The Biography Report

Me and David A. Adler

Warren Buffet once said in an interview that he is able to make smart executive decisions because he reads nonfiction books, mainly biographies. My husband thinks Mr. Buffet is one of the smartest men in the world, so he decided to start reading Business Week and told me to start reading more nonfiction as well. I took his advice and read Mindy Kaling’s first book, Is Everybody Hanging out without me? (And Other Concerns). We obviously have different opinions on quality nonfiction literature.

Everyone gets assigned a Biography report at some point in elementary school. I remember standing in front of my 3^rd grade class, dressed in black boots and a floral dress with my hair in pigtails and presented an oral report about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am sure I chose her but I have no  idea why, she was an author of a series I didn’t read until that report. With today’s new biography series, children really have the ability to choose a person they are genuinely interested in learning more about. Even better, they are written for children on all levels so if your kindergartner wants to learn more about Jackie Robinson, there are picture books for him. And if your third grader loves Maurice Sendak more than Laura Ingalls Wilder, there’s a biography for him too. 

When I became a librarian, a coworker once advised me to read at least one book in every series on the shelf so that when a parent or child asked me what it was about or what reading level it was I would know without hitting up my computer. I took it upon myself to read three biographies from three up and coming series focusing on famous people throughout time, the Women of Our Time Series, the Ordinary People Change the World Series and the Who Was/Who Is series.

  

Women of Our Time

This series focuses on renowned women of the 20^th century. Ranging from Coretta Scott King to Juliette Gordon Low, these books focus on the childhood and youth of these women, displaying their trials and tribulations and how that shaped them into the women who made headlines and paved the way for women everywhere. Each book is written by a different renowned author and the stories of these women give young people the opportunity to learn how vast childhood can be for people around the world and in different times and also teach that if you have a passion for something, nothing can stand in your way.

I read Golda Meir: A Strong Determined Leader by David A. Adler (who I had the honor of meeting at BEA this past year) and learned all about her journey from Russia to Israel. She was leader from a young age and is a truly inspirational role model for today’s young women (and men) who aspire to run for President one day. The back of the book has a timeline and index for reference use. Adler is a master storyteller and has written many picture book biographies worth reading as well. 

Ordinary People Change the World

Nothing screams “read me” like a brightly illustrated book with cartoon illustrations. The books read like a comic book and are voiced in first person by the famous person as a child. Titles include Jackie Robinson, Lucille Ball, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein and more. When children learn from a young age that famous people struggle in school or have hardships similar to them, it gives them the confidence to work hard to accomplish their dreams.

I read the newest book in the series about Helen Keller. The first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts, Helen Keller is one of the most motivating role model out there. Each book has authentic pictures of the person in the back, along with a timeline of her life, sources and further reading. The anecdotes in talking bubbles make this an easy reader and makes each individual feel easily relatable.  

Who Is/Who Was?

Think of a person and I bet you will find that name in this series list. From George Lucas to Frida Kahlo there is no way a child wouldn’t find a person they are interested in learning more about. Artists, scientists, actors, sports stars are all written about in this series. These chapter books are perfect for the elementary school book report with simple text and relevant illustrations. The timelines at the end of each book are amazing because side by side they navigate the person’s personal life in conjunction with what was happening in the world at the same time. There is also a bibliography for resource use.

I read the biography of Julia Child. Everything I knew about Julia Child was from the movie Julie & Julia. This was far more interesting than that movie. Julia did such interesting things throughout her life and she didn’t even plan on doing most of the jobs she fell into. My favorite anecdote is when Julia had to fill out a form in college stating her major and work plans Post College she wrote, “No plans and marriage preferable”. Julia Child isn’t just an inspiration to the child cook she proves that one can accomplish amazing things in life despite getting Cs in school and not having a clear direction after graduating college. Maybe this book will also become the new book to give as a graduation gift along with Oh the Places You’ll Go.

      

I also have made the time to read two adult autobiographies, Yes, My Accent Is Real by Kunal Nayyar and Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling. I had to read Kunal Nayyar's book because I had already received an excerpt from it at the Book Expo and I needed to finish the whole book, (You can read about my experience meeting Kunal Nayyar here.) While I can’t say that I learned the secrets to making better business decisions, I can say that I laughed out loud during both books and personally feel I have a lot of good stories to share about famous people at my dinner table.    

G&D Vintage Books

  

When it comes to illustrating picture books, the ways to do it are endless. Programs like Photoshop or 3D animation take watercolor or oil pastel images to a whole new level. While this is a new and exciting development, the people at Penguin Publishing believe in the tried and true pen and ink classic pictures and have recently introduced their line of G&D Vintage books – relaunching books from the Wonder Books line that were originally published in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Each book has a nostalgic feel but the colors and stories are fresh and exciting for today’s youngest readers. It’s a genius way to make the classics relevant and to create a bond between grandparents and grandchildren by sharing the books they loved as children with the next generation of readers.

My favorite books in this series are:

The Animals’ Vacation – Shel and Jan Haber

The zoo keeper gathers up the animals and drops them off in their natural habitats for vacation but they all head back to the zoo in time to celebrate Mrs. Kangaroo’s new baby. The best part of this book is the map on the back end pages that highlights where each animal from the story live around the world.

The Too Little Fire Engine – Jane Flory

A small toy engine has always wanted to help fight fires. When his friends at the toy shop laugh at this idea, he is more determined than ever to put out a fire. When the fire alarm goes off in town, he heads out to the heart of emergency and learns that even when you are small you can help in big ways. This book is ideal for any child who loves rescue vehicles.

The Noisy Clock Shop – Jean Horton Berg

Mr. Winky loves his clock shop and takes comfort in the constant hum of the tick-tock. When Mr. Glum points out how irritating the sound is, Mr. Winky is suddenly bothered by the noise as well and starts on a journey to find peace and quiet. He travels all over in search of the perfect spot and finds it in the heart of his clock shop. The book has great illustrations and reminds everyone that there is no place like home.

The full title list of books in this series:

The Funny Bunny Factory

The Fix It Max

The Baby Elephant

The Christmas Puppy

The Animals’ Vacation

Mr. Wishing Went Fishing

The Bingity Bangity School Bus

My ABC Book

The Noisy Clock Shop

Bunny Hopwell’s First Spring

The Too Little Fire Engine

Fall Is In The Air!

My family does not celebrate Halloween (unless you count buying the candy for 75% off the day after “celebrating”), but all the costumes and decorations are already being displayed and it is hard to avoid. In another week children’s television shows will already be airing their Halloween episodes and that is really when I start to feel the fall season in full swing (even if we are still wearing short sleeves). I am really excited about the new Halloween books out this season which range from baby to big kid which I urge you to check out and even though my kids won’t be carving pumpkins or dressing up like many of the characters in these stories, I love sharing with them the spirit of the season by making pumpkin cookies (here’s our favorite recipe: http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/soft-batch-frosted-pumpkin-cookies/http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/soft-batch-frosted-pumpkin-cookies/ ).

Disney Tails: Figaro’s Halloween Surprise

This is an adorable touch and feel book starring Minnie’s pet cat. Figaro decides to create a “spooktacular surprise” for his friend Cleo and young readers will be able to feel the crisp leaves, ripe pumpkins, soft noses and costumes. This brightly illustrated story brings the colors and spirit of the Halloween season to life.

Seven Orange Pumpkins – Stephen Savage

This Halloween counting book incorporates everyone’s favorite spooky aspects of this holiday. Count down with skeletons, pirates, owls, mummies, witches, black cats and spiders. The nighttime illustrations set the tone beautifully and with the vibrant rhyming text this is sure to be a counting book read all year round.

Mickey’s Halloween – A Lift the Flap Book

I love a lift the flap book. I especially love this particular one because it caters to children who are old enough NOT to rip the flaps. With a rhyme and look and find on every page, this book is really perfect for a three to five year old who will appreciate lifting the flaps to find their favorite characters dressed in costume, help to collect treats and spot familiar shapes and animals on every page.

Peter Rabbit – The Great Pumpkin

The lovable Peter Rabbit (from the hit television series on Nick Jr.) is celebrating Pumpkin Day with his family and friends. Obviously, he needs a giant pumpkin from Mr. McGregor’s garden and runs into trouble in the process of getting it. Luckily, Peter and his friends always come up with a plan and celebrate the holiday in style. The graphics are so vivid and the story is not specifically Halloween and can be used for any fall themed story time. The last pages have instructions to carve your own pumpkin and a certificate for completing your lantern creation.

Room on the Broom Big Activity Book – Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Your source for all Halloween and fall activities lies in the book. Perfect to keep any young child busy for hours with fun, this book is filled with games – dot to dot, complete the scene with stickers, matching, look and find, word searches, mazes, crosswords, and more. There are a ton of stickers, coloring and drawing opportunities and recipes to cook festive Halloween snacks (I am all about the Star Cookies). The book has an answer key in the back for each activity and is filled with seasonal characters and themes including witches, brooms, magic spells, and dragons. You can also check out the website for printable activities. You will love playing games with this witch! http://roomonthebroom.com/activities/ 

My Friend Greg

 

As I have mentioned in the past, each minute I spend at the Book Expo is carefully planned out well in advance. In 2014 I was one of the first in line to meet Lemony Snicket.  This gave me an extra 25 minutes which I did not factor into my thoroughly planned day.  I looked up and saw a signing booth with a relatively short line.  When this happens at an autograph booth you can either assume the author isn’t famous (yet) or everyone is waiting for a chance to snag a picture with a really famous actor or actress (spoiler alert: you rarely get a picture WITH them). The booth belonged to Greg Pizzoli, an author I had never heard of. That’s pretty embarrassing for a children’s librarian as he won an award for his first picture book and it is my job to know of all award winners. There were only two people on line so I hopped on and got an autograph of his book Number One Sam. A part of me wanted to autograph it for my brother since his name is Sam but instead I had it made out to my children. I totally regret not taking a picture with him, not just to enhance this blog post but because I feel like he is my friend (even if he just considers me his #1 fan). I told him I thought it was weird that I had never heard of him since he was handing me his second book but I said “I’m going to read your first book” (I didn’t until July of 2015). I DID however, share the story of Number One Sam with everyone I knew because I thought it was adorable. 

A few months later I received a copy of Tricky Vic, Pizzoli’s next picture book which is a fascinating biography of Robert Miller, the famous con man who “sold” the Eiffel Tower. I was blown away by this book. I am not one to read biographies willingly (unless it is written by Mindy Kaling or Tina Fey) but I knew this book was special. Written in typical Pizzoli fashion, he took an interesting, lesser known character in history and told a fascinating story on a level a first or second grader could easily understand. The pictures are fun and interesting and details on the pages were filled with newspaper clippings from the time which I thought made this book amazing. I started to recommend it to everyone I knew who needed Common Core nonfiction ideas and every reluctant reader I could think of. Then I decided to take a leap and email Mr. Pizzoli and let him know just how much I loved his book. When I would write fan mail back in 1996 with my friends we never heard back from them (ever). Luckily, in 2015 there are really easy ways to track down famous people and stalk them on Twitter. I was so excited when I got a response from Mr. Pizzoli himself and not a publicist.

I then received a copy of his next title, Templeton Gets His Wish and decided it would be fun to send another email to Mr. Pizzoli about how much my children loved reading the book with me. When I got another response I knew I had a good thing going and I probably shouldn’t mess it up. At this point, summer had just started and my kids were eating watermelon all the time so I finally read and shared Mr. Pizzoli’s award winning debut picture book, The Watermelon Seed with my children. I am pretty sure I should have read it to them sooner - they are obsessed with it and I read it about 10 times a day. I obviously had to share that with my friend Mr. Pizzoli via email because I have never seen my kids laugh as hard as they did when I read this book to them.

Greg Pizzoli really understands his young audience and they really appreciate him. My children have a great relationship with Pizzoli’s characters, and I don’t mind reading about crocodiles or Templeton or Sam multiple times a day. I know that when my children are a little older, they will also get to know Tricky Vic.

A Brief Summary of Greg Pizzoli’s picture books that were not detailed above:

The Watermelon Seed –

An adorable story of a crocodile who loves watermelon and accidentally swallows a seed. Yep, everyone’s biggest melon nightmare is his reality and it is the perfect summer read aloud (and all year long). My kids have been telling me things are growing in their guts for months now and it never gets old. I especially love that he only uses four colors (red, green, black and white). The simple images really capture the tone of the text and compliment it beautifully.

Number One Sam –

Sam is the number one racecar driver until he loses a race. This charming story about how Sam makes his way back to the top is extremely relatable to children learning that you don’t always have to win the game to be the best player on the team.

Templeton Gets His Wish –

Templeton is the oldest of four cats and he is tired of his parents bossing him around and his siblings taking his toys so he wishes them away. Once he realizes that sometimes you need a little guidance from your parents and it is nice to have siblings to play with he makes a new wish and with it comes a new attitude. At first I really didn’t think my two and four year old would understand this story but they did and my son even pointed out that even though sometimes you get angry at your family members you really still love them no matter what. That is pretty impressive for a four year old, but I think he really appreciated the story because of how it was presented.

Now you know all about my friendship with Greg Pizzoli. Share his stories with your little ones and then email him all about your personal experience. 

Why I Love Getting National Geographic Little Kids

I have learned that children LOVE animals. I don’t know if it’s because there are a ton of them in their first books or because many of their favorite characters are animals or because it is fun to imitate their noises, but I do know that a ton of my money goes straight to the zoo and the farm between May and October.

I personally am pretty neutral when it comes to animals. I never had a pet growing up (unless you count the Goldfish won at the Purim carnival that ultimately ended up down the toilet, or the tadpole my dad thought would be fun to watch grow into a frog. I have three brothers – I don’t even remember if it made it and if it did, I have no idea what we did with that frog…). When asked, I tell people my favorite animal is the Koala. It’s adorable and it was my first Beanie Baby (his name was Mel). It would make sense that my kids would be OBSESSED with animals since my husband hated the smell of horses as a kid and I am the first to admit I think the pet shop is equally exciting to visit as the Bronx Zoo. After getting a bunch of animal books from the library, my kids decided it was time to ask me about specific animals and things that relate to animals I cannot explain without Google (thank you YouTube for the video of ducklings hatching). My dad suggested we get a subscription to National Geographic Little Kids for my young explorers.

This has actually been an amazing investment for many reasons. First, my kids love getting mail and this is addressed to them. Second, I learn as much (or more) from this magazine as my kids. It is written in simple language that I understand so I can explain what is happening in the pictures (yes, I can proudly explain how a spider spins a web). Third, my son thinks the cards inside are precious collector’s items and we all learn really fun facts about animals I didn’t know had fun facts. (Example: Male elk shed their antlers and grow new ones every year – is that not fun?) Fourth, the information is broken up by games and exercises which makes reading the magazine an entertaining and interactive experience. While it features many animals (and the pictures are always amazing), it touches upon all aspects of science – nature, space, dinosaurs, technology, the human body and other things I was never interested in as a child but my kids really want to learn about. If you think science isn’t your subject it is time for you to subscribe to Nat Geo Kids so your kids can get obsessed with it and you can start learning with your children. Fun Fact: this is definitely a worthy investment.

You can check out their website here: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

The Greatness of Disney Publishing

(My 2 year old daughter's homemade birthday cake)

Like many parents I know, my life revolves around many things Disney. The shows I watch, the toys I buy, the birthday cakes I’ve baked and lately, the books I am reading to my children all consist of Minnie, Miles, Sheriff Callie, Peso or Henry. Disney publishing knows how to give emerging readers books they WANT to read in their World of Reading Easy Readers and they give every young child the best bedtime stories in their 5-Minute Series.

World of Reading

Whether your child is in Pre-K and learning sight words or is in first grade and they read on their own, these books should be in everyone’s collection. The stories are all based on the television episodes which makes each story easy to understand and makes a child a more confident reader. Words like “griffin” in a Sofia the First story or “hologram” in a Miles From Tomorrowland book will not seem so foreign in context since many of the kids reading the stories have seen the episode (or you can show the child the episode after reading the story and watch those new words come to life). The World of Reading Books are broken down into 4 levels ranging from Pre-K to Third grade and includes the Lexile level for reference. Whether your young reader loves Sheriff Callie’s Wild West or Star Wars, there is definitely a World of Reading reader waiting for them!

 

5 Minute Series

When my children want to continue watching television after screen time is over, we often open 5-Minute Disney Junior Stories to keep the television characters alive. The book has 12 stories, all episodes of Doc McStuffins, Minnie and Sofia the First that my kids love to hear over and over again. My Minnie lover also owns 5 Minute Minnie Tales – 12 Minnie adventures filled with everyone’s favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Characters. Have a Frozen fan? There’s a 5-minute book for her! Pixar, Princess or Marvel characters more your speed? There are 5-minute books for those enthusiasts too. These are great books to have in your Disney collection, and I guarantee there will be more than story shared at a sitting!

Get the most out of the last few weeks of summer vacation and log those summer reading hours with books your kids will actually enjoy sitting and reading over and over. Disney truly knows how to make every childhood experience magical!

Great New Board Books!

When you have more than one child, it can be hard to find the perfect book that will attract your complete audience. In my own home, I felt that it was a constant struggle to satisfy an 18 month old and a 3 year old at bedtime, as some books were too long and some books were “for babies”. While the older my children get this seems to become easier, I found a really good answer to this dilemma with the new book Hey Baby, Look! by Kate Shannon.

Hey Baby, Look! is an interactive board book sturdy enough for a curious 3 month old with questions and instructions to entertain a 3 year old. Each two-page spread is formatted the same; text on the left and four pictures on the right. Each line in the text correlates to at least one picture on the right. It is a game, it builds vocabulary and it promotes concentration and excitement when a child points to the correct answer on each page. It is simply and brightly illustrated and is sure to be a new staple in my Mother Goose Story Hour. It is definitely long, which is great for a toddler, but one can always stop and start again from any point if you find your child getting restless. It touches upon clothing, animals, food, things that go, the alphabet and other basic pictures children learn to recognize from the youngest age. If you are looking to expand your child’s library, this is definitely worth adding to your collection!

Some great new board books from Orca Publishing are coming your way soon! You don't want to miss these titles!

 

Up Hamster, Down Hamster – Kass Reich

If you haven’t read Kass Reich’s Hamsters Holding Hands it is time to do so (it is an adorable counting book). Reich brings to life typical opposites using adorable hamsters to illustrate each one. This book is sure to be a staple when teaching the concept of opposites to the youngest children. It is absolutely adorable and you will have no problem reading it over and over again.

So Many Babies – Lorna Crozier

I have never met a baby or toddler that did not love looking at pictures of animals. The only thing cuter than the animals are their babies – and here is a beautifully illustrated board book about baby animals in their natural habitats. While the book is great for babies, it is definitely a conversation starter at a toddler story time, as children who are 3 to 5 years old understand that different animals live in different places and they will have a blast identifying jungles, ponds, forests and mountains. The book ends with a human baby to perfectly sum up that everyone starts off as a baby and each of them are beautiful in their own way. This is definitely a great gift for any young animal lover!

 

A Carnival of Cats – Charles Ghigna

Everyone has a cat lover in their life and this is your next gift to that person. This circus of cats parading on each page is an adorable guessing game for the cat enthusiast. This book is also a great way to introduce differences in animals that are the same, a lesson most toddlers start to learn. While these are all cats, some are black and some are grey with different colored eyes and different shaped tails. So too, some children are tall and some are short, some have brown eyes and some have blue, but just as all the cats come together to put on a great show, so too children can all coexist and play together happily.