I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote

I Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote (Melanie Kroupa Books)by Linda Arms White (Author), Nancy Carpenter (Illustrator); Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2005

Ages 5 and up

This picture book biography tells the story of Esther Morris. From an early age, Esther has been saying, "I can do that," and begins to do things that her parents and others thought she couldn't do. Whatever she sets her mind to, Esther accomplishes. When her mother dies and the family is left to take care of one another, she says "I can do that." When she turns nineteen and it occurs to her to run her own millinery shop, she thinks, "I can do that." She can attend an abolitionist church, she can try to claim land in Illinois, she can raise her son Archy on her own, and she can move to the wild western Wyoming territory. Eventually, Morris helps gain the vote for women in Wyoming, becomes the first female judge, and the first woman in the US to hold political office. Morris was a pioneer in many senses and the bright chalk illustrations help convey the spunkiness of Esther. Unfortunately, Esther Morris died eighteen years before all women were granted the right to vote, but her legacy set the stage for the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Head on over to the Picture Book of the Day Blog for Anastasia Suen's Nonfiction Monday Roundup.