Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there was Louis D. Brandeis: a lawyer/activist turned Supreme Court Justice who drew on common sense and Jewish values to make a difference.
This nonfiction picture book for young readers ages 7 - 10 brings to life a man full of wit and common sense, a trailblazer to inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike.
Louis Brandeis knows it’s up to him to change the world. He has seen how some people are treated poorly because of their race or their religion or because they are poor. If I were a lawyer like Uncle Dembitz, he thinks, I could fight for those who need extra help. Guided by his uncle’s example, his father’s practical wisdom, and Jewish values of equality and justice, Brandeis gets to work as a lawyer, making sure everyone has a chance. Louis knows it’s important to fight for worker’s rights and women’s rights. Louis knows (before most people!) that everyone has the right to privacy. And Louis knows it’s important to support arguments with facts.
What Louis doesn’t know is that he’ll become the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916, and his fight for justice will only continue.
“Richard Michelson and Stacy Innerst have prepared an artful and informative book about America’s leading Jewish jurist. I know that Louis Brandeis’s grandson, my late husband, Frank Brandeis Gilbert, would be delighted by this important project. It will enlighten the lives of young readers and, perhaps, older readers as well.” —Ann Gilbert
Richard Michelson is the author The Language of Angels: The Reinvention of Hebrew, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award, and Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, which received the Massachusetts Book Award Honor and the Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal, and was an NCSS Notable Book. His children’s books have been listed among the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, PW, and The New Yorker. His books for Calkins Creek are One of a Kind and What Louis Knows, which celebrate Jewish greats Sydney Taylor and Louis D. Brandeis, respectively. He owns R. Michelson Galleries, hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and is the current poet laureate of Northampton, MA. He lives in Hampshire Country, MA. Visit richardmichelson.com.
View titles by Richard Michelson
Stacy Innerst is a painter, children's book artist, and educator. His books have been honored with the Sydney Taylor Award for The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come, The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Books Award for Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG Vs. Inequality, the SCBWI Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration for The Music in George’s Head. His recent books for Calkins Creek include Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, Saving Lady Liberty, and Lincoln Clears a Path. Visit stacyinnerst.com
View titles by Stacy Innerst
Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there was Louis D. Brandeis: a lawyer/activist turned Supreme Court Justice who drew on common sense and Jewish values to make a difference.
This nonfiction picture book for young readers ages 7 - 10 brings to life a man full of wit and common sense, a trailblazer to inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike.
Louis Brandeis knows it’s up to him to change the world. He has seen how some people are treated poorly because of their race or their religion or because they are poor. If I were a lawyer like Uncle Dembitz, he thinks, I could fight for those who need extra help. Guided by his uncle’s example, his father’s practical wisdom, and Jewish values of equality and justice, Brandeis gets to work as a lawyer, making sure everyone has a chance. Louis knows it’s important to fight for worker’s rights and women’s rights. Louis knows (before most people!) that everyone has the right to privacy. And Louis knows it’s important to support arguments with facts.
What Louis doesn’t know is that he’ll become the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916, and his fight for justice will only continue.
Praise
“Richard Michelson and Stacy Innerst have prepared an artful and informative book about America’s leading Jewish jurist. I know that Louis Brandeis’s grandson, my late husband, Frank Brandeis Gilbert, would be delighted by this important project. It will enlighten the lives of young readers and, perhaps, older readers as well.” —Ann Gilbert
Author
Richard Michelson is the author The Language of Angels: The Reinvention of Hebrew, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award, and Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, which received the Massachusetts Book Award Honor and the Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal, and was an NCSS Notable Book. His children’s books have been listed among the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, PW, and The New Yorker. His books for Calkins Creek are One of a Kind and What Louis Knows, which celebrate Jewish greats Sydney Taylor and Louis D. Brandeis, respectively. He owns R. Michelson Galleries, hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and is the current poet laureate of Northampton, MA. He lives in Hampshire Country, MA. Visit richardmichelson.com.
View titles by Richard Michelson
Stacy Innerst is a painter, children's book artist, and educator. His books have been honored with the Sydney Taylor Award for The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come, The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Books Award for Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG Vs. Inequality, the SCBWI Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration for The Music in George’s Head. His recent books for Calkins Creek include Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, Saving Lady Liberty, and Lincoln Clears a Path. Visit stacyinnerst.com
View titles by Stacy Innerst
