Lives of men and women from the past are becoming accessible to children in a flurry of new and wonderful picture book biographies. The pages of history come alive to give children exciting models of achievement and success, teach values, and history.
Dear Benjamin Banneker, written by Andrea Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Gulliver Books, $14.95; ages 5-10)
Benjamin Banneker, eighteenth century astronomer, mathematician, and almanac writer, was also an outspoken critic of the standards of the day. Banneker, a free black man, faced stigma with the same clarity as he charted the heavens, writing directly to Thomas Jefferson to question the integrity of the new country. Andrea's writing paints a full picture of a man who keenly observed the land and heavens, and searched for the truth in both science and in life. Brian's etchings portray the values of time and man.
Marie Curie by Leonard Everett Fisher (Macmillan, $14.95; ages 6 and up)
The famed inventor of radium is reavealed as a brilliant woman who fought opression by the Russian in Poland, sexism where ever she lived. Despite poverty, rumors, and ill-health due to her experimentation, Curie won the Nobel Prize twice, was the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, and won respect and acknowledgement for her gifts throughout the world.
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Little Brown, $16.95; ages 6 and up)
Kathryn Lasky takes the liberty of filling in the many blanks time has left to bring us a very real portrait of the ancient Greek mathematician, geographer, writer and complier, Eratosthenes. He serves for a model of life-long learning and questioning, problem solving in a times made difficult by lack of instrumentation, and someone fascinated with the workings of the world. Lasky also gives brings to life a period of time unknown to many children.
Coming Home: from the life of Langston Hughes,written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper(Philomel, $15.95; ages 5 and up)
Coming Home is the first picture book Floyd Cooper has both illustrated and written and the combined power of his two art forms is stunning. Hughes and Cooper share a poetic soul, for Cooper's voice is filled with a lyricism uncommon in most biographies. Cooper knows how to balance emotion and technique, darks and lights in illustrations. He applies the same skill to words; the telling of a difficult life has a satisfying end. Hughes discovers that "home was in him. And it was about his black family that he wrote in words that reached his own people, and all kinds of people of different races and different countries, all over the world."
Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree, by William Miller (Lee and Low Books, $14.95; ages 5-9 )
Wisely the author focuses on Hurston's early life and the division of her home. The father who saw to limit her because of her sex and the mother who helped her dream, question, and see the vitality of the world. The book ends with Hurston's response to her mother's death, a lyrical writing that represents the gift her mother gave her. With great determination Zora climbs the Chinaberry tree to view the world her mother showed her and utter a promise " she would never stop climbing, would always reach for the newborn sky, always jump at the morning sun!" Illustrations highlight the beauty of relationship of mother and child and their connection to the natural world and their people.
Lives of the Writers:Comedies, Tragedies (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull (HBJ, $18.95; ages 9 and up) Krull tells about writers as intriguingly as she revealed The Lives of the Musicians (HBJ, $18.95; ages 9 and up). Now kids can understand the inner and outer worlds of sixteen writers across time from Murasaki Shikibu who wrote and continually shocked Japanese court in the first century to Isaac Bashevis Singer who recreated the stories he learned growing up in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw Poland. The short biographies are as full of fact and fun as the telling caricatures by Kathryn Hewitt.
Mary McLeod Bethune by Eloise Greenfield (HarperTrophy, $5.95; ages 6-10) New in paperback is Greenfield's book for beginning readers. Each page of large print faces a black and white illustration by Jerry Pinkney. Together author and illustrator unfold the life of Mary Mcleod Bethune. Born shortly after the time of slavery, Bethune was hungry to read and learn and after meeting her own needs went forth to nurture the intellectual, physical and emotional needs of her people.
Martin Luther King, words by Rosemary Bray, paintings by Malcah Zeldis (Greenwillow, $16.00; ages 8 and up)
Even from the first page, the author makes readers aware of the segregationist environment that surrounded Martin from birth. Each page chronicles dramatic events that led to Martin's mission. Each page of text is faced by a colorful folk-art painting that powerfully conveys Martin's life with equal poignancy.
Young Frederick Douglass by Linda Girard (Whitman, $14.95; ages 6-10 )
The author covers the young life of the famous writer, orator, publisher and statesman. Born bright, Douglass decides that reading and writing might hold the keys to helping him escape the bonds of slavery. The book focuses on his courageous struggle to acquire both learning and freedom.
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 5 and up)
Children can be responsible for world changes, too. Ruby Bridges was six years old when she was chosen to be one of the first black children to enter the New Orleans school system. She became a focus for racial hatred and bitterness, but nothing could stop her from daily uttering a prayer of forgiveness for those who surrounded her with words of ill-will.
Leagues Apart: The Men and Times of the Negro Baseball Leagues by Lawrence Ritter (Morrow, $15.00; ages 6 and up)
Ritter tells the history of the Negro Baseball Leagues through the stories African-American men like Smokey Joe Williams whose fast ball "zipped in at well over 90 miles an hour" and Andrew "Rube" Foster who pitched, managed, owned a team and organized the Negro National League in 1920. In all there are twenty-one portraits in words and illustrations tell fame of men and their contributions to this amazing league.
The Picture Book of Jackie Robinson by David Adler (Holiday House, $15.95; ages 5 and up)
Adler adds another simple, clear picturing biography to his growing series as he tells the life of baseball great, Jackie Robinson. Atheletic prowess is only one component, Robinson was also a model for pursuing dreams and courageously triumphing in the face of racial hatred and prejudice.
Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis by Laurie Lawlor (Walker, $19.95; ages 12 and up)
A beautiful volume for older readers (and adults) who will spend hours examining the magnificence and fastidious recording of the sepia photographs of the man who faithfully devoted himself to thirty years of compiling work on vanishing cultures.
Kids At Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor (by Russell Freedman (Clarion, $16.95; ages 10 and up)
Photojournalist Freedman does a stunning essay Lewis Hines, an earlier photojournalist who worked to expose the horrors of child labor. This amazing book is simply written, loaded with stirring photographs and gives a picture of a man who had the courage to tell the truth about his times and the abominable conditions children faced in early twentieth century mines, factories, farms and cities.
Focus: Five Women Photographers by Sylvia Wolf (Whitman,$18.95; ages 9 and up)
Range and excellence mark the work of the women and the pages of Wolf's collected biographies. Each of the five women shine with excellence, artfulness, and dedication to pursue their very individual visions. The book spans the psychological intensity of nineteenth century photographs by Julia Cameron to recent photos of African-American Lorna Simpson whose mind-altering blends of photos and words push against societal constraints.
Jazz: My Music, My People by Morgan Monceaux (Knopf, $18.00; ages 10 and up)
Older readers and adult jazz fans will be delighted by Monceaux vivid word and visual jazz portraits. The Lousiana-born painter was raised by a blues singing mother who made music a place of sanity and stability that he could return to in times of need. It makes total sense that he writes these biographies from a very personal place, infusing the forty portraits with an emotional richness that is a tribute to jazz, its history and the people who added to its power.
I am An American: A True Story of Japanese Internment by Jerry Stanley (Crown, $15.00; ages 10 and up)
Photojournalist Jerry Stanley proves for a second time that he has an amazing gift for revealing history through individual lives. In this book he focuses on the upheaval that Shi Nomura faces when the high school senior on the brink of engagement is forced to spend three years behind the barbed wire of Manznar Relocation Camp. The book is filled with emotionally provocative stories and photos that give a strong sense of what it felt like to live through this period of time.
Immigrants by Martin Sandler (HarperCollins, $19.95; ages 8 and up) Martin Sandler, pulls poignant photographs and stories from the Library of Congress collection to reveal the period of America's growth in terms of those risked the challenge of dangerous oceans and unknown shores to attain freedom and opportunity. Pictures record everything from the pain of leave-taking to the confusions of Ellis Island to struggling to make a new home in urban or rural hardship. (Sandler also highlights the people behind the office in his other new release, Presidents (HarperCollins, $19.95; ages 8 and up)
In over twenty years of reviewing books, I've seen many changes. One of the more long -lasting changes is the creation of a new genre - - picture book biographies. Here are several that caught my attention this year.
Yes, there have been a million biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr., but there's something special about Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier's Martin's Big Words : The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Hyperion, $15.99; ages 5 and up) . This year it deservedly won both Coretta Scott King and Newbery honor awards. The uniqueness of this book is apparent before you ever open it; the cover bears only a large smiling monochromatic illustration of Martin Luther King. The title, author and illustrator are on the back. Opening to the end flaps, one sees the thoughtfulness, artistry, and intriguing contrast of brightness and monochromes in Collier's stained glass window collage. His illustrations continue to compel readers through the book.
The text begins with notes by author and illustrator. Rappaport notes that she was inspired by King's words which were "..simple and directly, yet profound and poetic. " Collier explains his use of stained glass as metaphors that "blaze out at you like beams of light. The multicolors symbolize multi races...and allow you to look past where you are."
The book's combination of text, layout and illustrations have a powerful emotional impact. Rappaport's spare style and prosaic words serve as a background to highlight King's quotations. These appear on every page, emphasized with color and size. Quotations like, "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." could be read alone to show King's life, message and legacy. Rappaport's rhythmic simplistic statements seem inspired by King's rousing sermons and are a tribute to both the man and his vision.
Deborah Hopkinson takes a lively, child-centered approach in Fannie in the Kitchen: The Whole Story from Soup to Nuts of How Fannie Farmer Invented Recipes with Precise Measurements (Atheneum, $16.00; ages 6-9). Illustrator, Nancy Carpenter, plays along by incorporating vintage engravings in her exuberant pen and ink and watercolor pictures.
The young heroine, Marcia Shaw, feels displaced when her very pregnant mother announces she's hiring a "mother's helper". Marcia intends to be a pill, but Fanny appeals to the child's ego and pulls her into the fun of cooking. Fanny asks for Marcia's help in making biscuits, adding "Make them nice and small. Small biscuits are more dainty, don't you think?"
Fanny is judicious with her tips, attuned to Marcia's curiosity, and provides a path to learning. She gives Marcia ample opportunities to fail and waits for her questions which lead to eventual success. Hopkinson's skills with dialogue animate the biography, celebrate Fanny's spirit, wisdom and passion for cooking, and convincingly depict the growing relationship between Fanny and Marcia. Hopkinson and Carpenter's descriptions and detailing invite readers into this amazing kitchen where there are "mashed potatoes fluffier than clouds and blueberry pies sweeter than a summer sky". Just desserts come at the end when the reader is rewarded with a recipe for Fannie Farmer's Famous Griddle Cakes.
M.T. Anderson lets readers know his take on Handel with his subtitle, Handel: Who Knew What He Liked (Candlewick Press, $16.99; ages 6 and up) Illustrator Kevin Hawkes is quick to join in this biographical romp. His first full page portrait shows the white-wigged musical master with a twinkle in his eye as the opposing label tells us, "He looks very satisfied with things. He's smiling a little as if he's very sure of himself. You'd have to be sure of yourself to wear a wig that gigantic."
Handel's father was a doctor who wouldn't let his son study music because it wouldn't make him money, so Handel "smuggled a clavichord up into the attic without his parents knowing....Not everyone has the courage to smuggle a clavichord past their parents." Anderson's voice is full of attitude as he recounts incidents of Handel's determination to have his way; from ordering forty-five pounds of snow from the mountains to chill his wine at Italian court parties, to convincing the English to like opera by dazzling them with expensive productions.
Handel had his dark moments and Hawkes strips away the frivolity of preceding illustrations to show him alone, wigless, and depressed as he faces ridicule and poverty. Handel's life was not static and neither are Hawkes' illustrations. The next illustration shows the composer scribbling the Messiah with an frenetic energy that describes a man driven by artistic and human desires.
Strong illustration and a straight-forward telling combine in Shooting for the Moon: The Amazing Life and Times of Annie Oakley by Stephen Krensky (FSG, $17.00; ages 7 and up) . Annie Mozee is five when the story opens. Her life is hard; she lives in a poor cabin and faces her father's death when he is lost in a blizzard, becomes ill and his family's tender care can't cure him. Bernie Fuchs' oils are haunting. Annie's mother stands in front of a weathered cabin, holding a baby as she puts a gentle hand on a young child who gazes to the side. A facing illustration shows the family gun over the mantle and it is here Annie's focus seems fixed. The emotional illustrations and descriptive writing continue to tell the story of Annie's pluck and daring which allows her to escape all kinds of limitations, from temporary placement in an abusive home, to providing financial success for her family by fifteen . The book's monochromatic and shadowy illustrations give a historic feel, as do the author's careful settings. Contrasting lighter, more active pictures match the author's representation of Annie's dramatic life.
Picture book biographies make sense to today's children who are raised on sound bytes and constant visual cues. They make the lives of many historical figures accessible to younger children with strong writing and vivid pictures which combine to create enduring images.
Picture Book Biographies are one of the fastest growing genres in children's books. And with good reason! They make history accessible, show children how living a principled life can change one's self and their visual images and moving texts give children a personal view of history. Here are some recent releases and stellar titles from years past.
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00, ages 8-12).
At fifty Sequoyah "decided to capture his people's voices in writing", drawing symbols for 84 Cherokee syllables so that when his people began to perish during the 1830's resettlement they would not "disappear in the white man's world." The book's tall format remembers the 19th century Cherokee man who helped his people "stand as tall as any people on earth". The verse-like text and Cherokee translation by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby serves as testament to a man who worshipped their words and the traditions of his people.
Harvesting Home: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull (HBJ, $17.00, ages 8-12)
A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children by David Adler (Holiday House, $16.95, ages 9-12)
The Last Princess: The story of Princess Ka'iulani of Hawai'i by Fay Stanley (HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 9-12)
Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Bright by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 9-12)
Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport (Hyperion, $20.00, ages 5-10)
Mother Teresa by Demi (Margaret McElderry, $19.95, ages 9-12) by Demi
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 6-10)
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter (Atheneum, $16.95; ages 7-12) This spirited biography begins like a story, "On an island called Puerto Rico, where baseball players are as plentiful as tropical flowers in a rain forest, there was a boy who had very little but a fever to play and win at baseball." In this lyrical manner, the author shows Clemente grow from a boy with a guava tree bat, coffee-bean sack glove and soup can baseballs to a man who lifted the down-trodden Pittsburgh Pirates to victory, honored Hispanics, and fought to relieve the poverty of his homeland.
The Champ: The Story of Muhammad Ali by Tonya Bolden (Knopf, $17.95, ages 7-12) Ali's colorful speeches, Gregory Christie's interesting page layouts, and Bolden's poetic writing bring life to the story of this dramatic prize fighter with "fine physique, cheetah eyes and moonbeam smile" who learned to "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" with a "super-fast - whiz-zip!" - left jab". In a pre-rapper world, his rhymes were as famous as his speed, his struggles against prejudice and the Nation of Islam, and the draft.
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo, (Lee and Low, $16.95; ages 7-10) Dom Lee's monochromatic illustrations show Sammy Lee, a Korean-American boy of twelve, staring through a wire fence watching swimming white children enjoy a privilege he's allowed only once a week. He has an additional problem, his wants him to become a doctor, not an Olympic diver as the boy hopes. Sammy does both, serving as a doctor in the Korean War and becoming the first Asian- American to win a gold medal in the 1948 Olympics. The author selects meaningful vignettes to describe Lee's struggles and his successes.
Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings (biography of Alta Weiss) (Atheneum, $14.95, ages 6-9) by Deborah Hopkinson
Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man by David Adler (HBJ, $13.95, ages 8-11)
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull,. (HBJ, $16.00;ages 7-9)
John's Secret Dreams: The Life of John Lennon by Dorreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier (Hyperion, $16.99, ages 8-12) 0-7868-0817-9
Illustrations by Bryan Collier In their second collaboration, Rappaport and Collier merge image and word to relate the life and dreams of John Lennon. Rappaport arranges salient facts of John's central life events in free-verse lines that are sometimes spare and other times sing with rhythms that measure the fullness or overwhelm of Lennon's life. Throughout are Collier's sixties-style circles that sometimes picture happenings in John's life and other times reflect imagery from his songs. Through word and picture we view the extremes of John's life; the sadness and loneliness of a young artistic boy deserted by his mother, retreating into a secret world of self-made stories and the magical nature of John's music. There is a randomness in the way these elements weave in and out of each other and yet the patterns give a textural tour of John's contributions to music, culture and peace.
Duke Ellington by Andrea and Brian Pinkney, (Hyperion, $16.95; ages 6-10)
When Marian Sang (Marian Anderson) by Pam Munoz Ryan, (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 6 - 10)
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop by Chris Raschka (Orchard, $13.95; ages 6-10)
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Anderson by Jane Yolen (Dutton, $16.99; ages 8-12) Yolen, famed herself for inventive fairy tales, has the perfect voice for weaving magic into Anderson's life of poverty and struggle for fame and publication, a life made bright by imagination, folklore, story and theater. The Dennis Nolan's sepias and pastel illustrations soften the hard realities of the author's life. At the bottom of each page is a quote from one of Anderson's tales providing an additional way for children connect his work, life and stories.
Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer by Erica Silverman, illustrations by Mordicai Gerstein (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.00; ages 8-12). While this writer is unfamiliar to most children, Silverman provides a connection by focusing this emotive biography on Aleichem's early life. Sholom's admiration for his father's gift to make people laugh is clear, as well as his wish to make his father proud of him. Laughter and dreams become shrouded by poverty, his mother's death, and a mocking stepmother who calls him Pupik, Bellybutton. His love of words, laughter, and need for his father's approval starts Sholom's career as a writer who draws on all he has learned in his formative years.
American Boy: The Adventures of Mark Twain written and illustrated by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00, ages 7-10)
Coming Home: from the life of Langston Hughes,written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper(Philomel, $15.95, ages 5 and up)
Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree, by William Miller (Lee and Low Books, $14.95, ages 5-9 )
Houdini: Worlds Greatest Mystery Man and Escape King by Kathleen Krull (Walker, $16.95, ages 8-12) From the beginning, Krull sets up the mystery of Houdini's life. She writes: "He was born Erik Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874 (we think)." As if there's not enough appeal in the life of this eccentric entertainer, the author and illustrator insert extras sure to further involve readers. Throughout the biography, Krull relates feats Houdini's of derring-do in the voice of a carnival barker while Eric Velasquez shows these events set on a rich stage. The story of a young boy who loves reading, sports, drama, and the challenge of money are as captivating as the visual and text images.
Knockin' On Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates by Lynne Barasch (Lee and Low, $16.95, ages 7-9)
Shooting for the Moon:the Amazing Life and Times of Annie Oakley by Krensky, Stephen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $14.95, ages 7-10)
Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein, written and illustrated Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00; ages 7-10) Wanting to make this man accessible to children, Brown focuses on Einstein's difficult growing up. Sensitively, Brown describes Einstein's awkwardness and curiosity, his love of learning and his feelings of loneliness, and how brilliant thinking and angry frustration coexisted in one amazing brain. The writing is light, his theories explained simply, but the focus of alienation will give hope to bright children who fear isolation may be a life sentence.
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00, ages 6-10)
Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning by Laurence Anholt, (Orchard, $15.95, ages 8-10)
Dear Benjamin Banneker, written by Andrea Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Gulliver Books, $14.95; ages 5-10)
Starry messenger: a book depicting the life of a famous scientist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physicist, Galileo Galilei by Sis, Peter (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, $14.95, ages 8-12)