Rebel Voices by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd Knight

A beautifully illustrated celebration of the brave campaigners who fought for women’s right to vote.

Discover that it was never illegal for women to vote in Ecuador, or how 40,000 Russian women marched through St Petersburg demanding their rights. Find out how one Canadian woman changed opinions with a play, and Kuwaiti women protested via text message. And learn that women climbed mountains, walked a lion through the streets of Paris, and starved themselves, all in the name of having a voice.

Tracing its history from New Zealand at the end of the 19th century, follow this empowering movement as it spread from Oceania to Europe and the Americas, then Africa and Asia up to the present day. Meet the women who rioted, rallied and refused to give up. Stunningly illustrated by Eve Lloyd Knight, this book celebrates the women who refused to behave, rebelling against convention to give women everywhere a voice.

Rebel Voices by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd Knight is gorgeous and inspiring, educating readers on the history of the female vote and how a woman’s right to vote was achieved in different countries.

This is a hardback book, the size of a portrait picture book. It’s quite large in size, to allow for all the stunning illustrations on every page. The quality is amazing — thick and heavy paper. And there are only 47 pages to this book and there aren’t too many words. So, it doesn’t take long to read.

The message behind this book is so important, allowing readers to understand just how hard women fought to receive equal rights. The book begins with an introductory spread, detailing the history and the reason behind this book. It’s about women’s stories — important women of history who helped their country understand how important it was for women to be able to vote.

“By the end of the 19th century, women could stay silent and powerless no longer. Suffragists from every corner of the globe began to fight, march, riot and petition for their voices to be heard.”

Each spread of this book focuses on a different country, from India to Japan to Ecuador to the United Kingdom. Rebel Voices also follows a timeline, 1893 to 2015. The illustration style of the book is perfect for the content. The design is strong, with bold colours and distinct colouring. With harsh lines and contrasting colour palettes, you can’t read this book without studying these illustrations. I spent just as much time looking over the illustrations as I did actually reading the words.

“Even the cold wind couldn’t wipe the smile of satisfaction from Norwegian Gina Krog’s face. She was one of the first women in the world to summit a mountain — at a time when ladies weren’t even encouraged to set foot in a restaurant alone.”

This feels like the perfect time to publish this book. The world is beginning to work harder to recognise equality, and with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement making waves around the world, a book that showcases the strong, powerful, determined and brave women of history is fantastic reading for adults and kids.

“Tang set up the first women’s suffrage group and campaigned for girls to get an education. She also help to win the crusade to ban foot binding.”

I recommend this to young girls and boys, because it’s easy to read and understand and a great way to introduce them to suffragists. I recommend this to parents as a way to educate themselves and their children. I also recommend this to anyone who has read Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World or Women in Science.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women
Louise Kay Stewart & Eve Lloyd Knight
January 2018
Hachette Publishers