Inspiring Life Adventures

         Thanks to Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at Kidlit Frenzy, I started reading more non-fiction picture books, and found they taught me as well as entertained me. Hope you will find some good books for yourself as you read my post and others.  

         Come read to discover everyone's recent nonfiction picture books.

       Tweet - #NFPB16

Fourteen Cows for America - written by Carmen Agna Deedy and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez. 

           I saw this displayed at my library, and had to sit down and enjoy its beautiful story and illustrations all over again. If you've never seen it, you must. It's lovely.

Hillary - written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Raul Colón

            It's a fairly straightforward biography, from Hillary's early childhood to a hint that she might be running for president again, which now we know she is. Clearly she is a fierce competitor, persisting in her goals from youth to Secretary of State. She is to be admired for her strength and how much she has fought for women's rights. For middle grades and a bit older, a beginning knowledge of who might be the first woman president. It must be hard to paint people who are so well known. The illustrations are fairly realistic, showing Hillary in various backgrounds, speaking, meeting with important people all over the world. 

The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial - written by Susan E. Goodman and illustrated by E.B. Lewis       

            There are so many stories that have never been told in our school history texts, stories about people who persist to have the rights that everyone else has, those they should have. This is one of them, the story of Sarah Roberts, the girl who took it to court to have the right to integrate the schools in Boston. The school where she started was all white, but very close so she was enrolled at the age of four. When a policeman chanced to visit, he threw her out. Her parents were enraged but helpless. They found a young lawyer, the second African- American lawyer in the country. He fought, and was joined by a well-respected white lawyer, Charles Sumner. It was the first time an African-American lawyer had gone before a state Supreme Court. They lost, but set the stage for more. In 1855, Boston was the first city to integrate their schools.

         Much more information is added in the back, what happened to the key people, an integration timeline, an author's note about writing non-fiction, and more. It's a terrific story.            

The Impossible Voyage of Kon-Tiki - written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray

         I began my life in a tiny town in the mid-west, moved to a nearby city in middle school. We didn't travel much, and the wide world was only available to me in books. I remember well reading Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, and later Aku-Aku about the Easter Island statues. And I was mesmerized. Kon-Tiki opened up a world I would never have known, and I did other research to discover more about the way different peoples of the world ended up where they were. I was so excited to read this book which tells the basics of Heyerdahl's ideas, then his exciting voyage. The pictures are just as exciting, especially those when they were hit by a fierce ocean storm. There is more information in the back matter, including notes and a bibliography. The book will be great for any students doing research of real-life adventures.