The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
written by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Eric Velasquez
Disney Hyperion, 2020. 44 pages.
Review written February 12, 2020, from a library book
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a wonderful subject for a picture book biography, because her life story is an inspiring one of triumphing in spite of obstacles. She’s a trailblazer, clearing a path for other women to follow in her steps.
I enjoyed the book I Dissent a little more, since that was the picture book biography that first told me about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life. But this one fills a niche of being for a slightly older age group (good for upper elementary, I think). It gives more details of her life and her journey through law school, teaching, in courts, and to the Supreme Court. I liked that when she was teaching at Columbia Law School, she filed lawsuits for women workers there to get the same benefits as men. This book featured a lot of her cases that were about gender.
Doreen Rappaport has a series of picture book biographies. They all stand out for their large size with big, beautiful paintings of the subject (and always their face on the cover) and for the way she highlights quotes from the subject on every page. Those big paintings make this book memorable.
“Yes, women are here to stay. And when I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough women on the Court, and I respond when there are nine, people are shocked. But the Supreme Court has had nine men for ever so long, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
doreenrappaport.com
EricVelasquez.com
DisneyBooks.com
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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.
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