Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story by Emily Arnold
McCully
I don’t know about you, but I have never heard about Lizzie
Murphy or the fact that she played on semi-pro and professional ball teams
along with men in the early 1900s. McCully writes and illustrates the story of
Murphy from her beginnings playing ball with her brother through her career as
a professional ball player for 17 years. Murphy not only stepped up to the
plate to hit the ball, she also stood up for herself as a wage earner, standing
up to her first manager who thought he could get away without paying her.
Murphy demanded wages equal to what the men were earning. I loved reading this
story and will share it with as many as I can. It will be a precious addition
to my biography collection!
The House that Jane Built: A Story about Jane Addams by
Tanya Lee Stone,
Illustrated by Kathryn Brown
When I was a child, I read a biography of Jane Addams. For
some reason, I thought I had “discovered” her and I fell just a little bit in
love with her passion for the poor. She was and is an inspiration to me. This
new picture book biography is well written with Jane being presented as a
strong woman who knows her own mind. The pictures show both boys and girls of a
variety of races and the text treats all people with respect, just as I am sure
Jane would have done.
Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box by David McPhail
With McPhail’s characteristic drawings, this book is true to
the art form of Beatrix Potter, with muted backgrounds and soft pastels telling
the story with pictures as well as words. Potter was an avid painter from a
young age and is portrayed here as a child who knew her own mind, loving her
family and animals and not needing others to enter her life. While this book is
not as small as the traditional Potter books, it is smaller than the normal
picture book, showing how McPhail tried to honor the artist as he tells her
story.
Mary Cassatt: Extraordinary Impressionist Painter by Barbara
Herkert,
Paintings by Gabi Swiatkowska
Born in Pennsylvania in 1844, Mary Cassatt became one of the
best known painters of her era and one of the very few women of her time to
make a name for herself as an artist. Herkert and Swiatkowska team up to tell
her story with an impressionistic flair in both words and pictures. The art
work fairly shows how the work of Cassatt fit into Impressionistic format and the
text uses a free verse poetic approach that draws the reader in with the use of
direct quotes and many exclamation points. Makes me want to run out to a
museum. See you there!
And now for the men:
Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King by Bonnie
Christensen
A short biography of The King’s early life beginning with
his birth and ending with the start of his musical career. Pressley was a
phenomenal musician which is conveyed in this modest story. Both the art work
and the text are portrayed in an unsophisticated style, with muted colors and
simple words; the author often uses incomplete sentences to convey the message:
“Didn’t know the words…” and “Shy, quiet, dreamy boy, that Elvis.” A timeline
of his life is given at the end of the book along with a few more details of
his career in music. While this is an interesting portrayal of Elvis, it is not
my favorite portrayal of his life.
The Fantastic Ferris Wheel: The Story of Inventor George
Ferris by Betsy Harvey Kraft,
Illustrated by Steven Salerno
The Eiffel Tower was the grand accomplishment of the World’s
Fair in Paris in 1889. The developers for the Columbian Exposition of 1893,
otherwise known as the Chicago World’s Fair, wanted something even more
spectacular. And they got it with the first ever observation wheel that could
hold thousands of people at a time. Eventually named a Ferris Wheel after its
inventor, the observation wheel was a huge hit! This is the story of how George
Ferris invented and built the first Ferris Wheel, one of the favorite rides at
most small and large fairs.
W is for Webster: Noah Webster and His American Dictionary
by Tracey Fern,
Pictures by Boris Kulikov
The story of the first man to write a dictionary for
American English, this is a fascinating book about a man too smart for his surroundings
and quite obnoxious as well. Webster’s drive to write and publish a dictionary
is well told and the illustrations make clever use of design, as the cover art
shows with the first half of the W turned into a dictionary. A great addition
to any collection of picture book biographies.
How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz by Jonah Winter, Illustrated by
Keith Mallett
Based on the life of Jelly Roll Morton, this is told as a
what if, and let’s say kind of story. While the illustrations show real faces,
worn by worries and time, they also have a dreamy quality to go along with the
dreamy tone of the story. This is a perfect choice for those kids who love
music, particularly jazz, or those older students who are doing presentations
on musicians, or historical figures. The
end notes help straighten out the truth from the make-believe and give ideas
for music that can be listened to when reading this book. A perfect addition to
the biography shelf.
Aaron and Alexander by Don Brown
The story of two men who had much in common and both worked
hard to help establish a new nation, yet their disagreement over politics led
to a duel that ended with the death of Hamilton and the political ostracism of
Burr. Except for the duel part, this sounds all too familiar to those of us going
through a presidential election cycle. The name calling, the vitriol, the
self-righteousness of the candidates sounds just like that portrayed here. A
great historical book, not quite a biography, but well told and a great
resource for any class studying early American politics.
And now for the Bear:
Winnie: The True Story of the Bear who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh
By Sally M. Walker,
illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss
Part biographical, part historical, this is the story of how
Winnie, an American Black Bear came to be in the London Zoo when Christopher
Robin Milne was a young boy. Harry Colebourn was a veterinarian in the Canadian
Army Veterinary Corps when he saw Winnie on the platform of a remote train
station. A hunter had shot Winnie’s mother and he was offering to sell the bear
cub who could not survive on her own in the wild. Harry bought the cub and
named her Winnipeg, which was soon shortened to Winnie. As World War I heated up, Harry and his Corps
were sent to England, and they took Winnie with them. Ultimately, Harry had to
leave Winnie at the zoo when he was sent to the front in Europe. And the rest,
as they say, is history. The front piece and the end piece of the book have
photos of Harry, Winnie and the Milnes, and Walker includes endnotes with facts
that were not contained in the story. Any adult or child who has enjoyed the
Pooh stories will delight in reading about the true life Winnie.
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