The non-fiction that pleases kids most is as inviting as cool pool water on a hot humid day. Martin Sandler using photos from the Library of Congress opens the doors of history and entice children into a whole new way of viewing America with Pioneers and Cowboys, the first two books in a new series published by HarperCollins. The two books can be enjoyed by children as young as six.
Sandler, twice nominated for Pulitzer Prize, has written nineteen books and produced five Emmy winning television shows. He brings the lessons he learned in television into his children's books.
Knowing that he's dealing with the most visually literate group of youngsters the world has ever known, he exites them with books that are visually attractive.
What kid wouldn't be drawn to a hanged man who swings from a pole in Cowboy or a pioneer farm machine pulled by over twenty horses in Pioneer? The text is just as irresistible. Sandler explains historical surprises like how cowboy Bill Pickett invented bulldogging by "holding a steer by biting into its lower lip as a bulldog might do."
Sandler's creative genius reaches beyond the pairing of text and photo. He invents a fascinating new model to inspire kids. Writing history to expose the themes, stories, motivations, and conflicts of American life he uncovers principals kids can apply to the challenges that face them.
In Pioneers he shows the determination of families who risked everything to build a new life. Cowboys shows the heroism of men and women who were driven by their love for independence, adventure, and the out-of-doors.
In a recent interview Sandler told me he hopes children will see "there's no challenge out there greater than what people have already faced. Think about people getting on a wooden ship and spending an month on the open sea underneath a deck." I'm still thinking and my hope is that these books will cause children to think too.