Richard Michelson’s new picture book

Children’s book author Richard Michelson has written a number of books introducing children to lesser-celebrated firsts. In other words, he hasn’t retold the story of the first astronauts to land on the moon, the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a single season, or the first woman to be elected President of the United States — whoops, never mind. His books have, however, covered topics such as the first Passover Seder to be held in the White House (“Next Year in the White House”), and the story of William Powell, the first African American man to design, build, and own a golf course (“Twice as Good”).

Michelson’s newest picture book for children, “What Louis Brandeis Knows: A Crusader for Social Justice Becomes a Supreme Court Justice,” illustrated by Stacy Innerst (Calkins Creek), chronicles another first. It is the story of Louis Brandeis’s path to becoming the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Louis Brandeis was born in America, but Michelson starts his story eight years before his birth, when his parents immigrated here to escape religious persecution. Brandeis grew up in Louisville, Ky., during the Civil War, and was taught that “one person should never be allowed to own another person.” Brandeis excelled in his studies, and over dinner, his family discussed “politics and art and music and the books they’re reading.” But his father also instilled in his son the value of leisure and play, telling him, “Any fool knows that friends and music and bathing in a river are more important than money and property.” Brandeis attended Harvard Law School as the youngest student, and only Jewish person, in his class. During his career as a lawyer, he championed labor laws for women, exposed illegal practices by insurance companies, and became known as a crusader for social justice.

President Woodrow Wilson nominated Brandeis to the Supreme Court, and on June 1, 1916, 47 members of the Senate voted in favor of confirming him, and 22 Senators voted against his confirmation, making Brandeis the first Jewish member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Michelson came up with the idea to do a book about Louis Brandeis after the publisher of Brandeis University Press told him that she was thinking about developing a line of illustrated books, and asked if he had any ideas. In a recent email he explained, “There were lots of Ruth Bader Ginsburg books coming out at the time, and Bryan Collier had just finished “Thurgood,” so I suggested it was only natural that Brandeis University Press begin with a Brandeis biography.” 

In the end, Brandeis University Press decided not to get into the children’s book arena, but by the time they made that decision, Michelson had read all of Brandeis’ decisions and private letters, which he admitted could be “dry and laborious.” That said, he admired Brandeis’ “presence and prescience.” 

He decided to write the book, even though he didn’t have a publisher. “The most difficult part of writing a biography for kids is not to get waylaid by the minutiae. I wanted to show off my smarts, but you can’t let the details often get in the way of the story, so most of my research is not in the final manuscript. Still, it needed to be done in order to get inside Brandeis’ mind and understand what he was thinking,“ he explained. 

It took six years to finish the research, write the story, find a new publisher and an illustrator — Stacy Innerst’s collage-like illustrations add another dimension to this important tale. And the timing couldn’t be better to introduce young readers to a jurist who believed in equal rights for all. “I wanted to remind people of what an independent Supreme Court could accomplish as an equal third leg of government,” said Michelson. 

After I finished writing this story, I learned that Michelson has another children’s book coming out later this month, about another first. “Fanny’s Big Idea” (Penguin Random House) is the story of Fanny Goldstein, a librarian and pioneer in advocating for diverse books and voices. Goldstein was the first Jewish woman to run a branch of the Boston Public Library, where she also originated Jewish Book Week, Negro History Week, Catholic Book Week, and Boston Red Sox Book Week. 

Richard Michelson’s books are available at Bunch of Grapes and Edgartown Books.