Book picks similar to
Ira's Shakespeare Dream by Glenda Armand
picture-books
biography
non-fiction
picture-book
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects
Matthew Clark Smith - 2015
A wasp that hunts beetles nearly twice its size. The lives of fascinating creatures such as these were unknown until one man introduced them to the world.Meet Jean-Henri Fabre, one of the most important naturalists of all time. As a boy in the French countryside, Henri spent hours watching insects. He dreamed of observing them in a new way: in their own habitats. What he discovered in pursuing that dream was shocking; these small, seemingly insignificant creatures led secret lives—lives of great drama!With its lively, lyrical text and richly detailed illustrations, this intriguing picture-book biography introduces the man who would forever change the way we look at insects, bringing to life the fascinating world of dazzling beetles, ferocious wasps, and other amazing small wonders that exist all around us.
Freedom Summer
Deborah Wiles - 2001
He crawls like a catfish, blows bubbles like a swamp monster, but he doesn’t swim in the town pool with me. He’s not allowed. Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like shooting marbles, they both want to be firemen, and they both love to swim. But there’s one important way they're different: Joe is white and John Henry is black, and in the South in 1964, that means John Henry isn’t allowed to do everything his best friend is. Then a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited they race each other there...only to discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts.
Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn’t Sit Still
Karlin Gray - 2016
But as readers will see in this first-ever illustrated picture book about Nadia’s journey to Olympic gold, the road from small-town girl to world-class athlete was full of many imperfect moments. Expert illustrations that capture the energy and fluidity of Nadia's exuberant gymnastic routines and referential back matter round out this inspirational story of determination and overcoming adversity. A perfect 10.
Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys
Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard - 2000
My brothers had doubts. School was seven miles away—a long way from Mama. Virgie was scarcely big as a field mouse. How could she make the trip? And girls didn’t really need school. But I got to thinking: Virgie was free like we were. Free to learn. And didn’t girls need to know how to write and add, too? Mama and Papa thought so. And one summer, they decided to do something about it. That was the year Virgie came to school with us boys. And she sure showed us!
That Is My Dream!
Langston Hughes - 2017
Follow one African-American boy through the course of his day as the harsh reality of segregation and racial prejudice comes into vivid focus. But the boy dreams of a different life--one full of freedom, hope, and wild possibility, where he can fling his arms wide in the face of the sun.
Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
Laurie Wallmark - 2015
When she meets Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first mechanical computer, Ada understands the machine better than anyone else and writes the world's first computer program in order to demonstrate its capabilities.
The Cart That Carried Martin
Eve Bunting - 2013
The text also features the large number of people who walked the funeral route and were buoyed by MLKs positive influence, as well as Ada and Belle, the mules that pulled the cart.
Twenty-Two Cents: Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank
Paula Yoo - 2014
Includes an afterword and author's sources"--
Back of the Bus
Aaron Reynolds - 2010
Mama and child are riding where they?re supposed to?way in the back of the bus. The boy passes the time by watching his marble roll up and down the aisle with the motion of the bus, until from way up front a big commotion breaks out. He can?t see what?s going on, but he can see the policeman arrive outside and he can see Mama?s chin grow strong. ?There you go, Rosa Parks,? she says, ?stirrin? up a nest of hornets. Tomorrow all this?ll be forgot.? But they both know differently. With childlike words and powerful illustrations, Aaron Reynolds and Coretta Scott King medalist Floyd Cooper recount Rosa Parks? act of defiance through the eyes of a child?who will never forget.
Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Sally Derby - 2015
But his legacy remains in his much-beloved poetry—told in both Standard English and in dialect—which continues to delight and inspire readers today. More than two dozen of Dunbar’s poems are woven throughout this volume, illuminating the phases of his life and serving as examples of dialect, imagery, and tone. Narrating in a voice full of admiration and respect, Sally Derby introduces Paul Laurence Dunbar’s life and poetry to readers young and old, aided by Sean Qualls’s striking black-and-white illustrations.
The Girl Who Ran: Bobbi Gibb, the First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon
Kristina Yee - 2017
Bobbi Gibb was determined to prove them wrong. She said she would do it, she wasn’t a liar; she’d show them by running like the wind in the fire.
Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War
Jessica Dee Humphreys - 2015
But in 1993, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Michel and his family live, is a country in tumult. One afternoon Michel and his friends are kidnapped by rebel militants and forced to become child soldiers.
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.
Jean Marzollo - 1993
Pinkney's scratchboard and oil pastel illustrations convey both the strength and gentleness of King's character. Both text and art carry his central message of peace and brotherhood among all people.
Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice
Paula Byrne - 2014
The illegitimate daughter of a captain in the Royal Navy and an enslaved African woman, Dido Belle was sent to live with her great-uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, one of the most powerful men of the time and a leading opponent of slavery. Growing up in his lavish estate, Dido was raised as a sister and companion to her white cousin, Elizabeth. When a joint portrait of the girls, commissioned by Mansfield, was unveiled, eighteenth-century England was shocked to see a black woman and white woman depicted as equals. Inspired by the painting, Belle vividly brings to life this extraordinary woman caught between two worlds, and illuminates the great civil rights question of her age: the fight to end slavery.
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
Susan HoodSara Palacios - 2018
From the award-winning author of Ada’s Violin, Susan Hood, this is a poetic and visual picture book that celebrates persistent women throughout history. Among the powerful pairings: Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall takes on heroic World War II spies Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne; Selina Alko is matched with the brave Malala Yousafzai; New York Times bestselling illustrator Emily Winfield Martin is paired with the inventor of the controversial one-piece bathing suit, Annette Kellerman; and Shadra Strickland introduces America’s first known female firefighter, Molly Williams. While women make up over half of the U.S. population, they face discrimination, have less representation in government and other fields, and struggle every day for their human rights. It is more important now than ever to raise a generation of girls who, in the face of adversity, persevere. This book was written, illustrated, edited, and designed by women. Includes a foreword by a prominent female activist, an author’s note, a timeline, and additional resources. This book features: Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, Lisa Brown, Hadley Hooper, Emily Winfield Martin, Oge Mora, Julie Morstad, Sara Palacios, LeUyen Pham, Erin Robinson, Isabel Roxas, Shadra Strickland, and Melissa Sweet.