Mama Went to Jail for the Vote

by Kathleen Karr, Bonnie Christensen, Malene Laugesen (Illustrator)

When her Mama, a suffragist, pickets the White House, demanding that women be allowed to vote, and is arrested, Susan Elizabeth learns the value of her mother's courageous fight and joins the cause.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Womens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Kathleen Karr was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and grew up on a chicken farm in Dorothy, New Jersey. After escaping to college, she worked in the film industry, and also taught in high school and college. She seriously began writing fiction on a dare from her husband. After honing her skills in women’s fiction, her children asked her to write a book for them, (It Ain’t Always Easy, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990), and she discovered she loved writing for young readers.

Reviews

[معصومه توکلی · Rating 3 out of 5]

عنوان ترجمهٔ فارسی: مامان رفت زندان به خاطر حق رأی

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kid friendly story of the struggle of suffragettes. It does gloss the horrors they suffered in prison, but works for an introduction for kids to the fight for the vote. A good read for Women's History Month, but parents may want to explain to older kids that this is a "disneyfied" version of history.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite children's books. The only thing I would change is the lack of diversity in the characters to portray women of color suffragists and their struggles compared to and unfortunately often with white female suffragists.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it glosses over the horrors of jail beatings etc that so many suffragettes experienced, and it doesn't mention at all the still suffering status of non-whites, this is a good introduction to the hard-won privilege that is the vote.

Reading with my second grader was an interesting thing as we are in the midst of presidential primaries. One thing I had to say more than once, was that even though it seems like a long time, the time of the book wasn't that long ago, and winning the vote was just the first step.

Could work very well in lessons on voting rights, civil rights, women's lib, the early 20th century, and many others.

With older kids, I'd pair it with some harder to swallow facts about police brutality against suffragettes and the pamphlets against giving women the vote.

[Olivia Lagore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told in first person form the viewpoint of the daughter of a leading suffragette in the 1910s with vibrant, gorgeous illustrations, Mama Went To Jail for the Vote would be an excellent book to use in a classroom when studying the suffragettes. Although the book did not give as much background information in the actually story as I would have liked, there was an afterward page that described the historical and political changes that influenced the events in the book. Were I reading this to students without giving them a lesson on this topic, I would definitely read them the informational page as well.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen Karr wrote this book from the perspective of the little girl whose mama went to jail for the vote. The little girl, Susan, grows up with her suffragist mother. She learns all about fighting for women's rights in a peaceful way.
This book would be good to read when learning about women's suffrage as it gives a wonderful description of what women's suffrage is, as well as information on the events that happened in the process at the time.
The last page of the book provides more information on women's suffrage and key women who played an important role in the "fight."

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book intertwines many topics, a complex children's book. I would not advise using it with younger children because of the large number of themes. Additionally there is tension between the mother and father, as well as the idea that Susan Elizabeth's mother is in jail, is she a bad person dichotomy. Good for use in discussing ways women got the vote and the need for women to have the ability for vote, not advisable in a more simplistic unit on elections.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel conflicted about this book. The illustrations combine historical accuracy (excellent research) with warmth and style. The story is strong, too. It does a good job of portraying an activist movement, but the cast is all white. The characters parrot historically accurate rhetoric, but nothing acknowledges the racism of the white women's movement. I find it a unsettling.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for Women's History Month!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful teaching tool to talk about women and voting history as well as civil rights and voting. I read it to my 5-yr old and it really gave her something to talk about!