Book picks similar to
Pippo the Fool by Tracey E. Fern


picture-books
historical-fiction
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architecture

Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased


Amy Novesky - 2012
    Georgia O’Keeffe was famous for painting exactly what she wanted, whether flowers or skulls. Who would ever dare to tell her what to paint? The Hawaiian Pineapple Company tried. Luckily for them, Georgia fell in love with Hawaii. There she painted the beloved green islands, vibrant flowers, feathered fishhooks, and the blue, blue sea. But did she paint what the pineapple company wanted most of all? Amy Novesky’s lyrical telling of this little-known story and Yuyi Morales’s gorgeous paintings perfectly capture Georgia’s strong artistic spirit. The book includes an author’s note, illustrator’s note, bibliography, map of the islands, and endpapers that identify Georgia’s favorite Hawaiian flowers.

Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo Da Vinci


Gene Barretta - 2009
    But Leonardo da Vinci thought of all these ideas more than five hundred years ago! At once an artist, inventor, engineer, and scientist, da Vinci wrote and drew detailed descriptions of what would later become hang gliders, automobiles, robots, and much more. Gene Barretta cleverly shows how Leonardo’s ideas—many inspired by his love of nature—foreshadowed modern inventions, offering a window into the future.

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile


Gloria Houston - 2011
    Dorothy's dearest wish is to be a librarian in a fine brick library just like the one she visited when she was small, but her new home in North Carolina has valleys and streams but no libraries. So Miss Dorothy and her neighbors decide to start a bookmobile. Instead of people coming to a fine brick library, Miss Dorothy can now bring the books to them - at school, on the farm, even once in the middle of a river! Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile is an inspiring story about the love of books, the power of perseverance, and how a librarian can change people's lives.

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13


Helaine Becker - 2018
    But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe.From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history.

Molly Bannaky


Alice McGill - 1999
    When she spilled the milk, she was brought before the court for stealing. Because she could read, Molly escaped the typicalpunishment of death on the gallows. At the age of seventeen, the English dairymaid was exiled from her country and sentenced to work as an indentured servant in British Colonial America. Molly worked for a planter in Maryland for seven long years. Then she was given an ox hitched to a cart, some supplies-and her freedom. That a lone woman should stake land was unheard of. That she would marry an African slave was even more so. Yet Molly prospered, and with her husband Bannaky, she turned a one-room cabin in the wilderness into a thriving one hundred-acre farm. And one day she had the pleasure of writing her new grandson's name in her cherished Bible: Benjamin Banneker.

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic


Robert Burleigh - 2011
    She was only the second person to do this – and the first woman. Rich in detail, feeling and incident this is nonfiction with edge and action, a you-are-there experience made more dramatic and real by Wendell Minor's vivid paintings.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers


Mordicai Gerstein - 2003
    From a highly-respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.

Handel, Who Knew What He Liked


M.T. Anderson - 2001
    And in a manner befitting its subject, this witty, rigorously researched, and accessible biography captures Handel's essential spirit — from a child who smuggled a clavichord into the attic to make music against his father's orders to a young man who imported forty-five pounds of mountain snow to chill wine for a gala. LOS ANGELES TIMES Book Prize winner M. T. Anderson depicts not only Handel's triumphs but also his struggles, chronicling the illness, ill fortune, and despair that led to his greatest achievement, the Messiah. With impeccable detail and a wink at the reader, Kevin Hawkes illustrates this singular story of Handel and the music through which he lives on.

The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity: A Tale of the Genius Ramanujan


Amy Alznauer - 2020
    . . is just one thing. But if I chop it in two, then chop the half in two, and keep on chopping, I get more and more bits, on and on, endlessly, to an infinity I could never ever reach.In 1887 in India, a boy named Ramanujan is born with a passion for numbers. He sees numbers in the squares of light pricking his thatched roof and in the beasts dancing on the temple tower. He writes mathematics with his finger in the sand, across the pages of his notebooks, and with chalk on the temple floor. "What is small?" he wonders. "What is big?" Head in the clouds, Ramanujan struggles in school -- but his mother knows that her son and his ideas have a purpose. As he grows up, Ramanujan reinvents much of modern mathematics, but where in the world could he find someone to understand what he has conceived?Author Amy Alznauer gently introduces young readers to math concepts while Daniel Miyares's illustrations bring the wonder of Ramanujan's world to life in the inspiring real-life story of a boy who changed mathematics and science forever. Back matter includes a bibliography and an author's note recounting more of Ramanujan's life and accomplishments, as well as the author's father's remarkable discovery of Ramanujan's Lost Notebook.

George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides


Rosalyn Schanzer - 2004
    Rosalyn Schanzer's engaging and wonderfully illustrated book brings to life both sides of the American Revolution. The narrative introduces anew the two enemies, both named George: George Washington, the man who freed the American colonies from the British, and George III, the British king who lost them. Two leaders on different sides of the Atlantic, yet with more in common than we sometimes acknowledge. We are lead through their story, and the story of their times, and see both sides of the arguments that divided the colonies from the Kingdom. Was King George a "Royal Brute" as American patriots claimed? Or was he, as others believed, "the father of the people?" Was George Washington a scurrilous traitor, as all the king's supporters claimed? Or should we remember and celebrate him as "the father of his country?" Who was right? History teaches us that there are two sides to every story. Rosalyn Schanzer's book is an accessible account of one the most vital periods in American history. It is also a timeless lesson in seeing history from different points of view. The author spent two years researching books, paintings, cartoons, and descriptions of Revolutionary times. She uses art, text, and first-hand accounts to illustrate how history should never be reduced to simplistic conflicts between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Her illustrations, and her engaging quote bubbles, bring the Revolution to life again, and allow the characters of the period to speak for themselves. Through its lively text, detailed illustrations, and fully authenticated quotes, George vs. George shines fresh light on both sides of the story of our country's formative years.

Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express


Margaret K. Wetterer - 1990
    There were boards loose on its narrow walkway. There was no railing to hold on to. She was afraid to cross this bridge even in daylight. But she had to cross it now. She had to get to the train station in time to stop the midnight express. When a heavy storm destroyed the bridge over Honey Creek, near Kate Shelley's home in Moingona, Iowa, fifteen-year-old Kate bravely rushed out into the storm, saving the lives of two men and preventing hundreds of other lives from being lost. This is the true story of a young girl's resourcefulness and courage in the face of great danger.

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle


Joanna Cole - 2002
    FRIZZLE'S ADVENTURES, the Friz travels back in time to a medieval castle -- and teaches readers all about the Middle Ages.With her reluctant student, Arnold, the Friz slips through a mysterious trap door -- and ends up in the Middle Ages! There, they explore a medieval castle, meeting the people who live there and learning about everyday life within the castle walls. When the castle is threatened by invaders, Arnold and the Friz don chain mail to lead the defense. They repel the invaders just in the nick of time, then they joust and feast before returning to the 21st century. With their careful research and trademark wit, Cole and Degen introduce the many facets of medieval life.

The Darkest Dark


Chris Hadfield - 2016
    Only one problem—at night, Chris doesn't feel so brave. He's afraid of the dark.But when he watches the groundbreaking moon landing on TV, he realizes that space is the darkest dark there is—and the dark is beautiful and exciting, especially when you have big dreams to keep you company.

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins


Barbara Kerley - 2001
    A man of pure determination, he created the first life-size models of dinosaurs! This brilliant book is a fantastic nod to the genius of one man, and a glimpse into the beginning of an important era.As a boy in England, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins always wanted to be an artist. His passion led him to animals, and soon he was drawing and painting them with fervor. This eventually led to his true calling -- creating models of dinosaurs as they actually must have looked when they roamed the earth! With the help of scientist Richard Owen, he checked the fossil remains of dinosaurs against living animals and constructed a gigantic model. Among the first to witness his creation were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who reacted with pure amazement.In order to impress England's leading scientists with his work, Waterhouse Hawkins staged a lavish New Year's Eve dinner party and hosted the gala inside the body of his model! He also wanted the public to learn about the dinosaurs and their history, so he built smaller models, illustrated books, and lectured on the subject. His fame spread to the United States, and he was invited to New York, where he began to create model dinosaurs for a proposed Paleozoic Museum in Central Park. However, a corrupt politician put an end to the project, and vandals later broke into Waterhouse Hawkins's workshop and destroyed his models. Though distraught, he moved on to Princeton, where he built skeletons and created paintings about life on earth in the age of the dinosaurs. Eventually, Waterhouse Hawkins returned to England and continued his work, some of which can still be seen in Crystal Palace Park.Writer Barbara Kerley and illustrator Brian Selznick have weaved a spirited account of this largely forgotten man. Plenty of textual detail, research, and a good dose of wonderment make Kerley's narrative a delightful experience. And the awesome illustrations, which combine Waterhouse Hawkins's own grandeur with Selznick's talent for the bold and the beautiful, made the pages come to life. The fusion of scientific allure and sensational images is a stroke of brilliance. This phenomenal book stands as true testament to the devotion and power of an individual -- it would have made Waterhouse Hawkins proud. (Amy Barkat)

She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World


Chelsea Clinton - 2017
    In early 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to be silenced in the Senate inspired a spontaneous celebration of women who persevered in the face of adversity. In this book, Chelsea Clinton celebrates thirteen American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience. They all certainly persisted.She Persisted is for everyone who has ever wanted to speak up but has been told to quiet down, for everyone who has ever tried to reach for the stars but was told to sit down, and for everyone who has ever been made to feel unworthy or unimportant or small.With vivid, compelling art by Alexandra Boiger, this book shows readers that no matter what obstacles may be in their paths, they shouldn’t give up on their dreams. Persistence is power.This book features: Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Clara Lemlich, Nellie Bly, Maria Tallchief, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor—and one special cameo.