The Day Madear Voted

by Wade Hudson, Don Tate (Illustrator)

Overview

A moving look at a Black family’s journey to exercise their right to vote and imagine a better future.

Charlie and Ralph’s mom has waited a long time to vote because countless obstacles have been put in Black people’s way to stop them from having a say in elections—obstacles that it took a lot of hard work to tear down. But now, in 1969, Madear is going to vote for the very first time, and the boys are coming along on this exciting day. A day that puts a new bounce in their mom’s step, and enables them all to begin to dream of a better future.

Wade Hudson and Don Tate give young readers a warm family story as well as a powerful glimpse into the struggle that had to be waged to achieve a fundamental right of citizenship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593615744
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	07/09/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.88(w) x 11.25(h) x 0.33(d)
Lexile:	AD620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Wade Hudson is the author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including the middle grade memoir Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, winner of the 2022 Malka Penn award, and the anthologies We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices; The Talk, a New York Times Best Book of the Year; and Recognize: Black Lives Matter (all co-edited with his wife, Cheryl Willis Hudson). He is the president and co-founder of Just Us Books, Inc. Wade speaks around the country about issues of inclusion and diversity and has received numerous honors for his contributions to children’s literature, including the Children’s Book Council’s Diversity Achievement Award and a 2022 Eric Carle Honor. He lives in East Orange, New Jersey. You can visit Wade at JustUsBooks.com or follow him on Instagram @WadeHudsonJr and on Twitter @HudsonWade.

Don Tate is the award-winning creator of numerous picture book biographies, including Jerry Changed the Game! How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever; Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes; William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad; and Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, among others. Don’s accolades include an Ezra Jack Keats Book Award and Honor, Carter G. Woodson Book Awards, Christopher Awards, and SCBWI Crystal and Golden Kite Awards. In addition to writing and illustrating, Don enjoys speaking at elementary schools. He lives with his family in Austin, Texas, and invites you to visit him online at dontate.com.

Editorial Reviews

The atmosphere is joyous. . . . The illustrations, created with ‘digital watercolor and mixed media,’ clearly express the characters’ shifting emotions. . . . The straightforward firstperson narrative is engaging, and at the story’s end, the family’s joy is heartfelt and memorable.” —Booklist

“Madear’s children aren’t fully aware of how special today is, but their mother—sporting one of her best dresses—joyously explains that this Tuesday in 1969 will be the first day she gets to vote. . . . This straightforward yet empowering tale will get youngsters energized for election day.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-05-17
Hard-won civic rights turn Election Day into something special for one Black mother.

Madear’s children aren’t fully aware of how special today is, but their mother—sporting one of her best dresses—joyously explains that this Tuesday in 1969 will be the first day she gets to vote. She delivers a straightforward civic and history lesson to her children (one of whom narrates) and to readers: “Many obstacles [were] put up to prevent Black folks from voting.” The digital watercolor and mixed-media illustrations become relatively muted during flashbacks in which distressed Black folk are subjected to poll taxes, reading tests, and “even a test where people had to correctly guess the number of jelly beans in a jar!” The subsequent spread of protests contrasts with the vibrant images of Madear with kids in tow proceeding to their city hall in Taylorville, Louisiana. The monumental shift from the disenfranchised past to the present of 1969 is significant, but even still, the young narrator witnesses the mean looks Madear receives as she queues before the voting booth. Nonetheless, she votes and triumphantly leaves the building in her floral dress, bright orange coat, and head scarf, sun streaming behind her. Her children are equally ecstatic; the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be just the beginning of Madear and her family’s electoral participation. The book concludes with the family celebrating the election of Barack Obama in 2008. This straightforward yet empowering tale will get youngsters energized for Election Day.

A brightly colored retread of voting rights in an easy package. (author’s and illustrator’s notes) (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews