By Deborah Hopkinson, for The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 9, 2012

Recently I had the opportunity at my day job (I’m vice president for advancement at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon) to take the popular “Strengths Finder” test.   My top strength turned out to be “Learner.”

I’d have to say that’s a fairly accurate description.  It also explains much about how I choose the subjects I write about in my nonfiction and historical fiction for young readers.  I have wide-ranging reading interests (I like to read with my story antennas up).  When I’m learning something new, I’m engaged, enthuse, and happy. And then there are those magical moments when I come across something extraordinary that makes me sit up and say, “Wow!  How come I never knew that before?”  Whenever this happens, there’s a good chance I want to write about it.

That’s certainly true with my new nonfiction picture book, Annie and Helen, illustrated by Raul Colon.  Like most people I knew the general outlines of Helen Keller’s life, and I was familiar with the iconic moment at the water pump.  But I knew very little of Annie Sullivan, or the details of her actual teaching methods. What I found was astonishing – so astonishing I wanted to share it with young readers.

When I first began researching this book, I actually focused more on Annie Sullivan, whose early life was fraught with hardship.  After her mother’s death, she and her little brother were put in an almshouse in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where her brother later died.  Annie, who’d become almost blind herself from trachoma, was able to go to the Perkins School for the Blind when she was 14. Operations partially restored her sight and she graduated in 1886 at the top of her class.  The next spring, not quite 21, she set off alone from New England by train to take her first job: teaching a young deaf and blind child in Alabama named Helen Keller.

Annie Sullivan invented her own teaching methods, and that’s what I ultimately decided to write about in Annie and Helen.  The book includes excerpts from Annie’s letters to her friend and former house mother, Mrs. Sophia Hopkins.  The letters chronicle Helen’s progress and show how inventive and resourceful Annie was as she helped Helen make sense of the world through language.  That spring must have been exhilarating for both teacher and student: by July, Helen had mastered enough skills to write a simple letter.

Illustration © 2012 by Raul Colon

Annie and Helen is not a “cradle to grave biography.”  Instead, it covers the period of March-July 1887, when teacher and pupil forged their incredible relationship. While I have written traditional biographies for very young readers on John Adams and Susan B. Anthony, and on Charles Darwin for slightly older readers, I often prefer to focus on a specific incident or a time period in order to illuminate someone’s life.  Keep On! focuses on  Matthew Henson’s early life and Arctic explorations, A Band of Angels is about Ella Sheppard’s experiences as a Jubilee Singer,  and A Boy Called Dickens shows Dickens at age 12, when he was working in a blacking factory.

My books also include both nonfiction and historical fiction.  My 2012 title, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster is nonfiction.  But rather than write a biography of Dr. John Snow, the pioneering epidemiologist who proved that cholera was spread by water, I chose to fictionalize the story in my forthcoming middle grade novel, The Great Trouble, A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel.  Hopefully readers will enjoy the story, and also there’s a long author’s note included if they want to know more.

I hope I will also be a reader who wants to know more.  And perhaps that’s also a reason for choosing to write about Helen Keller. What better inspiration for the love of learning could there be?

To find out more about Deborah Hopkinson’s books, visit: www.deborahhopkinson.com

You can also discover more by following along on the Annie and Helen Blog Tour

September 1^st:  Watch. Connect. Read

September 1^st:   SharpRead

September 2^nd: Nerdy Book Club

September 3^rd: Bakers and Astronauts

September 4^th: Two Writing Teachers  

September 5^th: Cracking the Cover  

September 6^th: Teach Mentor Texts  

September 7^th: Nonfiction Detectives

September 8^th: Booking Mama

September 9^th: Children’s Book Review  

September 10^th: Random Acts of Reading

September 11^th: 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Original article: Why Helen Keller? Selecting Subjects for Biographies

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau
By Michelle Markel
Illustrated by Amanda Hall
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
$17.00
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5264-6
Ages 4-8
On shelves now

I’m not ashamed to say it, though perhaps I should be. Still, it’s true. Though I grew up in the middle class with a good education and a stint at a liberal arts college there are huge gaping gaps in my knowledge that have consistently been filled in over the years by children’s books. I know that I am not alone in this. When I worked in NYPL’s Central Children’s Room we had any number of regular adult patrons that would come in seeking children’s books on a variety of different topics so that they could learn about them in a non-threatening fashion. At its best a children’s book takes a complex subject and synthesizes it down to its most essential parts. Simple enough. But if you’re dealing with a picture book biography, it then has to turn a human life in a cohesive (child friendly) story. No mean feat. So when I saw this picture book bio of the artist Henri Rousseau I was immediately arrested by its art. Then I sort of came to realize that when it came to the man himself, I knew nothing. Next to nothing. I may never win a Jeopardy round or a game of Trivial Pursuit but thanks to great books like this one I may someday attain the education of a seven-year-old. There are worse fates in the world. These days, seven-year-olds get all the good stuff.

Your everyday average forty-year-old toll collector doesn’t usually drop everything to become a painter, yet that’s exactly what one did back in the 19th century. His name was Henri Rousseau and though he never took an art course in his life (art lessons aren’t exactly available on a toll collector’s budget) he does his research, looks at art, sits himself down, and begins to paint. He’s incredibly excited after his first big exhibition but his reviews say mostly “mean things” about his art. Still, he clips them, saves them, and continues to paint. Over the years he meets with very little success but is inspired by greenhouses and the lush topiary found inside. He can’t afford to ever see a jungle of his own so he makes them up. Finally, after decades and decades, the new young crop of artists takes note of his work. At last, he is celebrated and appreciated and his naïf style is seen for what it truly is; Simultaneously ahead of its time, and timeless.

As far as I can tell the picture book biography can go in a certain number of directions when it comes to its interior art. It can seek to emulate the original artist, mimicking their style with mixed results. Or it can eschew the original artist altogether and only show their paintings as images on walls or in the notes at the book’s end. Artist Amanda Hall takes a slightly different take with her art, inserting Mr. Rousseau into his own works. As she says at the end “Instead of my usual pencil crayon and watercolor technique, I used both watercolor and acrylics for the illustrations, as I wanted to get close to the feel of Rousseau’s own paintings. I decided to break the rules of scale and perspective to reflect his unusual way of seeing the world. For some of the illustrations I drew directly on his actual paintings, altering them playfully to help tell the story.” That right there might be the book’s difference. I think that for many of us, the joy of an Henri Rousseau painting lies not in the composition necessarily (though that is a plus) but the sheer feel of the piece. Rousseau’s jungle scenes do not look or feel like anyone else’s and Hall has done a stellar job capturing, if not the exact feel, then a winning replica of it for kids. The endpapers of this book are particularly telling. Open the cover and there you find all the usual suspects in a Rousseau landscape, each one creeping and peeking out at you from behind the ferns and oversized blossoms.

A poorly made picture book bio will lay out its pictures in a straightforward dull-as-dishwater manner never deviating or even attempting to inject so much as an artistic whim. The interesting thing about Hall’s take on Rousseau is that while, yes, she plays around with scale and perspective willy-nilly, she also injects a fair amount of whimsy. Not just the usual artist-flying-through-the-air-to-represent-his-mental-journey type of stuff either. There is a moment early on when a tiny Rousseau pulling a handcart approaches gargantuan figures that look down upon him with a mixture of pop-eyed surprise and, in some cases, anger. Amongst them, wearing the coat and tails of gentlemen, are two dogs and one gorilla. Later Hall indicates the passing of the years by featuring three portraits of Rousseau, hair growing grey, beard cut down to a jaunty mustache. On the opposite page three critics perch on mountains, smirking behind their hands or just gaping in general. It’s the weirdness that sets this book apart and makes it better than much of its ilk. It’s refreshing to encounter a bio that isn’t afraid to make things odd if it has to. And for some reason that I just can’t define . . . it definitely has to.

But to get back a bit to the types of bios out there for kids, as I mentioned before Hall inserts Rousseau directly into his own painting when we look at his life. Done poorly this would give the impression that he actually did live in jungles or traipse about with lions, and I’m sure there will be the occasional young reader who will need some clarification on that point. But in terms of teaching the book, Hall has handed teachers a marvelous tool. You could spend quite a lot of time flipping between the paintings here and the ones Rousseau actually created. Kids could spot the differences, the similarities, and get a good sense of how one inspired the other. Near the end of the book Hall also slips in a number of cameos from contemporary artists, and even goes so far as to include a key identifying those individuals on the last few pages. Imagine how rich an artistic unit would be if a teacher were to take that key and pair it with the author bios of THOSE people as well. For Gertrude Stein just pull out Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude by Jonah Winter. Pablo Picasso? A quick look at The Boy Who Bit Picasso by Antony Penrose. Lucky kids.

Just as the art of a picture book biography can go any number of directions, the storytelling is in the same boat. You want to tell the life of a man. Fair enough. Do you encompass everything from birth to death, marking dates and important places along the way? Do you synthesize that life down to a single moment and then use your Author’s Note at the end to tell why that person is important at all (many is the Author’s Note forced to do the heavy lifting). Or do you just zero in on what it is that made that person famous in the first place and look at how they struggled with their gift? Author Michelle Markel opts for the latter. A former journalist, Markel first cut her teeth on the author bio with her lovely Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall. Finding that these stories of outsider artists appealed to her, the move to Rousseau was a natural one. One that focuses on the man’s attempts to become an artist in the face of constant, near unending critical distaste. Markel’s gift here is that she is telling the story of someone overcoming the odds (to a certain extent . . . I mean he still died a pauper an all) in the face of folks telling him what he could or couldn’t do. It’s inspirational but on a very gentle scale. You’re not being forced to hear a sermon on the joys of stick-to-itativeness. She lands the ending too, effortlessly transitioning from his first successful debut at an exhibition to how he is remembered today.

I remember having to learn about artists and composers in elementary school and how strange and dull they all seemed. Just a list of dead white men that didn’t have anything to do with my life or me. The best picture book bios seek to correct that old method of teaching. To make their subjects not merely “come alive” as the saying goes but turn into flesh and blood people. You learn best about a person when that person isn’t perfect, has troubles, and yet has some spark, some inescapable something about them that attracts notice. A combination of smart writing and smarter art is ideal, particularly when you’re dealing with picture book biographies. And The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau is nothing if not smart. It typifies the kind of bios I hope we see more of in the future. And, with any luck, it will help to create the kinds of people I’d like to see more of in the future. People like Henri Rousseau. Whatta fella. Whatta book.

On shelves now.

Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.

Like This? Then Try:

• It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate

• I Am Marc Chagall by Bimba Landmann

• A Weekend with Rousseau by Gilles Plazy

Other Blog Reviews:

• Jean Little Library
• Books Together
• The Nonfiction Detectives
• Shelf-employed
• Waking Brain Cells
• Bookshelf: What We’re Reading

Professional Reviews: Kirkus

Interviews: With Michelle Markel at I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids)

Misc: Read what Ms. Markel has to say about the book herself when she writes the guest post at Cynsations.

Videos:

A nice little book trailer exists as well.

There’s even a director’s cut.

David Ritz has had a successful ghostwriting career, collaborating with everyone from Ray Charles to Joe Perry, and written quite a few novels too. In the latest installment of Mediabistro’s Hey, How’d You Do That? series, the prolific writer tells how he landed some of his biggest clients, and how gives tips for aspiring ghostwriters.

“When I first met Ray Charles, I didn’t know about ghostwriting; I was just going to do a biography of him,” Ritz recalled. “And then his agent asked me, ‘Which book would you be more interested in reading: a book about Ray Charles written by an egghead or a book written in his own voice?’ I told him that I would much rather read the book written in his own voice, and he told me, ‘You should write the book you would want to read, not the one you believe you should write.’ And that was a big turning point for me.”

For more, read Hey, How’d Do You Build a Successful Ghostwriting Career, David Ritz? [subscription required]

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Not all picture book biographies fit neatly into the standard story arc structure. 

http://donnabowmanbratton.blogspot.com/2011/07/do-nonfiction-picture-books-always-have.html

If it were up to me, you'd listen to this song while reading this post.

So. It's been a very, very long time since I broke up with a sweetheart, given that I've been married for almost 30 years. (In  my culture, you get married at 11.) And I don't intend to ever break up with him. But there comes a time in every writer's life when she has to break up with a topic. Actually, many times. Usually the break-up comes early on in the project. At least for me. I work on something for a short time and realize that there's just no there there, or that it's not for me. Or someone or something else pulls at me, grabs my attention. ("Oh you over there, come hither...")

But sometimes, it seems, you go out with someone for a very long time before you realize he or she was not your bashert. This has just happened to me. It was a long relationship, but it was going nowhere. It just took me a very long time to realize that because I thought... I was sure...though I had niggling doubts...that I was in love.

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 19, 2011

Gloria Spielman

Gloria Spielman is the author of two picture books Janusz Korczak’s Children and Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime which has been awarded a Silver Medal in the 2011 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the category of Non-Fiction Picture Book. A former high school English teacher, Gloria has also written English teaching books and contributed to multi-media English courses. She has many more wonderful books in the works that we can look forward to reading soon.

Nicki Richesin: Congratulations on your lovely Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime. It’s a beautifully compelling book about his legendary career and how he brought the world’s attention back to the ancient art of pantomime, but it’s also the story of how he survived World War II. What inspired you to create this well-deserved homage to Mr. Marceau?

Gloria Spielman: Thank You, Nicki. I always enjoy reading The Children’s Book Review; it’s such a terrific resource for anyone in the world of children’s books, so I was thrilled to talk to you.

I’d much rather tell you what inspired me to write my first book, Janusz Korczak’s Children, it’s a far better story. My then third grade daughter had to do a project on Korczak for Holocaust Memorial Day, and that got me reading and thinking.

The truth is, the original inspiration for Marcel Marceau actually came from my friend Mandy. She was looking at Janusz Korczak and said “You know, you should write about Marcel Marceau. He was really interesting.” She told me of his work with the resistance and after she left I did some reading. Mandy was right. I started to imagine the pictures. I often imagine a picture book in pictures as well as words. My editor agreed. So did the publisher. And I started to write. I wish could say I saw a wonderful mime performance when I was a child and fell in love with it, but that would be a lie.

I was astonished to learn that Marceau was a part of the French resistance. He bravely smuggled Jewish children through the forests to safety and entertained allied troops. He led such a fascinating life. Did you discover anything that surprised you when doing your research?

It was all fascinating.  But there is only so much that can go into a 32 page book. One anecdote that would have made a great picture book illustration is when Marceau came face to face with the man he called his creative father, Charlie Chaplin. He told Chaplin how he paid tribute to him in his American performance and began to imitate him in the middl

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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 24, 2011

Kathleen Krull. Photo credit: Paul Brewer

Kathleen Krull is an award-winning author of many, many children’s books, including most recently Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played With Puppets. She specializes in biographies written especially for children. Krull lives in San Diego with her husband Paul Brewer a children’s book illustrator. She once worked a part-time job at a library and was fired for reading too often. Now she can read to her heart’s content- all in the service of research for her wonderful books!

Nicki Richesin: Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played With Puppets is a brilliant depiction of a man loved by the world for his creative genius. I admired how you followed the trajectory of Henson’s career and the paintings captured the various eras- from his humble beginning in Mississippi to the sweet seventies clothes and hairstyles- to the man himself. What was your approach when telling the story of Mr. Henson’s life?

Kathleen Krull: Thanks for your kind words.  I wanted to shed light on a person who has done so much for children, a modern-day hero, just unbelievably creative.  In his early days, everyone wondered what he was doing, playing with puppets, but he grew into this brilliant magician at making people of all ages laugh.

One of the many things I admired about your book is that you conveyed how Henson continued to pursue his dream of becoming a puppeteer, even when his father disapproved and even when his peers thought it was a little odd. Yet he stayed true to himself and his vision of what he wanted to achieve. I think this is such an important lesson for children, but really for everyone. I understand Henson’s children are running his company now. Do you think they’ve remained true to their father’s unique vision?

The family seems to be quite active in nourishing his reputation, as well as supporting new developments in puppetry with the Jim Henson Foundation, offering grants and other support.

Do you believe Henson’s work bringing Sesame Street to television programming for children revolutionized the way they learn?

I’m a bit past the Sesame Street target audience, but I well remember how progressive this show was when it premiered, how in tune with the spirit of the 60s and 70s.  The idea that TV could be used as a force for good– wow– that laughter could help children learn– this was huge.  It’s now the longest-running TV show for children ever, seen in more than 140 countries, so this is a major validation of his work.

At the end of the book, of cou

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16. Interview with Angelica Shirley Carpenter Biographer of Children’s Book Authors

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By: Bianca Schulze, on 11/26/2011
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Author Interviews, Chapter Books, Cultural Wisdom: Books that teach, Teens: Books for young adults, Angelica Shirley Carpenter, Biographies, Classics, Frances Hodgson Burnett, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Add a tag

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 27, 2011

Anjelica Shirley Carpenter

Angelica Shirley Carpenter is the author of many acclaimed biographies written for young people including Frances Hodgson Burnett: Beyond the Secret Garden, L. Frank Baum: Royal Historian of Oz, Robert Louis Stevenson: Finding Treasure Island, and Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass. She also edited In the Garden: Essays in Honor of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Carpenter is the founding curator of the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University in Fresno.

Nicki Richesin: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview. I know our readers will be fascinated by your writing life. You have established an impressive career as a biographer of many beloved and celebrated children’s book authors including Frances Hodgson Burnett, L. Frank Baum, Robert Louis Stevenson and Lewis Carroll. How did you first begin writing your books?

Angelica Shirley Carpenter: I began about 1988 when my mother Jean Shirley retired and moved from St. Louis to live near me in Palm Springs, Florida. Mother had already published several biographies for children and she arrived in Florida with a good idea for a new one, about Frances Hodgson Burnett. Oh, and she wanted us to write this together. In St. Louis Mother had found and read The One I Knew the Best of All, Frances’ autobiography of her childhood, and she thought that it would make a good starting point. I was running a small public library at this time, and I knew that children still read and loved The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, so I agreed that Frances would make a good subject. We established that the only biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett for young people had been written by her daughter-in-law in 1965. It lacked illustrations and, worse, it omitted certain incidents that were embarrassing to Frances’ family, like her divorce and remarriage. So we decided to write a more accurate account of her life and to try to publish it with photographs and illustrations from her books.

Your mother Jean Shirley was your co-author on three of your books. Could you tell us about her influence on your life and how you collaborated together?

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17. Yona Zeldis McDonough: From Madame Alexander to Marilyn Monroe

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By: Bianca Schulze, on 12/4/2011
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Ages Four to Eight: Books for Pre-School Through Second Grade, Ages Nine to Twelve: Books for Third Through Sixth Grade, Author Interviews, Books for Girls, Chapter Books, Teens: Books for young adults, Biographies, Dolls, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Madame Alexander, Malcah Zeldis, Marilyn Monroe, Yona Zeldis McDonough, Add a tag

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 5, 2011

Yona Zeldis McDonough

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the talented author of many books for readers of all ages: fiction and non-fiction for adults and award-winning children’s books. She has most recently written the highly anticipated second book in her Doll Shop series, The Cats in the Doll Shop. Although a prolific writer, Yona still makes time for school visits and readings. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Nicki Richesin: It’s a great pleasure to interview you. You have proved a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction for adults, in addition to your award-winning children’s books. My daughter adored The Doll Shop Downstairs and The Cats in the Doll Shop. Could you explain how you first discovered Beatrice Alexander, or Madame Alexander as she’s known, and how her story inspired you to write about the resourceful Breittlemann family?

Yona Zeldis McDonough: I remember Madame Alexander dolls from my own childhood. I longed for them though I never had one back then.  As an adult, I started collecting dolls and bought a few of Mme. Alexander’s creations for my collection. When I was reading about her early life, I found out that her father owned and operated America’s first doll hospital.  It was on the Lower East Side and the family lived in an apartment above the shop.  Beatrice (she was Bertha in those days) and her sisters were allowed to play in the doll hospital sometimes and when I learned that, I just knew: here was a perfect setting for a children’s story.

Many of your books are set in Brooklyn, where you live with your family. Why has this area of New York proved such a “fertile ground” as you put it in your work?

YZM: I love Brooklyn. It’s so vast and filled with its own history, character and even mysteries. It is both a part of New York, and yet retains a separate identity.  I grew up in Brooklyn and so it holds many associations for me

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18. My John and Tom (Part 1)

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By: Barbara Kerley, on 12/8/2011
Blog: I.N.K.: Interesting Non fiction for Kids (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Barbara Kerley, biographies, American Revolution, inspiration, Add a tag

I thought I’d do something a little different for the next few months, and spend a bit more time talking about a single project: where I got the idea, how I developed it, and what I hoped the story would accomplish. A beginning-middle-end, if you will.

It wasn’t hard to choose the topic, as my latest book is a story I’ve been waiting most of my life to tell.

So today, I’m beginning the first of a three-part discussion of my latest book. But first, let me introduce my dear friends, John and Tom.

I was first drawn to the story of Adams and Jefferson because I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. My father worked at the State Department, and so I think I was more aware of government than a kid living somewhere else might have been. I went in to DC and saw places like the Capitol and the National Mall pretty often.

I turned sixteen the summer of the country’s bicentennial, and I remember going downtown: it seemed like there were a gazillion tourists and even more of those sidewalk stands selling little American flags and patriotic t-shirts.

But even before then, I was tuned in to celebrating America’s independence, and that was because my mom and dad were big musical theater buffs. They had a whole cabinet full of Broadway recordings, and they listened to them almost every night. The musical “1776” was one of their favorites.

“1776” is the often funny and often quite moving story of the Continental Congress as they grappled with the enormous question of whether to remain a British colony or to declare independence—committing treason in the process.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1969, and I think my parents must have bought the record shortly thereafter—when I was about ten years old. Many nights at bedtime *it* was the album I’d ask my dad to put on in the living room downstairs, so I could listen to it upstairs. I fell asleep listening to John urging Congress to “Vote YES” and to Tom wooing his wife on the violin.

I fell in love with the musical “1776.” It was my first glimpse that history could be just as exciting and engaging as any novel or movie.

So, in a sense, I grew up with John and Tom, and it’s not surprising that one day I would tell *my* version of their lives: Those Rebels, John and Tom.

Next month, I share a bit about researching and writing the book.

2 Comments on My John and Tom (Part 1), last added: 12/8/2011

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Myra Zarnowski said, on 12/8/2011 9:39:00 AM

Thank you so much for sharing the details about how you began writing your latest book. This is such useful information for us teachers. We desperately want real stories about how authors work. I am anxious for your next post.

Barbara Kerley said, on 12/8/2011 9:46:00 AM

Thanks, Myra! I'm never sure what to post and how useful it might be. But I know when I go hear authors talk, I'm always interested to hear their personal connection to the book they've written :)

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19. 'TIS THE SEASON....FOR NEW BOOKS

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By: Gretchen Woelfle, on 12/13/2011
Blog: I.N.K.: Interesting Non fiction for Kids (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  2011 titles, classroom activity, biographies, Gretchen Woelfle, Add a tag

Children’s nonfiction continues to shine, and if I had to choose one word to define its glory, the word is VOICE. That voice ranges from whimsical to witty to irresistible “sit-down-and let-me-tell-you-a-story.” The “voice” or style of picture book illustrations is just as diverse. Here are a few new books I’ve enjoyed.

Jingle Bells in Savannah? Who knew? John Harris, that’s who. On a visit to Savannah he learned the genesis of the popular holiday song, took scraps of history, added a bit of social commentary and ‘what if?’ and came up with Jingle Bells: How the Holiday Classic Came to Be, illustrated by Adam Gustavson (Peachtree.) The composer, John Pierpont, was a Yankee Unitarian minister in the 1850s, presiding over a congregation that included a few African Americans, so we get a brick through the church window to point out the atmosphere of the time and place. But overall this is a story of nostalgia and celebration.

How do you write a biography about someone who spends his life sitting around making up languages and writing fantasy stories? If you’re Alexandra Wallner, you elicit the help of your husband, illustrator John Wallner who creates a board game that runs through the pages filled with magical creatures, strange letters and words, and playing cards that portray the real and fantasy worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien (Holiday House.)

1 Comments on 'TIS THE SEASON....FOR NEW BOOKS, last added: 12/14/2011

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Peggy T said, on 12/14/2011 5:37:00 AM

Thanks Gretchen, These books look great. I especially can't wait to get my hands on The Last Mule and Tolkien's bio. Happy Holiday Reading!

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20. Review of the Day: Jazz Age Josephine by Jonah Winter

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By: Betsy Bird, on 2/2/2012
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Uncategorized, 2012 biographies, 2012 librarian previews, 2012 nonfiction, 2012 picture book biographies, 2012 reviews, 2013 Caldecott contender, 2013 Sibert contender, African-American biographies, African-American picture book biographies, Atheneum, Best Books of 2012, biographies, Jonah Winter, Marjorie Priceman, nonfiction, nonfiction picture books, picture book biographies, Simon and Schuster, Add a tag

Jazz Age Josephine
By Jonah Winter
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Atheneum (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-104169-6123-9
Ages 6 and up
On shelves now

When we try to name the biggest and best picture book biography authors out there, two names spring immediately to mind. The first is David Adler. Mr. Adler specializes in picture books that go by the straightforward titles of “A Picture Book of [Enter Name Here]“. It makes him easy to spot on a shelf. All his books look pretty much the same with stories that reduce their subjects to a couple key points. They are serviceable in the best sense of the term. They serve a purpose. They also couldn’t be more different from the works of the great picture book biographer Jonah Winter. Where Mr. Adler is all white borders and straightforward fonts, Mr. Winter’s books leap off the shelf and make a dive for your jugular. They pop and smack and wrest your attention away from the glittery fictional pack. His latest, Jazz Age Josephine, is no different. A witty and glam look at a person rarely seen in picture book bios, Winter uses his storytelling skills to spin the tale of a fine lady, never told in quite this way before.

“Well, she was born up in St. Louis, and she grew up with those St. Louis Blues / Yes, she was born in old St. Louis, and she grew up singin’ nothin’ but the blues, / She just had one old ragged dress and a pair of worn-out old shoes.” That was Josephine Baker back in the day. Fortunately, the kid had pep. She could move and goof off and her dancing was so good that it earned her some money from time to time. Little wonder that when her home was burned by angry racists she headed straight for New York City. There Josephine was able to get some roles on the stage, but the minstrel parts were particularly galling. So off she flew to Paris and once she got there, “Paris, France – instant fame! / Everybody knows her name!” And though she missed her home, she was a jazz age baby and a hit at long last.

I did a cursory check of the reader reviews of this book online and saw that some folks were a bit peeved that Mr. Winter dared to mention hot topic issues like racism and minstrel shows. I think that highlights why it is that this is the first time such a biography for kids has been attempted (there was Ragtime Tumpie by Alan Schroeder in 1989 but that just looked at Josephine’s youth). The story of Ms. Baker is more difficult than your average Rosa Parks / Frederick Douglass bio. If you’re going to talk about Josephine then you have to talk about why she left America. You have to talk about what the state of the country was at that time, and why she felt she couldn’t return there. Then there are other issues as well. For one thing, is it possible to talk about Ms. Baker without mentioning the banana skirt? Winter doesn’t talk about the costume (six-year-olds are notoriously bad at pronouncing the word “burlesque”) but illustrator Marjorie Priceman does include a subtle glimpse of it from the side in two separate pictures. Meanwhile Mr. Winter does a good job of making it clear that Josephine was sad to be away from the States but that to become a star she had to go elsewhere. Interestingly the book ends at about that point, leaving the Author’s Note to explain her work with t

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21. Play, Louis, Play! and Our New Book Club

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By: LitLass, on 2/6/2012
Blog: LitLad (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  biographies, Chapter Books, book reviews, literacy, Add a tag

Play, Louis, Play! The True Story of a Boy and His Horn Author/illustrator: Muriel Harris Weinstein/Frank Morrison Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's (December 2011) Categories: Biography; Chapter Book This is the story of Louis Armstrong's childhood, as told by his first horn, which little Louis purchased from a New Orleans hock shop for $5. Not only did the boys enjoy the book, but they

2 Comments on Play, Louis, Play! and Our New Book Club, last added: 2/9/2012

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Grandma and Grandpa said, on 2/7/2012 7:18:00 PM

We like it. Very original!

Playing by the book said, on 2/8/2012 11:33:00 PM

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book club idea! What a great way to get kids talking about (and enjoying talking about) books. I'm going to have to see how I can include it in my voluntary work and my daughters' school :-) Thanks for the inspiration.

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22. My John and Tom (Part Almost 3)

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By: Barbara Kerley, on 2/8/2012
Blog: I.N.K.: Interesting Non fiction for Kids (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Barbara Kerley, biographies, author visits, American Revolution, Add a tag

I was all set to post the third installment of my FoundingFathersPalooza—an exploration into how I conceived, researched, and wrote Those Rebels, John and Tom, my book about Adams and Jefferson. And I’ll post the final installment next month.

But something wonderful happened a few days ago that fits in so nicely, I couldn’t resist talking about it. You see, in a couple of weeks, I get to meet John and Tom.

In person.

I’ll be participating in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum’s “Presidents’ Day Family Festival” at the JFK Library in Boston, on February 21st.

And John and Tom are going to be there!

OK, technically, John Adams will be played by Thomas Macy and Thomas Jefferson will be played by Bill Barker – but take a look at the links. Don’t they look fabulous?! Both men are real history buffs and I know will do Adams and Jefferson proud.

We’ve been doing a bit of emailing, setting things up. Under the signature line for Thomas Macy’s emails are the quotes:

"Querulous, bald, blind, crippled, toothless Adams."
- Benjamin Franklin Bache
"I'm not crippled." - John Adams

And Bill Barker signs his emails:

Yr' hm'bl sr'vt,
Thos. Jefferson

I think this is going to be fun…

I am geeky excited. For someone who spent over a year working on the book, this is the next best thing to a time machine.

If you will be in Boston on Feb 21st, please join us, won’t you?

7 Comments on My John and Tom (Part Almost 3), last added: 2/9/2012

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Deborah Heiligman said, on 2/9/2012 4:32:00 AM

Wish I could come!

Jim Murphy said, on 2/9/2012 6:20:00 AM

Sounds like great fun. When my then six grader son (and I)went to Gettysburg on a class trip, their teacher arranged for them to meet an Ab Lincoln look alike who stayed in character the whole time and knew his Civil War history. It was freaky cool. Have a good time with John and Tom (though I suspect Tom might be more of the partier).

Susan Kuklin said, on 2/9/2012 6:44:00 AM

That sounds like so much fun! I'm going to tell my Boston relatives ASAP!

Sandy Brehl said, on 2/9/2012 6:46:00 AM

If you get a time machine, can I have a place machine? The Star-Trekkie kind that could zap me to the event? let me know if you have one and i'll be there.
I've had locals who are history/character buffs visit my class and they impact is incredible on the kids. Talk about history coming alive.
Enjoy!

Barbara Kerley said, on 2/9/2012 8:41:00 AM

Thanks, all! The whole day sounds very cool -- I'm looking forward to it.

Jim, not sure about your speculation -- I think John was fond of his wine AND had quite a sense of humor. If I had the chance to sit down with either for and evening of talk, he is the one I would choose.

Susan Kuklin said, on 2/9/2012 9:57:00 AM

I choose Tom. Remember when JFK told Nobel Prize winners at a White House banquet: "At no time in the history of mankind has so much intellect been gathered in this building—save when Thomas Jefferson dined alone?"

Yeah, Tom's the man!

scfinder said, on 2/9/2012 6:15:00 PM

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23. Shana Corey on Fascinating Women in History

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By: TCBR, on 2/16/2012
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Ages 4-8, Author Interviews, Books for Girls, Cultural Wisdom, Picture Books, Biographies, Girl Scouts, Shana Corey, Women's History, Add a tag

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: February 17, 2012

Shana Corey

Shana Corey is one remarkable lady. She’s an author of many bestselling books; editor at Random House Books for Young Readers; and mother to two young boys in Brooklyn. Her biographies on extraordinary women include Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, who Swam her Way to Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!, You Forgot Your Skirt: Amelia Bloomer!, and Players in Pigtails. Her most recent book is a tribute to the founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low. Tagalong (get it?) with us as we discuss books, writing, and fascinating women in history.

Nicki Richesin: Congratulations on the wonderful reviews for Here Come the Girl Scouts! You were inspired to write this book by your mother’s Girl Scouts stories growing up in Savannah, Georgia. You’ve written about many women who were ahead of their time. What makes Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low especially appealing to you as a role model for young readers?

Shana Corey: Thank you! I think she’s a great role model for so many reasons—she was an early advocate for both conservationism and exercise for girls, she encouraged girls to be financially independent and to make a difference in the world (something she was passionate about doing herself). But perhaps even more, I admire her personality. Juliette Gordon Low was someone who walked to the beat of her own drummer and made no apologies for that. I think that’s something we should all aspire too!

I also loved that she turned what could be considered a weakness (her deafness) into an advantage. When she was fundraising and looking for volunteers for Girl Scouts, if someone declined she’d literally pretend she hadn’t heard them and say “Wonderful! I’ll put you down for next week.” She was very determined and went about things in exactly her own way.

And of course, I’m in awe of her legacy. The organization she founded has been empowering women for 100 years now. Over 50 MILLION women have been Girl Scouts. Talk about making a difference!

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24. Review of the Day: It Jes’ Happened by Don Tate

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By: Betsy Bird, on 3/22/2012
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Uncategorized, 2012 Coretta Scott King Award contender, 2012 nonfiction, 2012 picture book biographies, 2012 reviews, biographies, Don Tate, Lee & Low Books, nonfiction picture books, picture book biographies, R. Gregory Christie, Add a tag

It Jes’ Happened
By Don Tate
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Lee & Low Books
ISBN: 978-1-60060-260-3
Ages 5-9
On shelves April 1st

Teaching kids about outsider art feels like a no-brainer to me. Which is to say, why doesn’t it happen more often? Perhaps there’s a feeling that educating kids on the self-taught is ultimately self-defeating. Can’t say as I agree, of course. Seems to me that learning about the great outsider artists could give a kid a kind of hope. This is particularly true in the case of Bill Traylor. Here you have a guy who lived a whole life, discovered an artistic calling near the end, and remains remembered where before he might have been forgotten. It makes for an interesting lesson and, to my relief, and even more interesting book. In It Jes’ Happened Don Tate and R. Gregory Christie pair up for the first time ever to present the life and art of an ordinary man who lived through extraordinary times.

He was born a slave, Bill Traylor was. Around 1854 or so Bill was born on a cotton plantation in Alabama. After the Civil War his parents stayed on as sharecroppers. After he grew up Bill ran a farm of his own with his wife and kids, but when Bill turned eighty-one he was alone on the farm by himself. With cane in hand he headed for Montgomery. It was there that he started drawing, for no immediately apparent reason. He’d draw on cardboard or discarded paper. After a time, a young artist took an interest in Bill, ultimately showing off his work in a gallery show. Bill enjoyed it but for him the drawing was the most important thing. An Afterword discusses Bill’s life and shows a photograph of him and a piece of his art.

When you’re writing a picture book biography of any artist the first problem you need to address is how to portray that person’s art in the book. If you’re the illustrator do you try to replicate the original artist’s work? Do you draw or paint in your own style and include small images of the artist’s original work? Or do you show absolutely none of the original art, trusting your readership to do that homework on their own? There is a fourth option, but I don’t know that I was aware of it before I read this book. You can hire an illustrator whose style is similar enough to the original artist that when the time comes to reference the original art they make their own version and then show the artist’s work at the end.

Now I’ll go out on a limb here and admit that I’ve never really been a huge fan of R. Gregory Christie’s style before. It’s one of those things I can appreciate on an aesthetic level but never really personally enjoy. Yet in this book I felt that Christie was really the only person who could do Traylor’s tale justice. I had initially wondered why he had been chosen (before reading the book, I might add) since author Don Tate

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25. Julia Child for Kids - Serious AND Funny

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By: Susanna Reich, on 5/10/2012
Blog: I.N.K.: Interesting Non fiction for Kids (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  women, 2012 titles, biographies, cats, Susanna Reich, humor, picture books, cooking, biography, Add a tag

"True stuff doesn't have to be all solemn and serious and sedate," wrote Roz in her postlast week about humor in nonfiction picture books. If ever there was a biographical subject who was NOT solemn and sedate, it was Julia Child, who would have turned 100 this year. Serious is another matter, however.

Fun in the kitchen

On TV, Julia had a natural, relaxed attitude that belied her seriousness about French cooking. Of crucial importance were fresh, high-quality ingredients, prepared with classic techniques that had been developed over centuries. Fortunately, Julia's serious approach was always tempered by an earthy sense of humor. At heart an educator, she knew that learning goes down easiest when you're having fun. Above all, she would say, are the pleasures of sharing a delicious meal with family and friends. For Julia, relationships came first.

In my new picture book, Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (Abrams), all these facets of America's most beloved chef and cookbook author are on the table. The challenge for me as an author was to find the right balance of seriousness and playfulness, and to do it in a way that kids would enjoy.

Flowers for Julia Child's 80th birthday party, complete with kitchen whisk.

A Julia fan since childhood, I'd wanted to write a book about her ever since we met when I designed the flowers for her 80^th birthday party, at the Rainbow Room in New York. But I struggled to find a way to make the subject child-friendly. Would six-year-olds really be interested in fancy French food?

Then I learned that Julia got her first cat, Minette, when she and her husband Paul lived in Paris in the late 1940's. This fortunate French feline ate meals lovingly prepared by the future Queen of Cuisine. In return, Minette brought Julia little tokens of affection—in the form of fres

3 Comments on Julia Child for Kids - Serious AND Funny, last added: 5/11/2012

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Annalisa said, on 5/11/2012 7:37:00 AM

Awesome.

Annalisa said, on 5/11/2012 7:37:00 AM

Awesome.

helena said, on 5/11/2012 10:57:00 PM

Riding on piers and boardwalks can be pretty hectic with the number of people walking and riding bikes.



bike light

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