Susan B. Anthony

First Biographies

by Martha E.H. Rustad

Text and pictures introduce the biography of Susan B. Anthony, and her lifetime work to allow women the right to vote in the United States.

Genres: Biography

24 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Martha E. H. Rustad is the author of more than one hundred nonfiction children's books, on topics ranging from snowflakes to termites to Ancient Babylon. She lives with her family in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Reviews

[I-C Woodson-Tabor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly, explained the historical conflicts, addresses Miss Anthony's personal life and its influence on her crusade for equality.

[Leigh]

Title: Susan B. Anthony
Author: Martha E. H. Rustad
Genre: Biography (targeted for grades K-2)
Theme(s): Voting equality, feminism, women’s suffrage movement
Opening line/sentence: “Susan B. Anthony was born in Massachusetts in 1820.”
Brief Book Summary: This biography follows the story of Susan B. Anthony’s early life, beliefs, and her lifelong work to allow women the right to vote in the United States. This book also features a timeline of events that took place in her life, as well as a “words to know” section.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Rustad, Martha E. H. Susan B. Anthony 24 pp. Pebble 2001. LE ISBN 0-7368-0998-8 (5) K-3 First Biographies series. Each book in this series for early readers features archival reproductions, simplistic time lines, and a list of related Internet sites, but the lifeless text offers limited information. Most children (and teachers) will be uninspired. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these First Biographies titles: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony.]
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Nancy Partridge (Children's Literature)
Biographies are a fascinating vehicle for history to reveal itself, as well as a way to get us acquainted with great personalities who have accomplished important work in their lifetimes. Susan B. Anthony was of course such a woman, and this book about her life is one of this publisher's "First Biographies" series for very young children. The very simple text is accompanied by photographs of not only Ms. Anthony, but also scenes of slaves, women suffragettes marching and other historical images. Each two-page spread has an accreting timeline that accompanies the fact or event mentioned in the text, a nice way to introduce this important tool. The facts, however, are given in a disjointed manner, giving a fragmented feeling. Certain words are chosen as "Words to Know" and defined at the back of the book, and as usual, their choice proves to be a difficult task. For example, why define "alcohol" as a relevant definition? However, some real depth is achieved, despite the choppy rhythm. One of the more stirring statements is that Susan worked for women's rights her whole life. When you see by looking at the timeline that women got the right to vote in 1920, but that Susan died in 1906, you really feel the importance of this woman's achievements. 2002, Pebble Books/Capstone Press, $14.60. Ages 3 to 6.
(PUBLISHER: Pebble Books (Mankato Minn.:), PUBLISHED: 2002.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I have to agree with the first review when it states “Most children (and teachers) will be uninspired.” This book is indeed very bland and somewhat dreary. I also agree with the second review that the information delivered in this book is done in a choppy manner rather than a smooth fashion.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book is not only filled with black text written in a boring font, but colorless pictures and sketches. I must say however, that this book is a perfect size, small enough to fit in a young child’s hands. I also like the smooth texture and feel of the front cover and pages.
Consideration of Instructional Application: If I were to have this book in my classroom, it would be a good introduction to a unit on the women’s suffrage movement and a study on Susan B. Anthony’s life. Even though it isn’t the most engaging novel I have ever read, it is a small size that doesn’t overwhelm the reader with an overload of information, facts, and text.

[Samantha Brumbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: Introduce young readers to great historical figures! Learn about major life events, from childhood to adult years. A time line in each book captures important details, one event at a time, culminating in a complete summary on the final page.
Genre: Non-Fictional Children's Biography
Reading Level:Transitional, This book is transitional because it only includes about 3 sentences in each page. The font is very large in this book. The book does have some tricky words within the book, but the text is all written in the same place on each page.
Topic: The life of Susan B. Anthony, slavery,women's rights
Curriculum Uses: This book could be used for independent reading, children could use this to do a report or speech on an important historical person.
Social Issues: This book discusses the issues that Anthony fought for in the past such as women's rights and abolishing slavery.
Literary Elements: This book is written as a biography so it is written in 3rd person. It gives historical events through a timeline.
Illustrations & Text: This book does not have an illustrations; it only has pictures of Susan and important events in her life. These pictures give you a better understanding of Anthony's life and they help you to understand the information given in the text.

[Ayana Mishelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are studying about Susan B. Anthony in our 4th grade social studies class . In one of our lessons we are teachting students how to write biographies . This book is excellent to help with making time line before writing the illustrations are great. Intregrate language arts social studies and they get to use their sequencing skills.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this is a must read when teaching about Susan B Anthony. It is super easy for kids to understand and learn about her as a person and what she accomplished. I liked it a lot!