shows, and then became an editor at Google. She still writes as a freelance copywriter for many of her friends in theater and in tech, and in all kinds of other cool businesses. Lisbeth lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last Christmas I added a girl’s shirt to my list of things I wanted to get for Lila - a long-sleeved shirt with a drawing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on it, holding a book titled LAW in one hand and a gavel in the other, but they didn’t have it in her size at the time. The day before my phone alerted me to the devastating news of her passing, I had finally ordered this shirt, which will slowly make it’s way to Lila.

Today I ran across this short children’s board book for ages 2-4 about RBG and wondered how much information it would have, and I was surprised by not only how informative it was, but how impressive a story it would even be for young readers. When I listened to her audio book My Own Words almost a year ago, I was so moved by her story, and this little board book is like a bite-sized, made for young children version sharing not only how important she was to all of us, but it also shares much about her young life, her love of books, the lessons her mother shared with her about the importance of kindness, as well as her importance – that she was just as important as any boy, even if she wasn’t always treated that way by the world. Inspired by her mother, Ruth grew up with the desire to find a way to help others. In an era where few women worked, let alone became lawyers, she made it her goal that all Americans have equal rights.

Although she wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet, or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, she was indeed a Superhero, and one to which every young reader should be introduced.


Pub Date: 08 Dec 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Rise x Penguin Workshop / Penguin Publishing Group

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book on the life of RBG! Still think that she was a force beyond SCOTUS; her ability to connect with people was unique, and I think she did much to change the view that SCOTUS did not connect with the people. I predict that she will have many more books written on her remarkable life in the near and far future.

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful little biography for young readers! Looking forward to seeing more of these.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and smartest board books I've ever read. But it did break my heart a bit when the book referred to RBG in the present tense. I wasn't ready for it to have been written before she died. But thanks to books like this, her legacy lives on!

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear text on who RBG was, and why what she did was so important. Excellent for little children (and frankly, for adults too).

Her passing away is a dark day in history, in justice, in equality.


I received a copy through Edelweiss for review, opinions are my own.

[Karlee Abrahamsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a biography unit on perseverance and women empowerment. I would recommend for younger elementary students.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really wonderful art. I like this art much better than the main series art. I have to say, I don't think this is really appropriate for the stated 2-4 age group. Not because of content, but because it's just too complex and there is far too much text on the page. I don't think there's much reason for it to be a board book.

[Kelsey Carvalho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title (italicize): Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Author: Lisbeth Kaiser
Illustrator (if separate from author): Stanley Chow
Genre: Children’s Literature, Non Fiction, Biography
Theme(s): Identity
Opening line/sentence (type directly from text): “Ruth’s mother taught her many things. She taught her to love books. She taught her to be kind. And she taught her something that very few people back then taught girls: that she was important. Just as important as a boy.”
Brief Book Summary (2-3 sentences in your own words): This book takes us through the journey of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and all the important things she did. This book has pictures and simple words to keep the students interested. This book also introduces the struggles Ruth had as a Jew and as a woman. Ruth becomes a famous lawyer as well as becoming one of the 9 justices for the supreme court- being the second woman ever to become a supreme court justice.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words): According to McCoy Kids, this book was a #1 New York Times Bestselling Who was? Series. The review says this book is good for children 2-4 years old, which I agree with but could be for children a little older since it talks about judges/ lawyers. Youth Services Book Review says that the book is a picture book that takes us through Ruth’s journey as a young child to her becoming an adult and how she got to the famous way she was as an adult.
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): I like that this book was understandable enough for young children. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% of everything about Ruth’s story and all that she did so I am glad I became educated after reading this book.
Dislike(s): This book is supposed to be aimed for 2–4-year old’s, but I feel that it is a bit complicated for young kids. I don’t think at a young age I understood what a judge or lawyer is
Patterns(s): This book shows Ruth go through so many different struggles throughout her life, from being a young girl into a woman and her Jewish identity as well. This book can be inspirational to children with the various backgrounds.
Puzzle(s): Nothing in this book puzzles me. I learned about Ruth’s journey and I didn’t know her mother taught her at a young age that girls are just important as boys.
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words):
This book would be great to introduce to a classroom. Too many times than not, boys can be seen as better than girls. This book would be great to introduce to the class with the inspiration that girls and boys can accomplish big things. The pictures in this book brings us through the different scenes of Ruth’s life. If talking about civics and government, the teacher can introduce what being a lawyer and judge means in simpler terms and explain about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how she did many amazing things.

[Arielle Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Who is/was Ruth Bader Ginsburg?" by Lisbeth Kaiser is a biographic board book for the youngest readers between the ages of 2-4 years old. This book comes from a series of other New York times best selling series "who was" which includes a wide variety of biographies for preschool kids. These books are best used as stories to read aloud. This book tells about Ruth as a young girl, her family, and some challenges she had growing up such as being Jewish, and not being treated fairly because of it. This is a wonderful little book because not only is the information in the book accurate, but it is easy to read and understand with only a couple basic sentences on each page. The illustrations are vibrant and eye catching. These books are an easy and accurate way to begin teaching the youngest learners about important figures from our history in anything from politics to sports. This biography about Ruth does a really great job of addressing the massive issue of equal rights in a really basic and easy to follow/relatable fashion. The book is long enough to explain and share the basics but not too long. This book moves quickly enough to hold student attention. What would be very challenging to fit in a short book, the incredible life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is done in this book with precision, elegance, and respect. This book and others in the series are an absolutely recommended group for our youngest readers!!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my colleagues calls these biographies for very young readers "the big head books" because they feature big heads of their subjects on the cover. That makes these board books quite appealing to their audience, especially since the heads are on flaps that open to show the individual at a much younger age. Inside, readers learn more about the subject, in this case, the groundbreaking Supreme Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The book covers her formative years and the upbringing she received that encouraged her to regard herself as important. She paid attention to the unfairness she saw around her and eventually set her sights on a career in law despite the fact that women were not welcome there. Her feminist stance would affect the decisions she rendered later on once when was appointed to the Supreme Court. Youngsters may be surprised to learn that she dealt with so much negativity because she tried to have a career and a family. Additional information about her is provided in the back matter. I would certainly want these books in my home library to share with little ones as well as an example of someone resilient, goal-oriented and fair-minded, influenced by her own life experiences. Obviously, the book serves as an introduction to RBG and doesn't contain a shred of negativity about her. Still, I felt empowered just reading about her in this format.

[Shaye Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in October of 2020 I authored a post reviewing NINE children’s books about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This book was on the “coming soon” list at that time, so I’m glad to finally get my hands on it. It’s a simple board book with only 10 page spreads, so much more appropriate for very young children.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

[Andrés · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a detailed, complete, and informative biography of RBG packed into a board book. There's a decent amount of narrative text, but it's balanced well with the illustrations, and I like the special touches, like the cut-out cover of a senior RBG, revealing RBG as a little girl behind the cut-out, then a real-life photo on the last page with a beginning-to-end biography on one page. Very cool book in the series!

[AnneMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information and pictures were wonderful. For a board book, the baby found each page to have too many words. I loved all of the information. The baby was ready to turn the page before I had read it all out loud.

[정진 장]

2021.1.31
First item I have found her name and who she was... She served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in September 2020.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a hard working woman that treated everyone equal. What a wonderful book for the younger generation to read.

[Laura Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun new board book biography series I discovered. Love that Ruth is a book for your babies to learn about!

[Lillian Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that they have history books for babies! It’s important to introduce them to history at an early age

[Kristina McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read to donate an awesome book for a children’s book drive! Highly suggest for parents and children.

[Samantha]

100% worth reading to my niece.

[Charlotte Gunnufson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring story about what inspired this icon and seeker of justice. Written in very kid-relatable prose.

[Catherine Petrini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This illustrated board book looks at the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in easy-to-understand language.