Common Sense Media Review
By Jan Carr
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Two women stump for right to vote in fresh, upbeat story.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
AROUND AMERICA TO WIN THE VOTE: TWO SUFFRAGISTS, A KITTEN, AND 10,000 MILES tells the true story of Nell Richardson and Alice Burke, two New York suffragists who in 1916 drove a car to California and back to publicize the campaign to win "Votes for Women." Since the car was open and there were few paved roads, the journey was physically challenging, involving blizzards, getting hauled out of mud by mules, and shot at by the Rio Grande. Along the way, they gave speeches from the car, attended events with supporters, and even joined a circus parade, all the while scoring publicity for the suffrage movement. When they reached California, they were presented with a medal, then circled back across the northern states. An afterword sets their journey in the context of the larger historical suffrage movement, which culminated in the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the vote.
Is It Any Good?
This story of two women with can-do spirit who drive cross-country in 1916 to proclaim and fight for women's right to vote is an exciting adventure story celebrating lesser-known suffragists. Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles focuses less on hostile opposition and more on physical roadblocks during the journey -- blizzards and muddy roads. Hadley Hooper's art is as upbeat as Mara Rockliff's text, bathed in a sunny yellow that the afterword makes clear was the color of the movement.
The two women are indomitable, smiling even as they're up to their high-button shoes in mud. As they join a circus parade in Georgia and smuggle their cat into "a fine hotel in New Orleans," the book feels joyous, and a reminder that it was a short 100 years ago that women successfully fought for and won the right to vote.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the issue of women's suffrage in Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles. Did you know that women didn't get the vote until 1920? Why do you think it took so long for the country to accept women's right to vote?
Are people still fighting for voting rights today? Do you hear anything in the news about the need to ensure citizens' right to vote? What other groups have had to fight for the vote?
In 1916 there was no GPS -- and there were not even road maps for much of the country. What other details in the story show how times were different then?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Hadley Hooper
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Adventures , History
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick
- Publication date : August 2, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 5 - 8
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Hardback
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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