Here’s the inspiring story of the woman who raised her voice and fist to protect kids’ childhoods and futures—and changed America forever.
Mother Jones is MAD, and she wants you to be MAD TOO, and stand up for what’s right! Told in first-person, New York Times bestelling author Jonah Winter, and acclaimed illustrator Nancy Carpenter, share the incredible story of Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who was essential in the fight to create child labor laws. Well into her sixties, Mother Jones had finally had enough of children working long hours in dangerous factory jobs, and decided she was going to do something about it. The powerful protests she organized earned her the name “the most dangerous woman in America.” And in the Children’s Crusade of 1903, she lead one hundred boys and girls on a glorious march from Philadelphia right to the front door of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Long Island home.
A note on the quotes used in the story. Author's note, with black-and-white photographs. Bibliography. Full-color illustrations were rendered in watercolor and digitally.
Format
Page Count
Trim Size
Dewey
AR
Lexile
Genre
Scholastic Reading Counts
JLG Release
Book Genres
Topics
Standard MARC Records
Cover Art
Young readers are introduced to labor union organizer Mary Harris Jones (1837–1930), aka Mother Jones. The narrative begins by revealing that Jones was angry, then lists the issues that angered her: the conditions that coal miners experienced and children working in the mills for long days and little pay. When newspapers would not run her stories, she led the children, all dressed like people from the American Revolution, on a march from Philadelphia to New York City. While the laws were not changed immediately, Jones helped set the framework for the labor laws passed years later that kept children out of factories and in schools during the day. Pre- and post-story author’s notes explain the selected quotes and the life of Jones. A bibliography discusses the featured sources. Winter’s words will encourage young activists to fight for what is right. Carpenter’s illustrations capture both the bleakness of children working in factories and the joy and hope of young people with her use of color and light and dark. An inspiring story about the fight against child labor. Recommended for children’s nonfiction collections.