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Picture Book Biographies

There are people we want our kids to read about from a young age. Great Christian saints, thinkers and leaders who demonstrated a commitment to excellence, explorers who explored, inventors who invented—any good role model for impressionable young people is who we want them reading about, and picture book biographies are a great way to introduce them.

Sure, high school students will get more out of a text-based treatment of the life of Abraham Lincoln, but 2nd graders won't. They want pictures to draw them in, to help them see the same world Abe saw, to give them a sense of splitting rails or debating Stephen Douglas right beside him. If it's Lewis and Clark they're learning about, if they can see the pine forests and the bears and the Indians, they're far less likely to forget the story of the Voyage of Discovery than if they're just reading it.

We aren't talking about books that take liberties with historical fact, or that emphasize pictures at the expense of reality. Plenty of kids' book authors seem to think that truth is a moot consideration when writing for the chronologically impaired, but we understand just the opposite to be the case: we need to be particularly careful about what our children read when they haven't even reached an age to discern between fact and conjecture.

Nor do we see pictures as somehow better than words. The Bible wasn't written in visible images, and when you're writing about real people who really lived and did real things, you can't rely solely on illustrations to communicate the facts of their existence and achievements. We're only saying that sometimes its better to show what you're trying to convey, rather than relying wholly on language.

It's not essential that youngsters know all the ins and outs of history. At the same time, when they do need to study figures and events of the past, if they already have some idea of what was going on they'll have much less difficulty putting the pieces together. Introducing them to important and fascinating people through text and pictures is a much better way to get kids thinking about history, and one likely to help them retain the information rather than forgetting it as soon as they finish the last page.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Active Filters: 1st grade (Ages 6-7), Used Books & Materials
Alvin Ailey
by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Hyperion Books for Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Art from Her Heart
by Kathy Whitehead, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Auntie Anne
by Anne Beiler, illustrated by Freiman Stoltzfus
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Before They Were Authors
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Girl
by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Camille Pissarro
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
by Jennifer Thermes
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Daniel Boone
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Drum Dream Girl
by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Elizabeth Leads the Way
by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
from Square Fish Publishing
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)
by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Eye for Color
by Natasha Wing, Art by Julia Breckenreid
from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King
by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (3 in stock)
I Can Read About Johnny Appleseed
by J. I. Anderson, illustrated by Drew Brook Cormack
from Troll Associates
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion
by Andrea Gianopoulos
1st edition from Capstone Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Joe Louis
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Terry Widener
from Gulliver Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Appleseed
by Eva Moore
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Johnny Appleseed
by Gini Holland
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95 $5.00 (3 in stock)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Auguste Rodin
by Richard Tames
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Frederic Remington
by Ernestine Giesecke
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Henry Moore
by Sean Connolly
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mack Made Movies
by Don Brown
from Roaring Brook Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Man Named Washington
by Gertrude Norman, illustrated by James Caraway
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Man Who Walked Between The Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Man Who Walked Between The Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Martin Luther King, Jr
by Carol Hilgartner Schlank, Barbara Metzger, illustrated by John Kastner
from Gryphon House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Name is Georgia
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Name is York
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Rising Moon Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from InquisiCorp Corporation
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln
Picture Book Biography
by David A. Adler
from Trumpet Club
Picture Book Biography for Preschool-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Dwight David Eisenhower
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Helen Keller
by David A. Adler, John C. Wallner, Alexandra Wallner
from Trumpet Club
Biography for Preschool-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison
by David A. Adler, illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ponce de Leon
by Trish Kline
from Rourke Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Secret World of Walter Anderson
by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Skyrockets for the President
by Florence Laughlin, illustrated by George Roth
Stated First Printing from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr
by Nicolas Debon
from Groundwood Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Two Very Little Sisters
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Erika Weihs
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Unfading Beauty
by Tracy M. Leininger
from His Seasons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Value of Courage
by Spencer Johnson, illustrated by Steve Pileggi
from Value Communications Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Character Building (Location: BIB-CH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
William Shakespeare
by Mick Manning & Brita Granstrom
from Frances Lincoln
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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