Non-Fiction Picture Books Show us Heroes

   Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy -- hashtag #nfpb2020! Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

      

  
             No one, I think, starts out to be a hero, but sometimes it happens. An event so strong that one leaps into the start, and the actions become heroic. The two men in these biographies has different beginnings, yet it really all came to doing what was right. 

          "Kum aher. Sit Down, I want to tell you a story!" Thus started the story told to Aaron Lansky by his grandmother, who had carefully packed her suitcase for her voyage to America. Upon arrival, her older brother greeted her and threw that suitcase into the Hudson River. Aaron did not forget, studied Jewish history in college and learned Yiddish because so much of that history was written in that language. His goals were about to change! He visited his rabbi and noticed a bunch of books in a basket, books written in Yiddish! They were about to be buried, no longer useful. Aaron took them home, beginning his journey for more and more. I liked that Macy has included Yiddish words and phrases throughout the story.

           Sue Macy tells the story of this mensch, now an English word from the Yiddish mentsh, meaning a 'person of good character'. There are other words that have move into English, found on a double-page spread in the book, words like bagel, schlep, and klutz. But Aaron wanted the history, the stories, the books! He put the word out, soon had so many books in his apartment in Montreal that he feared the floor would collapse. He said that because Jewish people were really homeless until the creation of Israel, these books were the "portable" homeland of the Jewish people". That was the start, but eventually, with so many books collected, he founded the Yiddish Book Center, collecting always, earning acclamations. This center is digitized, with free downloads, and conducts educational programs.  In her illustrator's note, Stacy Innerst writes that she follows the path of Marc Chagall, who was a poor Jewish boy born in Russia.  She shows a faded style as if it's an old story, only found in people's memories and in books. There is an afterword by Aaron Lansky, notes from Sue Macy and Innerst, a glossary of Yiddish words, and added information.

          José de la Luz Sáenz, born in the U.S. of an immigrant family, graduating high school in 1905. He grew up knowing that kids of Mexican descent went to schools that were separate from the white kids. He had always seen the "whites only" signs on windows of many stores. He marries, began a family, and became a teacher, understanding that "knowledge was a weapon that helped you defend yourself against those who were mean to you and ignored your rights." His thoughts often center on the "No es justo". It was not right! Spanish phrases and words are sprinkled throughout the text. 
           A large part of the story centers on the time when Sáenz volunteered to join the army to fight in World War I. He wanted to show that Mexican Americans were patriots, too. It took a long time to finally get to the war zone in France, and Sáenz clearly was smart, had already begun to learn French, so he was recruited to translate important messages and news. He noticed that many of his countrymen who were, like him, men of color, were accomplishing the same work as whites, but not being promoted. Even he as a translator remained without a promotion.
         In Duncan Tontiuh's signature style of Mixtec codex-influenced design, combines it with more somber tones that are usually seen in his work, possibly because of the somber story of racism and war. 
          After the war, Sáenz went on to gather others like him who had fought in the war to help end the segregation he had grown up with. As the story says, "He fought for equality "Igualdad". Through his and others' efforts, LULAC was born, the League of United Latin American Citizens. 
           Added information about Sáenz is at the back, including a timeline, a bibliography, and a great picture of José de la Luz Sáenz when he was in the army.