Queen of the Falls


Chris Van Allsburg - 2011
    That’s what everyone wonders when they see Niagara . . . How close will their courage let them get to it? At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired sixty-two-year-old charm school instructor named Annie Edson Taylor, seeking fame and fortune, decided to do something that no one in the world had ever done before—she would go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. Come meet the Queen of the Falls and witness with your own eyes her daring ride!

Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man


David A. Adler - 1997
    Expressive illustrations capture the strength, modesty, and dignity for which this remarkable man will always be remembered. “Readers will feel good after reading this biography--and maybe even inspired to start measuring themselves against Gehrig’s standard.”--Kirkus Reviews

Matisse: The King of Color


Laurence Anholt - 2007
    Her patient is the artist Henri Matisse, and as Matisse recovers from his illness, he and Monique become good friends. Later, Monique enters a convent where she becomes a nursing nun--and by happy coincidence, she meets Matisse once again. Her religious order is so poor that they don't have a chapel of their own, but Matisse decides that with Monique's help, he can remedy that situation. He develops a sketch drawn by Monique into a brilliant set of stained-glass chapel windows, and then uses his influence to raise enough money for the chapel's construction. This true account of Matisse and the chapel at Vence, in southern France, is the main focus of Laurence Anholt's newest delightful children's story. Anholt's illustrations faithfully reproduce many of Matisse's wonderful artworks in this beautiful storybook.

Looking at Lincoln


Maira Kalman - 2012
    Lincoln's legacy is everywhere - there he is on your penny and five-dollar bill. And we are still the United States because Lincoln helped hold them together. But who was he, really? The little girl in this book wants to find out. Among the many other things, she discovers our sixteenth president was a man who believed in freedom for all, had a dog named Fido, loved Mozart, apples, and his wife's vanilla cake, and kept his notes in his hat. From his boyhood in a log cabin to his famous presidency and untimely death, Kalman shares Lincoln's remarkable life with young readers in a fresh and exciting way.

Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist


Linda Skeers - 2020
    This is the story of Dinosaur Lady.Mary Anning loved scouring the beach near her home in England for shells and fossils. She fearlessly climbed over crumbling cliffs and rocky peaks, searching for new specimens. One day, something caught Mary's eye.Bones. Dinosaur Bones.Mary's discoveries rocked the world of science and helped create a brand-new field of study: paleontology. But many people believed women couldn't be scientists, so Mary wasn't given the credit she deserved. Nevertheless, Mary kept looking and learning more, making discoveries that reshaped scientific beliefs about the natural world.Dinosaur Lady is a beautiful and brilliant picture book that will enlighten children about the discovery of the dinosaurs and the importance of female scientists. It also includes a timeline of Mary Anning's life and lots of fantastic fossil facts!

A Most Clever Girl: How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice


Jasmine A. Stirling - 2021
    As a young girl, she delighted in making her family laugh with tales that poked fun at the popular novels of her time, stories that featured fragile ladies and ridiculous plots. Before long, Jane was writing her own stories-uproariously funny ones, using all the details of her life in a country village as inspiration.In times of joy, Jane's words burst from her pen. But after facing sorrow and loss, she wondered if she'd ever write again. Jane realized her writing would not be truly her own until she found her unique voice. She didn't know it then, but that voice would go on to capture readers' hearts and minds for generations to come.

Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression


Carole Boston Weatherford - 2017
    A case of polio had left her with a limp and sympathetic to those less fortunate. Traveling across the United States, documenting with her camera and her fieldbook those most affected by the stock market crash, she found the face of the Great Depression. In this picture book biography, Carole Boston Weatherford with her lyrical prose captures the spirit of the influential photographer.

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit


Linda Elovitz Marshall - 2020
    This is the true story about how she helped save the English countryside!Growing up in London, Beatrix Potter felt the restraints of Victorian times. Girls didn't go to school and weren't expected to work. But she longed to do something important, something that truly mattered. As Beatrix spent her summers in the country and found inspiration in nature, it was through this passion that her creativity flourished. There, she crafted The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She would eventually move to the countryside full-time, but developers sought to change the land. To save it, Beatrix used the money from the success of her books and bought acres and acres of land and farms to prevent the development of the countryside that both she and Peter Rabbit so cherished. Because of her efforts, it's been preserved just as she left it.

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark


Debbie Levy - 2016
    This biographical picture book about the Notorious RBG, tells the justice’s story through the lens of her many famous dissents, or disagreements.

Me...Jane


Patrick McDonnell - 2011
    As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals," until one day she finds that her dream has come true. With anecdotes taken directly from Jane Goodall's autobiography, McDonnell makes this very true story accessible for the very young--and young at heart.One of the world's most inspiring women, Dr. Jane Goodall is a renowned humanitarian, conservationist, animal activist, environmentalist, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global nonprofit organization that empowers people to make a difference for all living things.

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: A True Story about an Accidental Invention (Really!)


Barry Wittenstein - 2018
    

Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters


Michael James Mahin - 2017
    When Grandma Della said the blues wouldn’t put food on the table, Muddy didn’t listen. And when record producers told him no one wanted to listen to a country boy playing country blues, Muddy ignored them as well. This tenacious streak carried Muddy from the hardscrabble fields of Mississippi to the smoky juke joints of Chicago and finally to a recording studio where a landmark record was made.Soon the world fell in love with the tough spirit of Muddy Waters. In blues-infused prose and soulful illustrations, Michael Mahin and award-winning artist Evan Turk tell Muddy’s fascinating and inspiring story of struggle, determination, and hope.

Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton


Margaret McNamara - 2018
    Eliza was expected to marry into a similarly powerful family . . . until she met and fell in love with the charismatic Hamilton. She stood by him throughout his tumultuous life, and after his death, she single-handedly collected his papers and preserved them for historians and musical-theater writers of the future. Eliza outlived Hamilton by fifty years; during that time she founded the first orphanage in New York State, raised funds for the Washington Monument, and kept the flame of her husband's memory and achievements alive. Featuring Esme Shapiro's exquisite, thoroughly researched art, which mirrors paintings from 18th-century America, this is a beautiful and informative biography with extensive back matter.

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell


Tanya Lee Stone - 2013
    Some women could be teachers or seamstresses, but career options were few. Certainly no women were doctors. But Elizabeth refused to accept the common beliefs that women weren’t smart enough to be doctors, or that they were too weak for such hard work. And she would not take no for an answer. Although she faced much opposition, she worked hard and finally—when she graduated from medical school and went on to have a brilliant career—proved her detractors wrong. This inspiring story of the first female doctor shows how one strong-willed woman opened the doors for all the female doctors to come.

Brave Jane Austen: Reader, Writer, Author, Rebel


Lisa Pliscou - 2018
    Jane didn’t have much opportunity to go to school but she read everything she could, including the books in her father’s study. And before long, she began to write her own stories, filled with funny, clever, and inventive characters.Today, Austen’s novels ― including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma ― are widely read around the world. She's recognized as one of the most important and influential writers of all time; about her J.K. Rowling has said, "Jane Austen is the pinnacle to which all authors aspire."