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The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance
American Heroes Series: II – Historic and Cultural Heroes in Biographies for Young People
The power of the individual to overcome poverty, racism, sexism, and adversity and achieve success is a story oft repeated in the history of America. Stories of personal triumph in the face of great hardships instruct and inform our children, but of even more importance, they inspire.
Biographies of Americans of achievement can be found for children in all age groups. Two children’s authors have made careers of distinction in this genre. Jean Fritz writes great biographies for young students. They are both informational and entertaining, and are often fully illustrated. And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, You Want to Vote Lizzie Stanton?, and The Double Life of Pocahontas, are a few of her many fine books.
Russell Freedman is an extraordinary biographer. He has stated "I want to write a book that will be read from beginning to end with a mounting sense of anticipation and discovery- read willingly, with a feeling of genuine pleasure." Parents and teachers will love his books as much as older children and teens. The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, and his recent Martha Graham: A Dancer’s Life can be read aloud chapter by chapter.
More Books on Historical and Cultural Heroes To Find at Your Local Library:
For Young Readers
The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, by James Cross Giblen, illustrated by Michael Dooling
A Boy Called Slow: The True Story of Sitting Bull, by Joseph Bruchac, illustrated by Rocco Baviera
Eleanor (Eleanor Roosevelt), written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Harriet and Promised Land (Harriet Tubman), written and illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man Alive, by David A. Adler, illustrated by Terry Widener
Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, by Doreen Rappaport illustrated by Bryan Collier
Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth, by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Gregory Christie
Shooting the Moon: The Amazing Life and Times of Annie Oakley, by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Bernie Fuchs
Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People, written and illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
For Older Readers
An American Hero: The True Story of Charles A. Lindbergh, by Barry Denenberg
Carver: A Life in Poems (George Washington Carver), by Marilyn Nelson
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance, by Jennifer Armstrong
The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chevaz and the Farmworkers Movement, by Susan Ferris, Ricardo Savdoval, and Diana Hembre
Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids: His Life and Ideas, by Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen
John Glennís Return to Space, by Gregory Vogt
The Life and Death of Crazy Horse, by Russell Freedman
Mary Cassatt, by Susan Meyer
Ordinary Genius: The Story of Albert Einstein, by Stephanie McPherson
Paul Robeson: The Life and Times of a Free Black Man, by Virginia Hamilton
The World at Her Fingertips: The Story of Helen Keller, by Joan Dash
© 2007 Mary Brigid Barrett