Children’s books about suffragists and suffragettes are a little bit hard to come by, but this list of books is made up of absolute gems! My children and I learned so much from these picture books about the history of women who fought for the right to vote and all that they sacrificed and endured. This is a great list of books to share with children during Women’s History Month!
Note: the terms suffragette and suffragist mean essentially the same thing – they are women who fought for the right to vote. The term suffragette was used in the United Kingdom and the term suffragist was used in the United States. I felt the need to include bother terms in describing these books for the sake of accuracy.
Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote by Barb Rosenstock
How Alice Paul fought for years to gain President Woodrow Wilson’s support for the Nineteenth Amendment . . . and won! Great info in this book about what the suffragettes and suffragists did and endured to win the vote. From the marching and picketing to the jail time and hunger strikes, all are explained in a very accessible storyline.
Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone
The true story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the United States. This book gives great information and is an easy read. I thought there was just a hint of a disparaging attitude towards women working to care for home and family. To counter this, I shared my feelings on the nobility of motherhood and the importance of the work that mothers do while reading this to my children. This was subtle and didn’t dominate the story, so I still recommend this book. If you value motherhood and think that caring for children is important and noble, you might also want to preview! There are not a lot of picture books on Elizabeth Cady Stanton, so I would definitely recommend this picture book on this important suffragist!
Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass by Dean Robbins
A simple introduction to Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass and their fight for equality.
I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote by Linda Arms White
This is the story of how Esther Morris helped women gain the right to vote in the very first state to grant voting rights to women (Wyoming). There is so much to like about this book! It portrays Esther as a determined girl and woman who believes in herself and goes the distance to accomplish many things that society told her she couldn’t do. The story is entertaining and engaging and the illustrations are lots of fun! I love this one!
Hannah G. Solomon Dared to Make a Difference by Bonnie Lindauer
Hannah G. Solomon was a Jewish woman who believed women could make a difference in the world – and she did in so many ways! She worked hard to help people in need in immigrant and impoverished communities, and eventually joined the fight for women’s suffrage.
So Much More to Helen! The Passions and Pursuits of Helen Keller by Meeg Pincus
I didn’t know that Helen Keller was involved in the women’s suffrage movement until I read this book. That wasn’t the only thing I learned from this book though! Helen did a lot of amazing things to help others. This easy and enjoyable read highlights many of her pursuits and lesser-known facts about her life.
A Take-Charge Girl Blazes a Trail to Congess: The Story of Jeannette Rankin by Gretchen Woelfle
Reading this book was the first time that I had heard of Jeannette Rankin. I don’t know how I didn’t know about this remarkable woman before! Jeannette Rankin helped women win the fight for suffrage in Montana in 1914, then went on to become the first woman in the United States Congress. This is a great book about an amazing woman who wanted the vote and wanted a voice in Congress so she could create positive change for women and children.
How Women Won the Vote: Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
This is such a fantastic book full of interesting details about how the suffragists fought for the vote. It is pretty long for a picture book, so you’ll want to break it up over several days if you are reading it aloud. Though the book is very engaging, there is a lot of information and it might be too much for some young children. I strongly recommend it for middle elementary and up, and any younger children who are ready to appreciate it.
Bold and Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote by Kirsten Gillibrand
This book contains ten short bios of women who worked toward winning the right to vote. It is an easy and interesting read, but because there are a lot of words and not many pictures, you might need to break it up over a few days if reading it to younger children. The suffragists included in this book are: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Jovita Idar, Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns, and Mary Church Terrell. I appreciate that this book includes some of the African American women and women of color who were part of the women’s movement.
Rise Up With a Song: The True Story of Ethel Smyth, Suffragette Composer by Diane Worthey
This is a cool story about a lesser-known suffragette who rallied women through the power of music. A great addition to your children’s books about suffragettes!
Emmeline Pankhurst by Lisbeth Kaiser
Emmeline Pankhurst was an important leader in the suffragette movement in the United Kingdom. She became interested in the women’s rights movement when she was just a young girl. After her husband’s tragic death, she continued to fight for women’s suffrage in England and in the United States, having experienced first hand the consequences of being a widowed woman with limited legal rights. This book is an easy and engaging read about a truly inspiring woman!
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Sojourner Truth was one amazing woman! So bold, so strong, so powerful, and so fiery! And this book does a great job of capturing all of that. It describes Sojourner’s life in slavery, her escape with the help of a quaker family, her fight for abolition, and her campaign for women’s rights. Sojourner Truth is so inspiring and this book does a great job of making her story accessible to children. I highly recommend this book for early elementary on up!
Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote by Dinah Johnson
This is a story about one of the amazing African American activists, Ida B. Wells. Ida was a child when the Fifteenth Amendment passed. She was inspired by her father’s bravery as he boldly exercised his new right to vote despite personal consequences. When Ida grew up, she desired to make change for women and help them gain suffrage.
One way that Ida tried to help make a change was by joining the Women’s March of 1913. The march was organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association which excluded black women. Sadly, not all of the women at the march wanted universal suffrage for women. Some of the women, including Alice Paul, did not want black women to participate in the march. This book tells us how Ida courageously marched anyway. She then went on to tirelessly work for social reforms for women, and contribute to civil rights movements throughout her life.
Dare to Question: Carrie Chapman Catt’s Voice for the Vote by Jasmine A. Stirling
Carrie Chapman Catt is a suffragist that you don’t hear about a lot, which is surprising because she was very influential in the fight for women’s suffrage. She was the successor to the work of Susan B. Anthony and became the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association after her. Carrie Chapman Catt revolutionized the suffrage movement by making it accessible to regular women from all walks of life. Carrie saw the movement through to the end, when the vote was cast that made United States History and granted women the right to vote.
My favorite part of the book is the end which describes the suspenseful time after the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment while women were waiting for the amendment to be ratified by 36 states. It was actually the influence of on of the senator’s mother’s that finally tipped the scales in favor of suffrage for women. This is not an account I have read in any other picture book, but it’s such an important bit of American history! This book is full of interesting information, and Carrie Chapman Catt is a very inspiring person.
I recommend this book with one reservation – the way the story is written suggests that Carrie had a romantic relationship with another woman after her second husband passed away (her first husband also died). As far as I can tell this is only speculation, and seems out of place in a children’s book. The story mentioned the relationship this way two times, so it is not a prominent part of the book. Please preview the story before sharing it with your children if you have concerns. There is a lot of valuable information in this well-written children’s book on suffragists!
A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull by Kathleen Krull
Victoria Woodhull was the very first woman to run for the office of president of the United States… in 1872! She was born into poverty and abused by her family, but found her fortune in her adulthood in New York City, and used it to try to change the world for women. She sought equal political rights for women, and rocked society with her radical ideas. She This fiery and bold woman is an important figure in the political history of the United States, even if her name has largely been forgotten.
Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed this list of picture books on suffragettes and suffragists! Please come again soon!
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