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.

She Never Gives Up

There will be times when reading a picture book biography when you feel your admiration for the individual growing page by page.  You can't help but speculate on the strength of character necessary for this person to continue pursuing their life's goals.  In the face of continuous adversity, what inspires this person to endure and persevere?

As you read the final sentence on the final page, a hope grows inside you.  Unlike most of the biographies you read, this amazing person is still alive.  However remote the possibility, you long for the opportunity to meet them.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R. B. G. vs. Inequality (Abrams Books for Young Readers, August 8, 2017) written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Stacy Innerst will embolden readers to pursue their life's ambitions with the same intention.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:  During this trial, you will learn about a little girl who had no clue just how important she would become.

Step by step, incident by incident, beginning with her birth in 1933 Ruth Bader Ginsburg forged ahead against the status quo, what was expected and accepted.  Her parents, Jewish, came from families leaving Europe due to persecution for their religious beliefs.  Her father never finished high school.  Her mother graduated from high school by the time she was fifteen but went to work supporting a brother's college education.  She continued saving every single cent she made after marriage so her daughter could go to college.

Growing up in a home in Brooklyn, New York, with books and a mother who supported weekly trips to the public library, Ruth knew the opportunities the world offered.  She also knew its cruelty in the form of anti-Semitism.  In school Ruth pursued many interests but at an early age her interest in the laws governing our United States was apparent.  Sadness descended on Ruth though on her high school graduation day.  Her beloved mother passed away.

Having earned a scholarship, Ruth went to Cornell University.  In 1950 Ruth and other women were outnumbered by male students, four to one.  To be seen as knowledgeable was detrimental for young women.  She hid and studied.  She also met a young man who admired knowledgeable young women.  His name was Martin Ginsburg.

Despite discouragement, even from her father and against the existing norms of the time, Ruth went to law school (after marrying Martin).  Did you know that at Harvard Law School, at that time, Ruth was not allowed to use the periodical room because she was a woman?  Did you know that as the only woman in a lecture hall, Ruth endured ridicule by professors because she was a woman?  She (and other women) always answered the questions correctly;

. . . she had to, she was representing all women.

Time and time again, Ruth did the work of three people to accomplish her goals.  Time and time again Ruth met with extreme prejudice.  Did you know that she was turned down by law firms because she was a woman, she was Jewish and she was a mother?  With the 1970s came the age of women starting to have their say.  Not one to be openly protesting Ruth fought for the rights of women in her own style, through the law.

Decade after decade her voice was heard as the person in charge of the ACLU Women's Rights Project, as an appointed judge in the U. S. Court of Appeals (appointed by President Jimmy Carter) and as a member of the United States Supreme Court (appointed by President Bill Clinton).  She was sixty years old.  Her dissents in serving on the Supreme Court are legendary.  Today at the age of eighty-four Ruth Bader Ginsburg is still a member of the United States Supreme Court, a voice for those who need it the most.


The writing of Jonah Winter captivates readers immediately.  You can feel a tension (and suspense) building as Ruth Bader Ginsburg encounters obstacle after obstacle but does not halt her pursuits.  Each time you find yourself inwardly cheering for this woman, applauding her achievements and expressing gratitude for her sense of purpose.  The technique of presenting her life as a case is brilliant.

Jonah Winter chronicles Ruth's life prior to law school as absolute truths, supported by research.  He continues with specific acts of inequality as exhibits and concludes with her singular victories (even her dissents are victorious).  Here is one of the exhibits.

H.  Exhibit H:  Ruth would speak up at faculty meetings---and the male professors would totally ignore her.  A male professor would then say the very same thing that Ruth had said---and get acknowledged for being smart.  This kept happening even after Ruth became Columbia's first tenured female law professor.


The design of the waving United States flag seen on the opened dust jacket extends to both flap edges.  On the right flap a smaller interior image of Ruth and her mother appears at the bottom.  On the left flap Ruth is seen reading one of her dissents in the Supreme Court.  The back of the dust jacket contains a yellow, lined legal pad acting as a place holder for the opening statement of this "case".  Beneath it Ruth as a little girl stands with determination etched on her face.

Spanning the opened book case, on a background of parchment brown, are the scales of justice.  The center is placed along the spine.  On the left are eight justices, serious and frowning.  On the right Ruth Bader Ginsburg is stepping into the other scale which is filled with books.  One hand is holding a gavel and the other is grasping the line holding the scale.

On the opening and closing endpapers ten rows of shelves hold books from left to right.  Ruth is standing on a ladder, wearing her justice robes, reaching for a book.  These books extend to the following page at the beginning and at the close of the book.  On the title page, the waving flag provides a background for Ruth as a young girl, reading.

Rendered in gouache, ink and Photoshop illustrator Stacy Innerst provides readers with a detailed, poignant portrait of Ruth, during her entire life.  His opening two page picture of a little girl, holding a book in a court room and standing before a jury (us) is particularly powerful.  The essence of the text is distilled in each image.

To show how Ruth's mother worked but was well-read, we see her mopping floors with a mop and bucket and holding a book, reading, at the same time.  To depict anti-Semitism a dark vehicle spans from the entire right across the gutter to most of the left side.  Peering out the back window is Ruth.  She is looking at a sign on a resort fence which reads:

NO DOGS
or JEWS
ALLOWED .

Stacy Innerst alters his picture sizes in keeping with the narrative and to punctuate pacing.  He provides appropriate details in keeping with Ruth's life and the historical setting of each visual.  For the exhibits, each portrait is placed on an opened, yellow and lined legal pad.  At each page turn you are drawn into his illustrations becoming a part of the scene.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Ruth hiding in the bathroom to study.  It gives specific force to just how much inequality was prevalent then (and sometimes still today).  Ruth is pictured wearing her Cornell sweater seated on the floor of the bathroom under the sink.  Books are spread across the black tile floor.  The background walls are pink tiles with a small border.


Even after several readings the importance of this book, its power, does not diminish.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R. B. G. vs. Inequality written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Stacy Innerst is a picture book biography to be shared as often as possible.  I highly recommend it being placed on your professional and personal bookshelves.  At the conclusion of this book are a glossary and an author's note.

To discover more about Jonah Winter and Stacy Innerst, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Jonah Winter is interviewed at author Deborah Kalb's site about this title.  At Stacy Innerst's site you can view interior illustrations.  This title is one of the ten The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Books Award winners.  It is also one of the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable books.  NPR Morning Edition recently (January 22, 2018) chatted with Ruth Bader Ginsburg about the #MeToo Movement.


Please take a few minutes to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to note the other titles selected this week by participants in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.