Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics

By Catherine Thimmesh and Douglas B. Jones

Catherine Thimmesh’s inspiring look at the role of women in American politics—past, present, and future—is now available with updated sections on Hillary Rodham Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Nancy Pelosi. From the time our government was being formed, women have fought their way from behind the scenes to the center of power and decision making. So, why not a woman in the White House? Two thousand eight may be the year!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 18, 2008
• ISBN: 9780547350509

Catherine Thimmesh

Catherine Thimmesh is the award-winning author of many books for children, including Girls Think of Everything and Team Moon, winner of the Sibert Medal. Her books have received numerous starred reviews, appeared on best books lists, and won many awards, including the IRA Children's Book Award and Minnesota Book Award. She lives in Minnesota with her family. www.catherinethimmesh.com. 

Book preview

Madam President

The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics

Catherine Thimmesh

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[Image]

Madam President

by

CATHERINE THIMMESH

Illustrated by

DOUGLAS B. JONES

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY * BOSTON

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For Paul—Always

—C.T.

For my wonderful partner, Fiona Richards, who contributed

time and talent to the illustration and design of this book

—D.B.J.

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Text copyright © 2004 by Catherine Thimmesh

Illustrations copyright © 2004 by Douglas B. Jones

Photomosaic illustration on p. 74–75 © 2004 by Rob Silvers

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

The text of this book is set in Mrs. Eaves.

The illustrations were hand-drawn with pencil on paper;

color was applied using Photoshop on the Mac.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thimmesh, Catherine.

Madam president : the extraordinary, true (and evolving) story of women in politics / by

Catherine Thimmesh ; illustrated by Douglas B.Jones,

p. cm.

ISBN 0-618-39666-7

I. Women in politics—United States—Juvenile literature. I. Jones, Douglas B., ill. II. Title.

HQ1236.5.U6T45 2004

320'.082'0973—dc22

2004001053

Printed in Singapore

TWP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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[Image]

I'm going to be an architect when I grow up.

I want to be an astronaut.

[Image][Image][Image]

Who wants to be a science teacher?

...a landscaper...

Or a brain surgeon?

I wish I were a dolphin trainer.

I want to be a computer programmer...

I'm going to be a tour guide.

[Image][Image][Image]

When I grow up, I'm going to be the president of the United States.

You ...?

a ... GIRL?

[Image][Image][Image]

"Well, maybe you could marry a president..."

Abigail Adams

[Image][Image][Image]

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: home to the president. And the president's spouse. With 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, and 8 staircases, the stately, enormous white house has plenty to offer the traditional homemaker. But many a first lady has ventured beyond the confines of the white stone walls of hostessdom and out into the political arena of presidential advisors, and have themselves left a lasting footprint—whether it be pointy-toed and spike-heeled or rubber-soled and loosely laced—on the very bedrock of America.

As early as 1776, Abigail

Reviews for Madam President

[abrozi1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! This book has many great women in politics from Susan B. Anthony to Hilary Clinton and most in between. It starts out with a cartoon like message about a girl who wants to become President and a boy who thinks that's impossible. This book tells many of the empowering stories of women's suffrage, the first women to be appointed secretary of state and other offices. The book provides quotes from many of these fascinating women and their journeys to help change America and the way we treated women. This truly is a powerful book for every reader!

[amynorthmartinez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first impression was a good one. I took the quiz on the back of the book and got about half of the answers wrong. Surely an indicator that I needed to read the contents of the book! The illustrations are fun, showing powerful, smart, restless, and independent women. It is written so that younger audiences will be able to follow along. It fit well into a lesson on our political system, as it is organized into the various political offices. In the last section the author touches on political systems around the world. In the entire book she is very brief. These subjects especially would benefit from further development in class.

[dayehsensei · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an inspiring, high-quality overview of powerful of women in politics. While many of the women featured are figures from US politics, the book also features international figures such as Benazir Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher, and Vigdis Finnbogadottir. Despite the low number of international figures included, the book maintains excellence: short 1-2 biographies and illustrations of each woman are arranged in alphabetical order. A lighthearted dialogue with fictional characters debating whether or not a woman can be president briefly appears every few pages and serves as its own mini plot. An excellent timeline, including each featured woman, and impressively detailed source page appears in the back. This book should be included in every elementary and middle school library. Girls everywhere need to see it and will be inspired to dream.

[kmcinern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book belongs in middle school classrooms as it is both an interesting and informative. Although the text can seem disjointed and unorganized at times, the content is organized enough to maintain the attention of the reader. Transitions are found in the form of questions asked from a young girl and these questions serve as divisions between the book's different sections. Each section highlights a variety of different women each somehow affiliated with politics. I would imagine this book would appeal primarily to female students in grades 4-8, although other students may find this book an interesting resource.