Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lively tales of 10 who led fight for women's voting rights.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
This nonfiction picture book, BOLD & BRAVE, starts with the author, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, talking about her childhood and how important voting was in her family and how her trailblazing great-grandmother was her role model: "Mimi taught me to be bold and to believe there was nothing I couldn't do." She goes on to offer capsule biographies of 10 women who led the fight for women's right to vote, starting with original suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) and ending with Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954), an African American educator who co-founded and led the National Association of Colored Women. Terrell fought to make sure that even in a segregated society, black women would gain the right to vote as well as white women. "Mary continued to fight against discrimination, knowing that not until all women reached their full potential could America reach its," Gillibrand writes. The story continues right up through the 2017 Women's March, with a two-page spread showing pink-hatted women demonstrating in Washington, D.C., as millions of women did across the country that day.
Is It Any Good?
This accessible collection of 10 compelling mini-bios of women who fought for women's voting rights brims with fascinating history and inspiration. It took more than 70 years of struggle to succeed, as Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote shows. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's text is lively, clear, and concise, and Maria Kalman's evocative portraits are sure to draw young readers in.
Gillibrand makes clear that the struggle continues, and invites readers to join in, saying on the last page: "Now it's your turn. You are the suffragists of our time. ... Stand up, speak out, and fight for what you believe in. Be bold and be brave. The future is yours to make."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the struggle for women's voting rights shown in Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote. Are you surprised that it took 70 years to happen after women started demanding it?
Why did women fight so hard to be able to vote? What difference does it make?
Which story of the 10 do you like the most? Which story surprised you the most?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Maira Kalman
- Genre : Biography
- Topics : History
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : November 13, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 6 - 9
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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