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What Louis Brandeis Knows

A Crusader for Social Justice Becomes a Supreme Court Justice

Author Richard Michelson
Illustrated by Stacy Innerst
Hardcover
$18.99 US
Astra Publishing House | Calkins Creek
9.44"W x 11.31"H x 0.4"D  
On sale Oct 07, 2025 | 48 Pages | 9781662680632
Grades 2-5
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Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there was Louis D. Brandeis: a lawyer/activist turned Supreme Court Justice who drew on common sense and Jewish values to make a difference.

This nonfiction picture book for young readers ages 7 - 10 brings to life a man full of wit and common sense, a trailblazer to inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike.

Louis Brandeis knows it’s up to him to change the world. He has seen how some people are treated poorly because of their race or their religion or because they are poor. If I were a lawyer like Uncle Dembitz, he thinks, I could fight for those who need extra help. Guided by his uncle’s example, his father’s practical wisdom, and Jewish values of equality and justice, Brandeis gets to work as a lawyer, making sure everyone has a chance. Louis knows it’s important to fight for worker’s rights and women’s rights. Louis knows (before most people!) that everyone has the right to privacy. And Louis knows it’s important to support arguments with facts.

What Louis doesn’t know is that he’ll become the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916, and his fight for justice will only continue.
Richard Michelson is the author The Language of Angels: The Reinvention of Hebrew, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award, and Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, which received the Massachusetts Book Award Honor and the Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal, and was an NCSS Notable Book. His children’s books have been listed among the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, PW, and The New Yorker. His books for Calkins Creek are One of a Kind and What Louis Knows, which celebrate Jewish greats Sydney Taylor and Louis D. Brandeis, respectively. He owns R. Michelson Galleries, hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and is the current poet laureate of Northampton, MA. He lives in Hampshire Country, MA. Visit richardmichelson.com. View titles by Richard Michelson
© Michael Santiago
Painter and educator Stacy Innerst is the illustrator of The Book Rescuer, winner of the Sydney Taylor Award; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG vs. Inequality, which received the New York Times/NYPL Best Illustrated Children's Books Award; and The Music in George’s Head, which received the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration. His most recent Calkins Creek books include The Painter and the President, Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony, What Louis Brandeis Knows, Piece by Piece, and My Word, Theodore!. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Visit stacyinnerst.com View titles by Stacy Innerst
"What the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice knew could fill a book... A solid introduction to an honorable man, known for his fair-minded rulings."—Kirkus Reviews

"Notable episodes in the personal and professional development of Louis Brandeis, a groundbreaking lawyer, show how his upbringing and lived experiences fueled his ascent to the Supreme Court, as its first Jewish justice... Clear and compelling present-tense text shapes loosely interpreted primary documents, including Brandeis’s recollections and writings, into dialogue detailing noteworthy vignettes... A commendable addition to biography collections, especially those emphasizing social justice."—Booklist

"Emphasizing what Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) 'knows,' Michelson draws readers into this stirring biography of the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Jewish Justice. Brandeis’s knowledge begins at age five: 'he knows his parents came to America in 1848' because Prague was not safe for Jews. As the child matures, his father’s refrain—'Any fool knows...;—shapes his thinking. Brandeis’s first battles revolve around accessing education; later, as a young lawyer facing antisemitism, he finds notoriety via a right-to-privacy case. Taking on his father’s catchphrase, he helps others seek equity and fairness, work that eventually results in his swearing-in as a Supreme Court Justice."—Publishers Weekly

"This picture-book biography follows Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) from his secular Jewish childhood in Kentucky with immigrant parents from Prague through his career as an attorney and up until the moment he became a Supreme Court Justice, fighting for equality for all... the book’s present-tense voice gives the events a sense of immediacy, while the mixed-media illustrations have a stylized quality that aptly change in tone and style from page to page." —The Horn Book

“Richard Michelson and Stacy Innerst have prepared an artful and informative book about America’s leading Jewish jurist. I know that Louis Brandeis’s grandson, my late husband, Frank Brandeis Gilbert, would be delighted by this important project. It will enlighten the lives of young readers and, perhaps, older readers as well.” —Ann Gilbert

About

Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there was Louis D. Brandeis: a lawyer/activist turned Supreme Court Justice who drew on common sense and Jewish values to make a difference.

This nonfiction picture book for young readers ages 7 - 10 brings to life a man full of wit and common sense, a trailblazer to inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike.

Louis Brandeis knows it’s up to him to change the world. He has seen how some people are treated poorly because of their race or their religion or because they are poor. If I were a lawyer like Uncle Dembitz, he thinks, I could fight for those who need extra help. Guided by his uncle’s example, his father’s practical wisdom, and Jewish values of equality and justice, Brandeis gets to work as a lawyer, making sure everyone has a chance. Louis knows it’s important to fight for worker’s rights and women’s rights. Louis knows (before most people!) that everyone has the right to privacy. And Louis knows it’s important to support arguments with facts.

What Louis doesn’t know is that he’ll become the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916, and his fight for justice will only continue.

Author

Richard Michelson is the author The Language of Angels: The Reinvention of Hebrew, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award, and Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, which received the Massachusetts Book Award Honor and the Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal, and was an NCSS Notable Book. His children’s books have been listed among the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, PW, and The New Yorker. His books for Calkins Creek are One of a Kind and What Louis Knows, which celebrate Jewish greats Sydney Taylor and Louis D. Brandeis, respectively. He owns R. Michelson Galleries, hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and is the current poet laureate of Northampton, MA. He lives in Hampshire Country, MA. Visit richardmichelson.com. View titles by Richard Michelson
© Michael Santiago
Painter and educator Stacy Innerst is the illustrator of The Book Rescuer, winner of the Sydney Taylor Award; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG vs. Inequality, which received the New York Times/NYPL Best Illustrated Children's Books Award; and The Music in George’s Head, which received the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration. His most recent Calkins Creek books include The Painter and the President, Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony, What Louis Brandeis Knows, Piece by Piece, and My Word, Theodore!. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Visit stacyinnerst.com View titles by Stacy Innerst

Praise

"What the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice knew could fill a book... A solid introduction to an honorable man, known for his fair-minded rulings."—Kirkus Reviews

"Notable episodes in the personal and professional development of Louis Brandeis, a groundbreaking lawyer, show how his upbringing and lived experiences fueled his ascent to the Supreme Court, as its first Jewish justice... Clear and compelling present-tense text shapes loosely interpreted primary documents, including Brandeis’s recollections and writings, into dialogue detailing noteworthy vignettes... A commendable addition to biography collections, especially those emphasizing social justice."—Booklist

"Emphasizing what Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) 'knows,' Michelson draws readers into this stirring biography of the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Jewish Justice. Brandeis’s knowledge begins at age five: 'he knows his parents came to America in 1848' because Prague was not safe for Jews. As the child matures, his father’s refrain—'Any fool knows...;—shapes his thinking. Brandeis’s first battles revolve around accessing education; later, as a young lawyer facing antisemitism, he finds notoriety via a right-to-privacy case. Taking on his father’s catchphrase, he helps others seek equity and fairness, work that eventually results in his swearing-in as a Supreme Court Justice."—Publishers Weekly

"This picture-book biography follows Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) from his secular Jewish childhood in Kentucky with immigrant parents from Prague through his career as an attorney and up until the moment he became a Supreme Court Justice, fighting for equality for all... the book’s present-tense voice gives the events a sense of immediacy, while the mixed-media illustrations have a stylized quality that aptly change in tone and style from page to page." —The Horn Book

“Richard Michelson and Stacy Innerst have prepared an artful and informative book about America’s leading Jewish jurist. I know that Louis Brandeis’s grandson, my late husband, Frank Brandeis Gilbert, would be delighted by this important project. It will enlighten the lives of young readers and, perhaps, older readers as well.” —Ann Gilbert

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