SO MUCH MORE TO HELEN! The Passion and Pursuits of Helen Keller: A Picture Book Biography and Giveaway

 What do you know about Helen Keller?

Many of us have grown up knowing the story of how Annie Sullivan taught Helen to sign her first word, "water" by the family's water pump. 

But as the title of this new picture book from Sleeping Bear Press indicates, there is much more to know. Written by Meeg Pincus (no stranger to my blog) with lush illustrations by Caroline Bonne-Müller,

this book will appeal to Kindergarten-third grade readers. As you'll see from the illustration samples below, each spread includes basic information written in a rhyming couplet with additional details provided in a text box for older children. 

REVIEW 

On the first page, readers discover that Helen was a friend to a young black girl as well as to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Inventor Alexander Graham Bell.

Then we discover that, 

And she was,

 

                Braille and signing, first through college.

Helen was a dog lover and an author...

            Always writing, never slowing.

            Essays, books, and stories flowing.

Helen was an activist, a jokester, and also, 

Did you know that Helen was a romantic who fell in love with Peter Fagan, a journalist? Her parents wouldn't allow her to marry him since many people at the time didn't think DeafBlind people should marry or have children. 

Indeed, Helen was a survivor. 

            Discrimination, heartbreak, grieving.

            Never gave up, kept believing. 

She traveled to five of the seven continents as a humanitarian and peacemaker.  After the World Wars, she visited wounded soldiers and damaged cities to help foster goodwill and healing. She gave speeches in packed amphitheaters and met with world leaders as well as everyday struggling people.

Helen was a changemaker.

Fought for those with deafness, blindness.

Laws, employment, schools--and kindness.

The last spread shows thirteen individuals with either visible or invisible disabilities. 

BACK MATTER

The last two pages include more details and quotes about each "job" that Helen had. There is also a smaller version of the last spread identifying the thirteen "solutionaries" (someone who tries to solve problems for people, animals, and the planet) and what their disabilities and accomplishments are.

Meeg includes her interest in Helen Keller which stemmed from a high school project. She ends with, "I hope this book inspires you-- whatever disabilities or challenges you may face--to follow our passions and be a solutionary too."

This is an excellent curriculum resource, but I wish a bibliography was included for students and teachers who wanted to read more about this DeafBlind heroine. Click here for Meeg's Free Teaching Tools.

For more of the author's backstory, please see Kathy Temean's blog (and another giveaway!). 

And check out this book trailer:

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment (with your last name and email address if you are new to my blog) by May 23 to enter the giveaway. U.S. addresses only. 

Congratulations to Terri Michels who won Ribbit! The Truth About Frogs.

Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty- A Picture Book Review and A Giveaway- Part I

Like me, you might associate Joseph Pulitzer with the Pulitzer Prize. But, you might not know how he was instrumental in bringing the Statue of Liberty to the United States. Here is the inspirational story of Saving Lady Liberty  (Calkins Creek, 2020) which author Claudia Friddell packed into forty-eight informative pages. The illustrator, Stacy Innerst, is not new to my blog. Check out his illustrations from Lincoln Clears a Path.

 

REVIEW

Joseph Pulitzer loved words. And the word he loved best was liberty.

Maybe that's because Joseph, the son of a wealthy Jewish merchant, enjoyed freedoms that other Jewish boys outside of Pest, Hungary could not. But after his father died when Joseph was eleven, his world changed forever.

That is Claudia Friddell's opening which lures readers into turning the page. 

The book proceeds to show how Joseph was left penniless--unable to even get a job in the army because of his poor eyesight. But,

 

(Isn't it cool how Lincoln appears in this book too?)

Pulitzer went from guard duty in the Civil War (where he'd rather plan battles on the chess board than be in a battle) to a poor immigrant who couldn't speak English (although he was fluent in French, German, Hungarian, and Yiddish).

After weeks of sleeping on park benches, Joseph hopped a train and headed for St. Louis--a city filled with German-speaking immigrants. 

When he wasn't working or learning how to read and write English, Joseph played chess in the library. He caught the attention of an owner of a German newspaper and finally got a job he loved--he was a reporter! 

Grateful for the freedom to write what he chose, Joseph uncovered corruption and inequality. His brash manner and relentless drive didn't earn him many friends but no matter--Joseph kept moving up until he owned the newspaper alongside his chess-playing boss.

Joseph married and traveled to the 1878 Paris World's Fair where he was entranced by Graham Bell's talking machine and the "colossal copper leaf of Auguste Bartholdi's unfinished statue, Liberty Enlightening the World.."

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/statue-liberty-construction-gallery-1.1397435
Albert Fernique/New York Public Library

After being impressed with the statue, Joseph met Auguste.

But although the United States had agreed to build a pedestal for the statue, New Yorkers didn't want to pay for it. When he returned to the States, Joseph vowed to convince his fellow citizens to pay to have the pedestal built and installed on Bedloe's Island (renamed Liberty Island in 1956).

Pulitzer bought the New York World newspaper and put Lady Liberty in the middle of the masthead:

                                     https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83030193/1900-01-30/ed-1/

He wrote editorials and scolded wealthy NewYorkers. 

What a burning disgrace it will be to the United States if the statue of the goddess is brought to our shores on a French government vessel and is met by the intelligence that our people, with all their wealth, have not enough public spirit, liberality, and pride to provide a fitting pedestal on which it can be placed!

No matter how hard he tried to raise the money for the pedestal, Pulitzer didn't have enough. Finally he came up with a new plan. "If a person donated even a penny, he would print their name and their story in the World."

His idea worked. Stories poured in and Pulitzer printed them all. Two of my favorite pages show letters from children with their contributions. One child sold squash and pumpkins and sent in ten cents, another raided his "frog-bank" and combined his earnings with his friends for another ten cents. One kindergarten class sent in $1.35.

Finally, Lady Liberty was loaded into 214 crates and sailed across the stormy Atlantic. 

Of course, when the pedestal was completed, that was a newsworthy story!

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-21947710

Eight years after Pulitzer first saw Lady Liberty, he "witnessed Bartholdi unveil his magnificent monument ready to welcome every traveler with a torch of hope and a promise of freedom." 

As the daughter of German Jewish immigrants, I imagine that the first time my parents saw Lady Liberty, they were filled with a mixture of fear, awe, and excitement. Here was the symbol of the country that would be their new home--a place of liberty.

                                                ****

Next week Claudia will answer questions about her research process and her path to publication. 

Claudia's newest fan,
"Uncle Bob" Toupal. 

CURRICULUM RESOURCE

This book is an excellent resource for any student studying immigration and American history. Eight pages of back matter include little-known facts about the statute and Joseph Pulitzer. Claudia Friddell has created an educator's guide with a variety of  activities for students in grades 2-6. 

For more details about how the statue evolved and how it was connected to the end of slavery and Reconstruction, see this post.

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment to enter the giveaway along with your email address if you are new to my blog. If you also leave a comment next week on the interview, then I'll put your name in twice. Winner's name will be drawn at 4 PM on July 16.  Continental U.S. addresses only. 

Congratulations to Helena George and Kim Peterson who won copies of THE BUTTON GIRL.

JACOB RIIS'S CAMERA: Bringing Light to Tenement Children- A Picture Book Biography

Congratulations to my newest follower, Janet Frenck Sheets who won CAVE DADA PICKY EATER form last week's blog. Here's a hint to my faithful followers. When I offer to give you extra chances by sharing my blog on social media or becoming a new follower, take me up on it! Many times those people win! 

                                                                        ******

Picture book biographies fascinate me. In fact, I'm so intrigued by this genre that I'm writing one myself. I recently had my manuscript critiqued by awesome picture book author, Kirsten Larson, who helped me figure out my story's inciting incident, mid-point, and plot points. I had no idea that Save the Cat elements could be applied to nonfiction picture books!

With Kirsten's instruction fresh in my mind, I decided to analyze another wonderful curriculum resource published by Calkins Creek: Jacob Riis's Camera: Bringing Light to Tenement Children written by Alexis O' Neill and illustrated by Gary Kelley.

REVIEW

Before Jacob Riis became a ground-breaking photographer, he was a twelve-year-old boy who hated Rag Hall; a rat-infested dwelling in his town of Ribe, Denmark. And before he arrived in America in 1870 to make his fortune and win the rich mill owner's daughter hand in marriage, he became a carpenter.

Jacob soon discovered that "jobs for immigrants were hard to find, hard to keep." He worked whenever he found employment and slept wherever he could; in abandoned barns, field, and in dirty disease-infested homeless shelters.  "He vowed to put an end to them someday."

One evening, the principal of the telegraph school where he'd been taking a course found him penniless and alone. The principal recommended him for a job as a reporter. That inciting incident started Jacob on a path that would change his life forever.

Jacob became a reporter, an editor, and even owned his own newspaper. But then he started working for The New York Times as a police reporter. Every night when he walked home he passed New York City's worst slum, Mulberry Bend. 

Jacob wrote vivid articles about life in the tenements. Yet his words failed to ignite change. The appalling conditions did not improve. 

If only Jacob could show others what he saw in the slums--rooms packed with people, rooms dark both day and night. How could he shine light into those places?

Then one day, Jacob found the answer...

Here's the midpoint of the book: Jacob discovers Blitzlicht, a special flash powder which photographers used to light up dark places. He and two amateur photographers captured pictures of the dark tenements, but they tired of the job.

Jacob did not. He bought a small four-by-five-inch wooden box camera. Here is one of the verse poems scattered throughout the narrative depicting this plot point:

He practiced taking pictures. 

He practiced using flash powder. 

Twice, he set fire to dwellings. 

Once, he even set fire to himself. 

But he didn't give up.  

With words and pictures, Jacob finally found a way to make the Board of Health pay attention.

Jacob projected life-sized photographs of the slums to church groups, missions, and charities. Finally, the people of New York City started seeing the "plight of the city's poor who lived in squalor."

In 1890, Jacob published How the Other Half Lives. One of the men who read his book was the newly appointed president of the Police Board, Theodore Roosevelt. The two became life long friends and together they eradicated those slums. 

 

In place of these slums, Mulberry Bend Park opened. A place for children and families. A place

flooded with sunlight,  

feathered with soft grass, 

bubbling with children playing. 

I hope you'll notice the progression of plot points within these sample illustrations. Like Jacob himself, Gary Kelley transformed the dreary slums into places of light and color.

EXTRAS

For curriculum resources, including some of Jacob Riis's original photographs, see this page on Alexis O' Neil's website.  The nine pages of back matter include information about Jacob's life, his work, a timeline, a glossary, and an amazing list of his accomplishments. 

Here are two videos. The first includes Alexis' journey of writing this book and the many layers that went into it. The second is a presentation using photographs from How the Other Half Lives.

                                                     Book Talk by Alexis O' Neill

Riis's 'Layman Sermon"

No giveaway this week, I'm saving this book as a curriculum resource for my grandchildren. If you teach 3-6th grade, I think this book would help your students, children, or grandchildren see what poverty looks like--and what a determined person can do to bring about change. 

Born to Swing: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have a shelf full of picture books to review, use as mentor texts, and to give away. In honor of Women's History month, here's my next one, Born to Swing (Calkins Creek, 2018) by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Michele Wood. (Images courtesy of Calkins Creek.)

"I was born to swing, that's all. Call it what you want, blues, swing, jazz, it caught hold of me way back in Memphis and it looks like it won't ever let go." Lil Hardin Armstrong

REVIEW

In this vivid picture book biography, Lillian Hardin Armstrong's life and love of music is depicted on every page.

From the time she was a child, Lillian loved to listen to the Father of the Blues, Mister W.C. Handy's band playing outside her Memphis boarding house window.

Although her mother called it "Devil's music," she couldn't keep Lillian away from the family organ. Her legs were too short, so her cousin played the pedals for her!

Lillian played hymns for Sunday School--albeit with a beat. She didn't know it at the time, but she was playing jazz! During a piano contest she lost her place, improvised, and won!

When the Great Migration north started, she and her mother headed to Chicago. There she strolled up and down the Stroll listening to music at all hours of the day and night. 

She got a job playing piano in a music store and earned the tile, "The Jazz Wonder Child."

She met Jelly Roll Morton (who said he invented jazz) and despite being a woman, started playing with the New Orleans Creole Jazz Band.

She was "swinging with the swingingest band in Chicago. I laid those rhythms down so hot, they called me Hot Miss Lil." That's when she met Louis Armstrong. 

"Louis was not a handsome man. His clothes were out of style. But when he blew his horn, oh, gee!"

Of course, they had a jazz wedding! No honeymoon for the two of them, they were too busy touring across the country with the band.

Lil and Louis wrote songs and put a band together they called the Hot Five. Their marriage lasted for 14 years; the author reporting their divorce as Louis moving on. 

Lil continued to write songs and play piano. She also started her own band, ran a restaurant, designed clothes, and traveled to Paris where the French had flipped for le jazz hot. 

When she returned home, the country was wild about rock and roll. She thought maybe everyone had forgotten her, but she was labeled a "living legend" and she was on television-- a new type of entertainment media back in the day!

Interestingly, the book ends with Lil saying,

You won't believe me, but I died at the piano, playing that "St. Louis Blues"--playing hard. Oh boy, I went out swinging.

Right up to the end, I had the widest smile and the biggest brightest eyes.

In 1971, shortly following Louis's death, Lillian collapsed at the piano and had a heart attack on the way to the hospital. Wikipedia notes that the autobiography she was working on, and her personal letters, disappeared shortly after her death.

END PAGES & CURRICULUM RESOURCE

The back of the book notes include five pages of information including a timeline, bibliography of both primary and secondary sources, and a list of her songs to find online. This is a great curriculum resource for Kindergarten-third graders studying women in the arts, jazz, and African American history. Reluctant readers in fourth-sixth grades will also enjoy the text and pictures.

Here is a youtube short video showing Lil at the piano.

The text is very reader friendly and inspirational. The illustrator's use of yellow throughout the book was magnificent. From Lillian's dresses, to the color of the horns, to the background of several pages--it makes the story pop from the pages. 

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment by 6 PM on March 12 along with your email address (if you are new to my blog) and I'll enter your name. If you choose to follow my blog, let me know and I'll put your name in twice. U.S. addresses only. 

Stompin' at the Savoy: A Nonfiction Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 Congratulations to Joan Edwards who won Barbara Younger's painting from last week's blog.

The other day I received a stack of books from Sleeping Bear Press which included several nonfiction titles.

In honor of Black History month, I chose Stompin' at the Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums by Moira Rose Donohue as the first one to read and giveaway. 

As I write two nonfiction picture books, I am participating in a superb online "crash course" in writing nonfiction, NF Fest. Each day a different author posts information and an activity related to writing nonfiction. Today, I was inspired by Candace Fleming's challenge, "Let's Make a Scene" to look at the scenes and summaries in a nonfiction text. She defines scenes as "a specific time, a specific place, and one change." Summaries,

tell the reader something necessary without creating a full scene. You can use summary to transition between scenes, set the tone or mood for the next scene, leap forward in time, or explain something (context) your readers will need to understand the next scene. We can identify it by its lack of time and place.

This blog will be my analysis of some of the scenes and summaries in Stompin' at the Savoy. 

REVIEW

The book opens with a scene of William Henry "Chick" Webb tapping rhythms on iron railings and marble steps. The author and illustrator foreshadow the changes that will occur in Chick's life.

The reader turns the page and on the left side finds a summary of William's early childhood illness that affected his spine. On the right is the dramatic illustration of this scene:

After the fall and an operation, the doctor wanted him to get a set of drums to strengthen his arms (summary). In the next two-page scene William is in the kitchen with his mother pounding on "pots and pats, floorboards and washboards" (notice the wonderful alliteration and internal rhyme!) because the family couldn't afford drums or drumsticks. William made his own drumsticks!

The following page is a summary illustrated here. There's no time or place, but rather an explanation of how William became known as Chick.

Next, the reader sees a scene in which Chick is making money by selling newspapers and twirling his real drumsticks in the air. The change is that he has saved up money to buy the drumsticks and is attracting attention, and spare change, with his tricks.

The next scene shows how although Chick stopped growing at four feet, one inch, he saved enough money to buy a drum set.

The reader then learns through the following scenes how jazz bands were "jamming all over the country" and Chick was hired to play with other bands.  Finally, Chick started his own swing band and hired Ella Fitzgerald as his lead singer.

The next scene shows the dancers at the Savoy ballroom where Chick's band was hired to play. 

At that time, band competitions were the rage. There's a scene where Chick loses to Duke Ellington. Disappointed but undeterred, Chick challenges Benny Goodman, the "King of Swing" to a battle of the bands.

Several pages depict both summary and scenes at the Savoy the big contest night.  

The climax of the competition is depicted in this scene in which Benny Goodman's drummer bows to the new "King of Drums."

How About You?

Have you considered scenes and summaries in the book you are writing or reading? This exercise was helpful to me as I go forward in writing picture books, but it is also helpful for all genres of writing. I previously blogged about scene elements here and here.

Other Thoughts

I loved Laura Freeman's artwork that swirls through the pages.  She captures the music's movement through art--which to me, seems like an incredible feat. 

Stompin' at the Savoy is a great classroom resource to teach K-2nd graders about African American history, music, and perseverance. The one page of back matter expands the reader's knowledge of the challenges which Chick faced as well as information about swing music. In the touching last paragraph, the author shares why she was drawn to Chick's story. 

Giveaway

Leave me a comment by 6 PM on February 26 to enter this giveaway. Increase your chances to win by sharing it on social media and/or following my blog. Make sure you tell me which you do. If you are new to my blog, make sure you leave your email address so I can notify you if you win. U.S. addresses only. 

BUZZING WITH QUESTIONS: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner- A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 I received a record number of comments on last week's blog. Congratulations to Danielle Hammelef for winning GRANDDADDY'S STORIES.

                                                                            *****

                                                                

At the moment I am studying picture book biographies, with the hope of writing one or two myself. That means you will meet some notable dreamers, scientists, and artists through the words of talented authors and illustrators. Buzzing with Questions (Calkins Creek, 2019) written by poet, author, and creative writing instructor, Janice Harrington, is the story of Charles Henry Turner, a 19th-century scientist. Vivid, joyful illustrations by Theodore Taylor III bring Charles' quest for understanding the natural world accessible to young readers. 

REVIEW

Without a doubt, Charles was a boy with questions.

His teacher encouraged him to search for his answers. And that's exactly what he did. After finishing high school, Charles Henry Turner did what very few African Americans did in 1886 -- he went to college. 

He was the only brown-skinned man in the class and his white professor was worried about how he would be received. But the other students enjoyed the company of their fellow hard-working student.

Charles spent hours "peering through microscopes, planning experiments, gathering specimens, keeping records, drawing charts, ad reading scientific papers." His curiosity knew no limits.

• Could spiders learn, or were they only weaving machines that made the same web over and over?
• How did ants find their way home? Did the sun guide them? Did they follow a trail? 

Searching for answers led to devising experiments. Which led to more information and more discoveries.

Along with his high school students, Charles investigated bee behavior. First, they fed them at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When they only set out jam at breakfast, the bees still buzzed and circled at other meal times. From that, they deduced that bees had a sense of time.  

Bees, giant water bugs, whirligig beetles, dragonfly nymphs, water striders, paper wasps, hornets, or tent caterpillars. Charles studied them all.

....

His mazes, spider jars, paper circles, and cardboard stages toppled old ideas about insects. He never stopped inventing new ways to study the smallest creatures, searching for new ideas, or asking new questions.

Despite facing racial prejudice, Charles became an integral part of his St. Louis community. He hoped that by studying biology, people could see the connections between all living things. 

Charles Henry Turner, the boy whose teacher urged him "to go and find out," grew into a teacher himself, a devoted scholar who taught students to look closely, to find the webs that connect us all, and--just as he did--to fill the world with questions, questions, questions. 

BACK MATTER

Resources at the back of the book include why Ms. Harrrington wrote this book, a timeline, and other resources.  It is a great curriculum resource for Kindergarten-third grade classrooms and STEM book. 

For a Buzzing with Questions read aloud, watch this:

For another great video about Charles Turner's experiments, watch this:

GIVEAWAY

Please leave a comment along with your email address by 6 PM on February 6. It's a great addition to your classroom or home library. 

Ticktock, Banneker's Clock: A Picture Book Review and Author Interview

Congratulations to the following winners from last week's blog:

Deborah Allmand, Jana Leah, and Carol Nelson won BEHIND THESE HANDS.

Joyce Hostetter and Sandra Warren won RUN TO THE LIGHT.

Danielle Hammelef and Connie Saunders won THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM

It's amazing what you can learn through picture books. 

Ticktock Banneker's Clock is another engaging and informative picture book biography by Shana Keller. I recently featured Shana for her new book, Bread for Words about Frederick Douglass. Ticktock's text, along with illustrations by David C. Gardner, depict an important episode in Benjamin Banneker's remarkable life.

Born in 1731, Benjamin, was a self-taught free African American farmer, naturalist, author, and surveyor.  He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson on the topics of racial equality and slavery and authored several almanacs. One of Benjamin's accomplishments was carving a striking clock. The book was voted as one of the best STEM books in 2017.

REVIEW

The story opens with a beautiful drawing showing Ben working on his farm in the Chesapeake Bay.

After his harvesting work was done, he had "time to dream." Sometimes he played the flute or violin, but this day he was fascinated with the inner workings of a pocket watch.

He decided to make a time piece, one that could sit on a mantel or hang for a wall. He took the watch apart, studied the tiny gears, and made diagrams. He carved the clock pieces out of wood, but found that the pieces snapped and broke. 

So, he dried the wood--a time consuming process--and then re-carved the pieces. 

This time, the wheels, pins, and gears didn't break! He had a bell made and timed the clock with the sun. 

Neighbors from far and near came to see his invention; the clock chimed every hour on the dot for the next forty years.

Ticktock Banneker's Clock will make an excellent curriculum resource for grades K-3. Sorry, no giveaway this time, I'm adding it to my library. Instead, I asked Shana what led her to writing this book. Here's her answer. 


AUTHOR INTERVIEW

When my oldest daughter was in the first grade, she came home with a small paragraph about a man named Benjamin Banneker. Even though I had majored in African American history in college, I didn’t recall seeing his name before and suddenly, I was on this path of research that led from one surprise to another. 

After reading everything I could find online and at the library, I visited the Benjamin Banneker Historic Park and Museum in Catonsville, Maryland. I met with Justine Schaeffer the director at the time and explained my interest. We discussed all things Banneker. I toured his lands which is where the park and museum are located. I saw his recreated cabin (Banneker’s burnt down days after his death). And, I met with some of Benjamin’s collateral descendants - children of his nieces and nephews. I also met with a griot, a storyteller, who was familiar with Banneker’s history. 

I discovered many intriguing things about Benjamin Banneker. He was a landowner. He was never enslaved and mostly self-taught. He was well respected in his community and often relied upon to calculate math problems. He wrote almanacs. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson about civil rights. He was an astronomer. He helped survey the land where the nation’s capital would stand. And of course, he built a striking clock using a pocket watch as his guide. Given all of his accomplishments, I realized there was a lot to choose from and focus on. The achievement that struck me the most was how he built his clock. Benjamin’s goal was to never stop learning, and so is mine!