I Am Jane Goodall


Brad Meltzer - 2016
     After receiving a stuffed animal chimpanzee for her first birthday, Jane Goodall's love of animals only grew. She saw what humans and animals had in common, not what makes us different, and used that to advocate for animal rights everywhere, becoming famous for her work with chimpanzees.This friendly, fun biography series inspired the PBS Kids TV show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. One great role model at a time, these books encourage kids to dream big. Included in each book are:- A timeline of key events in the hero's history - Photos that bring the story more fully to life - Comic-book-style illustrations that are irresistibly adorable - Childhood moments that influenced the hero - Facts that make great conversation-starters - A character trait that made the person heroic and that readers can aspire toYou'll want to collect each book in this dynamic, informative series!

Her Fearless Run: Kathrine Switzer’s Historic Boston Marathon


Kim Chaffee - 2019
    This narrative biography follows Kathrine from running laps as a girl in her backyard to becoming the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with official race numbers in 1967.

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued


Peter Sís - 2021
    He intertwines Nicky’s efforts with the story of one of the children he saved—a young girl named Vera, whose family enlisted Nicky’s aid when the Germans occupied their country. As the war passes and Vera grows up, she must find balance in her dual identities—one her birthright, the other her choice.

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives


Lola M. Schaefer - 2013
    This extraordinary book collects animal information not available anywhere else—and shows all 30 roosting holes, all 200 spots, and, yes!, all 1,000 baby seahorses in eye-catching illustrations. A book about picturing numbers and considering the endlessly fascinating lives all around us, Lifetime is sure to delight young nature lovers.

Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower


Greg Pizzoli - 2015
    “Count Victor Lustig,” moved to Paris hoping to be an artist. A con artist, that is. He used his ingenious scams on unsuspecting marks all over the world, from the Czech Republic, to Atlantic ocean liners, and across America. Tricky Vic pulled off his most daring con in 1925, when he managed to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to one of the city’s most successful scrap metal dealers! Six weeks later, he tried to sell the Eiffel Tower all over again. Vic was never caught. For that particular scam, anyway. . . . Kids will love to read about Vic's thrilling life, and teachers will love the informational sidebars and back matter. Award-winner Greg Pizzoli’s humorous and vibrant graphic style of illustration mark a bold approach to picture book biography.

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla


Katherine Applegate - 2014
    Brian Karas present the extraordinary real story of a special gorilla.Captured as a baby, Ivan was brought to a Tacoma, Washington, mall to attract shoppers. Gradually, public pressure built until a better way of life for Ivan was found at Zoo Atlanta. From the Congo to America, and from a local business attraction to a national symbol of animal welfare, Ivan the Shopping Mall Gorilla traveled an astonishing distance in miles and in impact.This is his true story and includes photographs of Ivan in the back matter.

Hey, Water!


Antoinette Portis - 2019
    But water doesn't always look the same, it doesn't always feel the same, and it shows up in lots of different shapes. Water can be a lake, it can be steam, it can be a tear, or it can even be a snowman.As the girl discovers water in nature, in weather, in her home, and even inside her own body, water comes to life, and kids will find excitement and joy in water and its many forms.

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race


Margot Lee Shetterly - 2018
    And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius minds to change the world.In this illustrated picture book edition, we explore the story of four female African American mathematicians at NASA, known as "colored computers," and how they overcame gender and racial barriers to succeed in a highly challenging STEM-based career.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down


Andrea Davis Pinkney - 2010
    Their order was simple.A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side.This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement. Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter. Brian Pinkney embraces a new artistic style, creating expressive paintings filled with emotion that mirror the hope, strength, and determination that fueled the dreams of not only these four young men, but also countless others.

She Caught the Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer


Kathryn Lasky - 2021
    Mina became an astronomer in a time when women were discouraged from even looking through telescopes. Yet Mina believed that the universe, with its billions of stars, was a riddle—and she wanted to help solve it.Mina ultimately helped to create a map of the universe that paved the way for astronomers. Newbery Honor–winning Kathryn Lasky shares her incredible true story.Use this book to encourage conversation at home and the classroom about women and STEM. This is a captivating picture book that centers around women and empowerment, perfect for Women's History Month and to be shared alongside such powerful titles as Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton.Kathryn Lasky’s nonfiction book Sugaring Time was a Newbery Honor Book, and the books she authored in the Dear America and Royal Diaries series have sold over 3 million copies. Julianna Swaney is the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestselling We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines.

Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston


Alicia D. Williams - 2021
    Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though you might not land quite that high, at least you’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped from place to place, from the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales, to Howard University, to Harlem. And everywhere she jumped, she shined sunlight on the tales most people hadn’t been bothered to listen to until Zora. The tales no one had written down until Zora. Tales on a whole culture of literature overlooked…until Zora. Until Zora jumped.

Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions


Chris Barton - 2016
    You know the Super Soaker. It’s one of top twenty toys of all time. And it was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, impressive inventor Lonnie Johnson instead created the mechanics for the iconic toy. A love for rockets, robots, inventions, and a mind for creativity began early in Lonnie Johnson’s life. Growing up in a house full of brothers and sisters, persistence and a passion for problem solving became the cornerstone for a career as an engineer and his work with NASA. But it is his invention of the Super Soaker water gun that has made his most memorable splash with kids and adults.

The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine


Linda Elovitz Marshall - 2020
    Jonas Salk is one of the most celebrated doctors and medical researchers of the 20th century. The child of immigrants who never learned to speak English, Jonas was struck by the devastation he saw when the soldiers returned from battle after WWII. Determined to help, he worked to become a doctor and eventually joined the team that created the influenza vaccine. But Jonas wanted to do more. As polio ravaged the United States--even the president was not immune!--Jonas decided to lead the fight against this terrible disease. In 1952, Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine, which nearly eliminated polio from this country. For the rest of his life, Dr. Salk continued to do groundbreaking medical research at the Salk Institute, leaving behind a legacy that continues to make the world a better place every day.This compelling picture book biography sheds light on Dr. Salk's groundbreaking journey and the importance of vaccination.

Rescuing the Declaration of Independence: How We Almost Lost the Words That Built America


Anna Crowley Redding - 2020
    It’s a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are the words that helped found our nation. Today the Declaration of Independence is one of the United States’ most heavily guarded treasures, but during the War of 1812 it would have been destroyed if not for one man whose story has nearly been forgotten by time. Come along on this historic adventure and learn how one ordinary clerk did a truly extraordinary thing.As a clerk for the State Department, Stephen Pleasonton spent his days quietly immersed in paperwork. He never expected to receive an urgent message telling him that the British army was on its way to the capital. And that the documents that Stephen was entrusted with—such as the original Declaration of Independence and the original Constitution—were all in danger!It fell on Stephen to get our nation’s most cherished and priceless artifacts safely out of Washington!

Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci


Joseph D'Agnese - 2010
    He was such a daydreamer that people called him a blockhead.When Leonardo grew up and traveled the world, he was inspired by the numbers used in different countries. Then he realized that many things in nature, from the number of petals on a flower to the spiral of a nautilus shell, seem to follow a certain pattern. The boy who was once teased for being a blockhead had discovered what came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence!