Picture book biographies are some of my very favorite picture books to read to my boys. Sometimes we read books about people I was familiar with. Sometimes we read book about people I had never heard of. No matter what, I ALWAYS come away with learning something new about a real person who did something new or amazing.
The amount of information you can learn from picture books is staggering. They are nice little stories told in a compact way but also with enough information for you to learn something about someone or something AND be inspired in many cases. Plus, fantastic pictures in almost all cases.
I don't expect my boys to remember all of the people we read about, I don't remember everything about all the people we read about. BUT, they are getting introduced to a wide range of people who have done a wide range of things. Someday they will likely be taught about at least some of these people in school and having this deeply buried knowledge will help them. I am continually amazed at what details Luke will pull up from picture books we've read, people he will remember when we're reading a completely different book. Sam, at age 3, will pull things out occasionally even. They ARE learning something!
My initial draft for this post had more than 40 books and I didn't even finish going through all the books we've logged. There are so many books out there to read about real people doing amazing things. Here are 9 books about real women that we've enjoyed.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, links for which are included within this post, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for helping support this blog! Of course, utilize the library or shop used or from an independent bookstore, if you prefer!
1) The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine, illustrated by Oge Mora
This story completely blew my mind. Here was a woman who was born into slavery and, thus, never educated. After the Civil War she went on to live her life, taking on jobs, getting married, having kids until at the age of 116 she learned how to read. She was born into slavery AND was alive for the moon landing. That fact completely blows my mind. And proof that we are never too old to learn new things.
2) When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T.Rex by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by Diana Sudyka
We were mentioning the t-rex skeleton known as Sue to my mom, also named Sue, and she wondered why the skeleton shared her name. Now we know. In 1990 (in my lifetime!), this Sue found a nearly complete T-Rex skeleton in South Dakota, an amazing find and something she prepped her whole life for by always being able to find things. My boys (and their mom) have an interest in dinosaurs and I promised someday we'll take them to see Sue.
3) Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by Esme Shapiro, afterword by Phillipa Soo (the original Eliza in Hamilton)
Yes, my great enjoyment of the American phenomenon that is Hamilton lead to me reading pictures books about Eliza to my boys. You all, she needs her own musical because she lived a LIFE. She watched our country fight and then be founded. Lived for decades after her husband and helped start an orphanage in NYC and do good work. She helped raise funds for the Washington Monument even!
4) A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison
When I was just thinking about this list, before I had even gone through the books we've read, I knew I needed one about Katherine Johnson (we've read a few). She was a human computer working for NASA in the 1960s (you know, when they were working on just a few things) and was crucial in getting the complex calculations right for what would be trips to the moon. That a woman was trusted with this work back then, much less a black woman, it's astounding. She was clearly a genius.
5) Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
My first real introduction to the Statue of Liberty was in an episode of Reading Rainbow from around 1986 (that my sister so kindly found our VHS of after Matt & I were in her crown for the first time). I think even in that episode we learned about the struggle to raise money for the pedestal after France was giving us the Statue. Emma Lazarus was key to helping get that money by writing her famous poem "your tired your hungry / your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" and publishing it and other works. They later put a plaque with her words on the actual pedestal. More women getting things done!
6) Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still by Karlin Gray, illustrated by Christine Davenier
My sisters and I were big into gymnastics with the 1996 Atlantic Olympics (the Magnificent 7!) and that interested expanded for me. I wasn't alive when Nadia Comaneci got her perfect 10 but I appreciated learning more about her life before that and how she trained to become a talented gymnast. And it's nice reading books set in a variety of time periods so the boys learn that people are still doing amazing things now(ish)!
7) Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome
Picture books are a great way to introduce kids to hard topics - we've done this with 9/11, slavery, the Holocaust, civil rights, and more. This is a story told in verse about Harriet Tubman and her journey to freedom. Slavery was a complex and wrong part of our history and it takes a lot to unpack it, this helps us along.
8) Ada and the Number-Crunching Machine by Zoe Tucker, illustrated Rachel Katstaller
I have learned so much from picture books about technology and people way before their time. This one is about Ada Lovelace and how she invented the world's first computer program, WAY before that was a thing. It blows my mind that people came up with these things so long ago.
9) Malala's Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai, illustrated by Kerascoet
Another book told in near current day, about the struggles Malala had with just going to school. She wished for many things but one thing was a pencil because she knew she could use it to change the world and make more of her wishes come true. Luke will often ask for relation in for where in time stories take place ("George Washington? Abraham Lincoln? While Great-Grandpa was alive?" and this one was easy - she's still alive!
I'm always open to more great picture book picks!
No comments:
Post a Comment