Defining And Defending Equality

There are those who see injustice and speak out loud about it.  There are those who see injustice, speak out loud about it, and take action to correct it.  There are a select few among us who see injustice, speak out loud about it, take action to correct it, and devote their entire lives to inequities.

At eighty-seven years old, there is a woman, currently sitting on the Supreme Court who is one of these people.  In her twenty-seven years of service to our Constitution and laws, her voice has not wavered. Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Disney Hyperion, February 11, 2020) written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is a memorable portrait in words and images of a remarkable woman.

Ruth's mother, Celia, wanted to go to college,
but her family had only enough money
to pay for their eldest son to attend.  
When Celia married, her husband
made her stop working as a bookkeeper.
He worried that people would think
he couldn't support his family.

For her daughter, Ruth, Celia wanted other choices.  She wanted her to be firm in her resolve, but to do so without animosity.  Both her parents supported strong academic pursuits, as well as outside interests.  The family observed lighting of candles on Friday evenings to begin the Sabbath.  While her childhood was filled with a wide range of opportunities and experiences, deep sadness came to Ruth right before she graduated from high school.  Her mother died.

College at Cornell exposed different conditions, more constraints for women than men.  An event there determined the course Ruth's life would take.  Prior to graduating from college Ruth met her perfect life partner, Martin Ginsburg, an attorney.  He fully supported her endeavors.  When Marty began his service in the military, Ruth began working in government, but when she informed her employer she was pregnant, her responsibilities were diminished, and she was required to leave in her ninth month.

Graduating first in her class paved the way for Ruth to attend Harvard Law School, but here too, she faced gender differences.  Ruth and her husband shared parenting, and Martin was the better cook.  When they were both working on their law degrees, Martin got cancer.  Ruth continued her studies and made sure Martin missed nothing.  She rarely got enough sleep.  Marty survived and was hired in a firm in New York City. Ruth completed her law education at Columbia Law School.  She tied for top of the class.  Not one judge would hire her as a law clerk, until a professor intervened.

In 1963 Ruth was teaching at Rutgers University in New Jersey, getting less pay than a man doing the same work.  Ruth's students, women law students, asked her to teach a class on

women and the law.

Ruth and other female law professors decided to petition the court for equal pay.  They won.  This was the beginning of one successful win after another as Ruth challenged the norms which failed to live up to the Constitution.  Ten years later, in 1973, she argued her first Supreme Court case.  She won with an eight to one vote.  Ruth continued to fight for gender equity, for women and for men. 

In 1993, as a newly sworn-in member of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg stayed the course. Even if a case was not decided to her liking, a dissent could sway another body to take action as in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which President Barack Obama signed into law on January 29, 2009.  A year later Ruth Bader Ginsburg lost the love of her life, Martin Ginsburg died due to cancer.  Today, Ruth is one of three women on the Supreme Court.  May her strength be a guide for us all.


With each reading of the words written by Doreen Rappaport for this book, you will find yourself more in awe of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  The detailed facts allow us to be a participant in many aspects of her life.  Each time Doreen Rappaport gives us an accounting of a certain portion of Ruth's life, she includes a quotation.  This increases the authenticity of the narrative.  Here is a passage.

Ruth tied for first place in her graduating class,
but not one law firm interviewed her.

"Traditional law firms were just
beginning to hire Jews, but to be a
woman, a Jew, and a mother to boot,
that combination was a bit much."  


If the picture on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case does not take your breath away, you might want to make sure you are breathing.  The portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the rendering of the Constitution of the United States behind her is wondrous.  (In my humble opinion, it should be hanging in a gallery.)  You expect her to start speaking at any moment.  To the left, on the back, is a red curtain, folded and still.  The title text is placed here along with the author and illustrator names.  Under the secondary title is a bit of lace in reference to the signature jabot for which Ruth is known.

On the golden, painted opening and closing endpapers are two different quotations of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  On the title page between two sets of text, artist Eric Velasquez has placed a judge's gavel and block.  These stunning paintings by Eric Velasquez vary in size to elevate the text, and to extend the visual interpretation.  They are one-and-one-half pages creating a column for text, smaller insets on a larger image, a series of vertical panels on two pages, two horizontal panels on a single page, or dramatic double-page pictures.

The elements included in each illustration reveal the meticulous research by Eric Velasquez.  The facial features, body postures, and clothing reflect the historical perspective and moment being showcased.  Through his illustrations we are able to watch a young girl grow and change to become the esteemed person she is today.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a one-and-one-half page picture with a column on the left for text.  Eric Velasquez's painting of the Constitution of the United States supplies the canvas for an image of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  It is a depiction of a younger Ruth.  We see a greater portion of her body, from the waist upward.  She is dressed in attire for this period.  She has a copy of the Constitution in her right hand.  She faces readers with a look of calm determination on her face.  This page is discussing the lawsuit for equal pay for women professors.  They did win.  In this illustration, as in all of them, Eric Velasquez is masterful with his use of light and shadow.


Even after repeated readings, readers will feel their respect and admiration of this woman climb.  Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is an outstanding presentation of this woman's contributions toward equality for all. At the close of the book are Important Dates, Author's Note, Illustrator's Note, Selected Bibliography, To Learn More About Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Acknowledgements and Source Notes.  You could pair this with Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R. B. G. vs. Inequality by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Stacy Innerst.  You will want to include this title in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Doreen Rappaport and Eric Velasquez and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Eric Velasquez has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


Please take a few moments to see what titles were selected this week by other participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by educator Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.

A World Changed

The best kind of biography is not a dry compendium of a person's existence but an awakening; it's making them alive for today's readers and paying tribute to what made them who they were.  It is the result of years of research on the part of both the author and the illustrator.  Each of them know the person so well they live, however briefly, in the person's skin.

One of the most consistently popular historical figures is Helen Keller.  Justifiably, admiration for her accomplishments has never lessened with readers, no matter their age. Helen's Big World (Disney-Hyperion Books) is the third collaboration between author, Doreen Rappaport and illustrator, Matt Tavares.

Helen gurgled and giggled in her crib.  At six months, she crawled and said, "How-d' ye," and "wah-wah," for water.

Until she was nineteen months old Helen Keller was much like any other child, dearly loving the company of her parents.  Then a puzzling illness took away her ability to see, hear and speak.  Making sense of this change was beyond her young capabilities.

Five years passed before her teacher and companion, Annie Sullivan, entered her life.  With patience, persistence and firmness, Annie would spell words on Helen's palm, teach her social skills, and to use her fingers as eyes and ears, feeling what she could neither see nor hear.  Under Annie's tutelage, Helen learned to write, gaining her notoriety at the age of eight.

Learning to read on her own with Braille, outdoor adventures on land and sea in all seasons, lip reading by touch and graduating from college with honors were all milestones met by Helen. With Annie, all things were possible for this young woman.  Most people might have stopped growing at this point but not Helen.

Now that Helen had a voice she used it; championing for peace, labor rights, women's rights and civil rights.  Readers follow her and Annie, marveling at two lives well lived.  From birth to death the more Helen learned the larger her world became... as did the worlds of those whose lives she touched.


Reading what Doreen Rappaport has written about Helen Keller is like being Helen's shadow.  She has chosen to share significant moments in a vivid and personal manner.  After each narrative segment, in a bolder and larger font, beneath is a quotation made by Helen which directly correlates.

When her parents pressed her close,
she knew their smell and touch.
But she could not see them or hear them
or say their names.

"In the dreary month of February
came the illness which
closed my eyes and ears.
Gradually, I got used to the silence
and darkness that surrounded me."


Using watercolor, pencil and gouache Matt Tavares recreates stunning images of Helen Keller, allowing readers to visually experience those events in her life that held great importance.  The jacket and cover identical in every aspect except one, the Braille on the jacket is raised, focuses on Helen's pleasure in using those senses she did have.  It's interesting to observe as the story nears its end, Annie Sullivan's death noted, he pictures an older Helen, again holding roses to smell, but she is facing in the other direction.

Both sets of endpapers use a soft spring green as a background.  The opening illustration is a close-up of Annie spelling out the word "water" in Helen's right palm as the other catches and cups a stream of water.  The Manual Language Chart is featured on the closing two pages.  Featuring hands on both sets of endpapers further emphasizes their value in Helen's world.

Across the two pages for the title Tavares pictures Annie and Helen, hands clasped, jumping in the the sea so well you can almost hear the waves rolling and crashing.  All the remaining illustrations cross the gutter bleeding to the pages' edges, sometimes with a large white section holding the text or with the text tucked within the visual.  His color palette enhances the emotions of the text; joy, sadness, frustration, anger, patience, perseverance, discovery and dedication.  My favorite illustration is of Helen seated in the crook of a tree branch, clouds of pink blossoms surrounding her, as she faces toward Annie standing among the branches on the ground.

Helen's Big World:  The Life of Helen Keller adeptly written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations rendered beautifully by Matt Tavares highlights the life of a woman who made a difference in our world; her passion for life captured by their passion for her.  This title is biography at its very best.  An author's note, an illustrator's note, important dates, and selected research sources are included at the book's end.

For more information on Doreen Rappaport or Matt Tavares please visit their websites linked to their names above.  For more information on Matt Tavares's illustrative process go to this interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

The Braille at the top of the jacket and cover spells Helen's Big World.