Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt's Remarkable Life

by Candace Fleming

No matter how the question is answered, one thing is clear: There has hardly been a life in the last century that Eleanor Roosevelt has not affected, in one way or another. From securing safe, low-cost housing for Kentucky's poor, to helping her grandchildren hang a tire swing on the White House's south lawn, to representing America as the first female delegate to the United Nations, Eleanor rarely kept a second of her life for herself -- and she...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B00A2OP608
• ISBN13: 9780689865442
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.4" x 11.4"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Getting to know her

We older persons grew up with Franklin Delano Roosevelt as our thirty-second president, who at four terms was our longest serving. And we knew Eleanor his wife, who remained active nationally for many years after his death. Young people may not know much about her. So, please come in, take a seat, and let me show you this scrapbook about Eleanor. Isn't her picture on the cover lovely? She was indeed a lovely person. I had been wanting to show you Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt's Remarkable Life, by Candace Fleming. The design and big size of the book are perfect. You can feel how heavy and semiglossy the paper is. As a hardback it is an enduring treasure. There are photographs on practically every page. And much more. The many articles are well written and presented artfully on the page, the fonts are varied, and many thoughtful quotations of Eleanor's are included, for she did a lot of writing. We learn that Eleanor was born to privilege, but had a hard childhood. Her mother, who was demeaning toward her, died when Eleanor was eight. "With my father I was perfectly happy," she wrote. But shortly before she was ten years old, her father also died, a suicide. Eleanor's uncle and godfather was her father's older brother, Theodore Roosevelt, who became our twenty-sixth president. He instilled in her the importance of social responsibility and helping those less fortunate. Eleanor remained a humanitarian all her life. She was first educated by tutor until almost fifteen and then sent to a school in England, where she met an enlightened teacher and developed a winning personality and many friends. We follow Eleanor through marriage and children; through her husband Franklin's loss of the use of his legs from polio. As first lady during Franklin's long presidency, she traveled the country, becoming his "eyes and ears," since he could not travel easily, and reporting back to him with advice. She continued teaching, lecturing, writing, and editing. In her sixties at the United Nations, she chaired the commission that created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor was intelligent and always a charming and hardworking lady. Our Eleanor is for more mature children and for young adults. But older persons will also find the book interesting, insightful, and inspiring. Exciting even.

Rare To Call a Book "Life-Changing"

... but this one has been, for me. I was actually moved to tears as I read some parts: Eleanor visiting troops in the South Pacific; Eleanor pleading for Israel's right to become a state, by 1948; her grief at Fala's death--what a foolish reporter, who commented that she was dry-eyed at FDR's death, but could weep when the dog died! Totally clueless person. A monumental life, marked by all the human characteristics of failures, victories, heartaches, jubilations... she took little credit, and shouldered lots of blame. I also find it noteworthy to look at the reactions of all the first ladies, after her, to Eleanor. Very telling, to my mind! GREAT JOB! Best biography I have ever read!

Make Our Eleanor YOUR Eleanor

A perfectly written biography. Anyone interested in politics, women, American history, civil rights, human rights, and making a difference in the world MUST read this book. You will feel like you not only know her, but after reading, you'll feel that Eleanor is somewhere cheering you on in your life's endeavors as educators, librarians, sanitation workers, peacemakers, leaders, voters, human beings... An incredible piece of writing about an awe-inspiring person.

Richie's Picks: OUR ELEANOR

" 'I always had the feeling from a very young age that I was ugly,' Eleanor wrote. This feeling came from her mother, who often gazed at her daughter coolly, as if she couldn't imagine having such a plain-looking, solemn-faced daughter. Forced to wear a back brace to correct a curvature of the spine, Eleanor knew 'as a child knows these things,' that her mother was bitterly disappointed in her physical features. 'I can remember,' wrote Eleanor, 'standing in the door, very often with my finger in my mouth which was, of course, forbidden--and I can see the look in her eyes and hear the tone in her voice as she said: "Come in, Granny." If a visitor was there, she might turn and say, "She is such a funny child, so old-fashioned that we always call her Granny." I wanted to sink through the floor in shame.' "Eleanor tried desperately to please her mother. Small as she was, she often sat and rubbed [her mother] Anna's temples for hours on end, easing her migraine headaches. 'The feeling that I was useful,' Eleanor later said, 'was perhaps the greatest joy I experienced.' " In the manner of American Idol, AOL and the Discovery Channel have been conducting an online process to determine "The Greatest American." Happening upon the poll containing the Final Five last week, and reading aloud to Shari what was being done, she grumbled in response to the fact that the remaining contestants were all men. I haven't yet dared to tell her which of those five men has since taken the top spot, thanks to 2.4 million online voters with the wisdom to believe that Ronald Reagan was a greater America than was MLK, Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, or the dude with the wooden teeth. If those participating in "The Greatest American" voting had had the wisdom to make sure that at least one American woman be present among those final contestants, who would have been the most likely female to fill such a spot? OUR ELEANOR provides readers with more than enough evidence for proposing that Eleanor Roosevelt be considered as one of the greatest of citizens in the history of America, irregardless of gender. Candace Fleming does a sensational job of recounting the amazing accomplishments of Eleanor Roosevelt, both in Eleanor's own right, and as the eyes, ears and often the conscience of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But at least as important as unveiling the record of Eleanor's prodigious achievements on the national and world stage, the author succeeds brilliantly in revealing the real woman behind the public figure. Closely examined are the relationships with her parents, her husband, her children, her mother-in-law, her friends, and famous world leaders, as well as with the hundreds of thousands of nameless everyday people, both Americans and others, with whom she came in contact over her long, oftentimes difficult life. "[Franklin's mother] Sara frequently made thoughtless. stinging comments that deeply hurt Eleanor. Once, in front of a dozen dinner guests, Sara tur

Remarkable biography of a remarkable woman

Until I read this biography, the name of Eleanor Roosevelt called to my mind a vague picture of a saintly woman who was married to FDR and who wrote magazine columns. After reading this outstanding scrapbook biography, I realize that this woman WAS the most influential woman in the history of our country. Fleming has presented much factual information about Eleanor and has arranged it to lead readers to a clear understanding of the character, personality, background, and motivations of this truly remarkable woman. The author presents relevant biographical information clearly and honestly, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. Fleming's straightforward presentation does not condescend to young readers. Refreshing and all too rare in its honesty, this is an exceptional biography of a multi-talented social activist. Although written for young readers, I recommend it for all readers, young and old.