Elizabeth Warren is a politician who can be and has been very controversial over recent years. Elizabeth Warren’s Big, Bold Plans by Laurie Ann Thompson ends right before 2020 as it was published in the spring of that year, however, the main information is still relevant. Of course, I assume that if someone is doing a biography of a person, particularly a picture book, they are a fan of that person. Afterall, unless you just want to write a scathing exposé, why write anything? And yes, Thompson does let us know that they are a fan, but also says, “Of course, no politician is perfect. They are, after all, human, and they make mistakes just like the rest of us. Do I agree with everything Warren has ever said or done? No. I don’t even agree with everything I have ever said or done!”
And the things that Warren said and did unfold on the pages of this book. Susanna Chapman’s illustrations are dreamy, but still realistic and bring those things to life. We see how Warren was the youngest child and only girl of her family, we see how she was determined, loved her family, and how her father’s sickness would shape not only her, but her family as well. The young girl who wanted to be a teacher would take a very unusual path to get there but would go beyond this dream. The events that were the journey of Warren is a map of the times, the historic changes and how one person tried to do her best. Like her or not, she had an interesting life.
I am not a fan of Warren, but the way she is presented on the page shows her as a human and does not dwell on the politics of things, yet, of course we see how the current times would influence her, even making her think differently about personal beliefs. It is well done, fun and educational.