Biography/Autobiography
a book about a person written by themselves/a book written about a person that has passed away
Barack Obama of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama
Of Thee I Sing is a poignant children’s book, which points out the positive qualities that Obama sees in his children and compares those qualities to the traits that were demonstrated by thirteen famous Americans. Obama showcases the lives and achievements of these famous individuals in order to help his own children and other children across the nation celebrate their uniqueness and potential for greatness.
Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska by Tricia Brown
For Native children, growing up in Alaska today means dwelling in a place where traditional customs sometimes mix oddly with modern conveniences. Through their own words, this book explores the lives of eight Alaska Native children, each representing a unique and ancient culture. Each written portrait is accompanied by photographs of the children in their Alaska villages and towns. The revival of interest in Native ways is evident, as the children describe language and culture classes in school and the critical role elders play in teaching traditional ways and the skills necessary to a subsistence lifestyle. These ways were almost lost as a result of centuries of non-Native schooling that prohibited Native languages or customs.
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
They had to walk a fine line to tell us this story. A misstep in any direction would have brought condescension, over-simplification, false cheerfulness or hopelessness and Fly Away Home is free of all those things. On this one we have the dejected father in an airport waiting area with his son leaning over the seat to drape his arms across his father's shoulders. Both are clean, dressed in plain blue to not be noticed. The father's hands hold a large blue bag and beside him on the seat is a smaller one. We'll learn in the book, that these contain their only possessions. In the background are a man and woman obviously waiting to welcome travelers off the flight that may be arriving even now. Not under strictures to be unnoticed, this couple wears bright colors and the woman carries what might be an over-sized purse.
Hurricanes by Seymour Simon
This book explains about hurricanes and what they can do to nature, and to people. It describes the type of storm that it is and where around the globe they originate from. Other than telling about their climate, origin, and the different storms the book also explains about how they are tracked and how scientists see pictures of them on their computers. Along with that, the book shows the devastation and aftermath of different hurricanes in their different forms, like Category 1,2,3,4, and 5. Hurricanes not only bring damaging winds, but also heavy rain, and storms. Weather forecasters try to predict about hurricanes and tell people in advance in case they have to evacuate their home, and they also give people warnings and safety tips on how to get through it.
I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa Parks
This 1st - 4th grade book is written by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins. It begins by telling the reader about her arrest on the bus. The then give us a background about her childhood and life up until the arrest. They explain how her and her husbands work with black people who had been treated unfairly seemed to cause her to put her foot down, she was sick of giving up her seat and being treated unfairly. The book goes on to talk about the civil rights movement and how things progressed. I like this book because it would be accessible to a struggling reader, but the historical content that would give you a little more flex room about where to use it. The illustrations are very good and prominent enough without taking away from the text or the story.
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis
Over in China there are babies who live in the same room as each other and all of them share beds with each other. They all have one thing in common, they don’t have a mom. There is a woman in the United States who is also missing something, that’s a baby. She writes a letter to China asking to adopt a baby, and they said yes. She travels to China with other people and gets her new child. She looks at the baby and puts her to sleep. She traveled all the way to America with her new mother; here she saw her new house, her toys, and her relatives who came one by one to visit her. She played with her toys, and sat there in her bed until her family left. Her mom picked her up and sang to new baby to sleep, and was ready for this new life for both of them.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch had a wife, three small children and the job of his dreams. Everything seemed to be going perfectly, but then he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The cancer eventually went into remission but shortly thereafter returned with a vengeance. The diagnosis was terminal, and there were at least ten tumors in his liver. Faced with the ultimate realization, Randy could have done many things with his remaining time, but he wanted to spend the majority of it with his family. He knew he needed to take care of them and do things to ease life without him, so Randy moved his family to Virginia for Jai to be close to her family when he passed. He felt he needed to teach his children what he would have even though he would not be there. Unfortunately, they were too young for some conversations. He wanted to teach them right and wrong, what was important to him, how to deal with challenges, life stories, etc., but he realized he would not have the chance to do those things.
Living Sunlight: How Plants bring Earth to Life by Molly Band and Penny Chisolm
Living Sunlight shows children, teachers, and parents the magic of what makes us human. This informative yet dramatic book will mesmerize readers and help further a child's understanding of the energy we share with all living things in nature. It talks about the earth plants, water, and the communities in nature around us every day which helps the children learn about their environment and what they see on a daily basis. This is an excellent book to read to science classes, and also on a special day in class when learning about the environment as a whole.
Looking Closely Along the Shore by Frank Serafini
See what looks like a bird's beak revealed as a gooseneck barnacle, blades of grass as a blue mussel, and many more surprises when you look closely along the shore. The Looking Closely series takes children on a journey of discovery through four environments, the forest, the shore, the desert and the garden. Frank Serafini's camera lens enlarges each world through the magic of close-up photography. Young readers will rediscover our planet as a place of beauty, mystery and delight. Readers are first challenged to guess the identity of each close-up photograph. The next page reveals the entire photograph of the plant, animal or natural object accompanied by a simple but detailed description of the habitat.
Me and Momma and Big John by Mara Rockliff
Big John is a cathedral in New York. There is a family whose mother is a stone cutter for the church. She travels far everyday just to cut a stone to help build the church. She comes home and is tired from her long day, but still keeps up with her children. They don’t understand why it takes someone so long to cut a stone, or why the church won’t be finished soon. On her day off she wears bright colors and sings with her family. She then tells them to put nice clothes on and they take a trip. They get on the bus and they go downtown to Big John. Here they meet Momma’s coworkers and see what her work actually is. Everyone is so nice, but all their stones look the same. Momma explained to them that each stone is different and very important, and also showed them where hers is going to go. They then go to the church service and loved being inside the church. Everyone was there lifting up each other by singing and praising, and it was her they realized it’s not about what it looks like or how it’s different, but what it does to bring people together.
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Lead Her People to Freedom by Kadir Nelson
"Harriet, be the Moses of your people," God commands Harriet Tubman to help free the slaves. Carole Boston Weatherford sets her recounting of the Harriet Tubman story as a conversation between Tubman and God. In this conversation, Tubman looks to God for guidance as she first escapes north herself, and then returns to guide others to freedom along the underground railroad. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom is a poetic account of Harriet Tubman's heroic exploits for children.
Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown
Einstein found himself the "odd boy" at school, and as the only Jewish student, was sometimes taunted by other children. He puzzled his instructors as well; though clearly gifted in science, math, and music, he was an indifferent student in most subjects. In many scenes he is marginalized on the sidelines, set apart by color and shading. One dramatic spread features an adult Einstein pushing his child in a carriage, looking small against a backdrop that highlights some of the scientific puzzles that so engaged him.
September 12th We Knew Everything Would Be Alright by The First Graders of Masterson Elementary School in MIssouri
This book is about the lives of the first grade students in Missouri. This story is written by them, and they talk about what happened to them and their families the day after September 11th. Each child wrote a page of this book, and put in their own pictures and drawings. This book was designed to show that their lives were effected by the attack, but they still had their family, and they kept going on with their lives day after day.
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
When the Springfield librarian, Molly McGrew, first drives her bookmobile into the zoo the animals aren’t sure what to do. They keep their distance, but Molly draws them in by reading from Dr. Seuss and soon the animals stampede the bookmobile each time it arrives. Molly finds the right books for each animals taste, tall books on skyscrapers for the giraffes and waterproof copies of Harry Potter for the otters. And although she has to teach the termites not to eat the books and the bears not to lick the pictures off the pages, soon the animals are so in love with books they begin writing their own.