Born in 1872, Ella Kate was born at a normal size, but soon she began to grow rapidly. In school and in society she was perceived as a freak. At seventeen she was eight feet tall. She agreed to be display when she was eighteen, and for an entire month she remained rigid on the stage where people could gawk at here. But, she made $1,000, which was an incredible amount of money in 1890.

As she grew, both in age and size, she was featured in museum and it was at the age of 22 that she stopped growing. Then she was eight fet, for inches tall, and as the book reports, she wore size 24 shoes. She shared her money with her family. and also built a house with tall rooms and long, high windows. Custom built furniture was built as well.

This is a story of someone who was a giant in stature, and also in spirit. She remembered that her mother told her not to be ashamed, rather she should stand tall. ( )

I stumbled across this as I was researching other extra tall people in history while working on my own children's biography about Robert Wadlow. What a wonderful picture book and inspirational story of a little-known figure in history. I'm sure Ella Kate Ewing was written off as a "freak" in her day--the harsh reality of people who were different during her time period. But her positive attitude and strategy to handle her situation are worth reading about. Check this out for the young readers in your life but you'll learn something as well. ( )

Stand straight, Ella Kate isn't just a title for this book. It's symbolic to the protagonist. Ella Kate's disability is being a giant. Growing up in the late 1800s, she was teased, ridiculed, and mocked by pretty much everyone, including adults. Ella Kate embraced her disability when a man came to her house, offering a significant amount of money for her to work at a museum in Chicago. That was the beginning of Ella Kate's evolvement from letting the judgment of others get to her to not caring. All she had to do is remember the words her mom and dad would tell her growing up, "Stand straight, Ella Kate." Those words are her sense of pride, courage, and strength. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It was about a little girl who developed gigantism. When she was in school she got made fun of and it made her very sad. Then a museum owner called her because he wanted her to be on display. She took the job and ended up making a lot of money for her and her parents. Ella Kate went on to travel the world and became a star attraction in shows. This book shows readers that no matter what they look like or how tall they are, they should embrace it and be themselves. People will always have something negative to say, but you should ignore it and focus on the good. ( )

This is about a girl named Ella Kate, a giant who, at the age of 21, was already over 8ft tall. I was reading this thinking "oh how cute and quirky" but then I realized that it was based off of a real girl's like and was like "WHAAAA..."! That's crazy! Super cute story! ( )