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Tag: biographies

December 26, 2021 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2021 Unique Biographies for Kids

It's Biography Day! Here are the books that I feel did the greatest justice to their subjects. You'll see some familiar faces and some folks you've never even heard of. As it should be.

December 26, 2020 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Unique Biographies

Each crop of yearly biographies runs the gamut from the uber famous to people who may not have ever even received an adult biography. I loved the sheer variety on display in 2020. Behold a sampling of some favorites.

August 20, 2020 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Drawing on Walls by Matthew Burgess, ill. Josh Cochran

Drawing On Walls is the kind of book that you wish other writers of children’s nonfiction would read. A story that justifies its very existence by justifying the very existence of its subject.

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31 Days, 31 Lists: 2019 Unique Biographies

December 26, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Some of the biographies you'll find on today's list are of people hitherto uncelebrated while others offer a new take on a familiar name. Here are the biographies produced for kids in 2019 that struck me as particularly choice. Bet there's at least one on here you haven't see before.

Review of the Day: The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow and Steven Salerno

May 10, 2019 by Betsy Bird

The ideal use of great writing without cheating. Filled with facts and backmatter, it also makes the subject interesting to kids. It’s beautiful to look at and while I would have made some changes, it stands as a pretty darn good look at a man, a plan, a crayon. Crayola.

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2018 Unique Biographies

December 26, 2018 by Betsy Bird

To my mind a "unique biography" is a biography of a person who may never have had a bio about them before. Today I show off to you the books that dared to give love and attention to the lesser known.

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Review of the Day: Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say

July 1, 2017 by Betsy Bird

Silent Days, Silent Dreams By Allen Say Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $21.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-92761-1 Ages 8-12 On shelves October 31st I love what makes biographers tick. I lack that ability and it’s so interesting me the way in which a person selects not just their subject but the aspects in their […]

Review of the Day: Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee

May 17, 2017 by Betsy Bird

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix By Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee Illustrated by Man One Readers to Eaters $18.95 ISBN: 978-0-9836615-9-7 Ages 5-10 On shelves now. A kid walked up to my Reference Desk. Looked me square in the eye. Said, “I need a biography…” “Sure thing!” I chirruped. That’s […]

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 26 – 2016 Unique Biographies for Kids

December 26, 2016 by Betsy Bird

During the 2016 Boston Globe-Horn Book Colloquium Carol Boston Weatherford and Ekua Holmes spoke together about the art of writing about other people.  During the speech they mentioned how part of their job is to break down “the canonical boundaries of biography.”  Too often kids read the same biographies about the same people over and […]

Review of the Day: Presenting Buffalo Bill by Candace Fleming

September 12, 2016 by Betsy Bird

Presenting Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Wild West By Candace Fleming A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Book Press (a division of Macmillan) $19.99 ISBN: 9781596437630 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 20th I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we present history to our kids. Specifically I was thinking about picture book biographies […]

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