The two-year-old and I have been LOVING biographies these days. I don’t know if you realize this, but we live in a special time in picture book history. This is a time of biographies about interesting people written in an interesting way for kids!
Now let me give you a little personal background…As a kid, there were two subjects I thought I didn’t like: science and history. When I got to high school, I had a few history teachers who proved to me that, actually, I LOVED history! (It took me a little longer to fall in love with science…) So, how did my history teachers do it? They told stories, of course! Stories from history and real-life stories that connected in some way, strange as they might have been, to whatever we happened to be learning that week. And I was captivated. I still couldn’t remember dates very well, but I “got” the connections and I remembered the stories.
I sometimes imagine how different my experience with history could have been if I had grown up with the picture book biographies that are being published today, with their kid-friendly language, beautiful illustrations, and lesser-known subjects (i.e. Manji, William Hoy, Lonnie Johnson). I think I might have done what our two-year-old does! “Read it again!” I’m not kidding when I say I have practically memorized a few of these picture books…and he has too! I’ve heard him reciting them to himself before he nods off to sleep…No joke!
Now for the good stuff. The books! Today I’d like to introduce you to Nancy Churnin’s work. She has several picture book biographies that are just PHENOMENAL. You can find all of them at her website: http://www.nancychurnin.com/
Here are a few titles to pique your interest:
THE WILLIAM HOY STORY, HOW A DEAF BASEBALL PLAYER CHANGED THE GAME
MANJHI MOVES A MOUNTAIN
IRVING BERLIN, THE IMMIGRANT BOY WHO MADE AMERICA SING
THE QUEEN AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE
And…her latest…
MARTIN & ANNE, THE KINDRED SPIRITS OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND ANNE FRANK
(Did you realize they were contemporaries?)
Let’s put them to work!
One of the common core anchor standards for reading informational text says students should “describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.” Another for literature says students should describe characters in a story and how their actions impact the sequence of events. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Use Them in the Classroom…
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Informational Text, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Literature
- Put Nancy Churnin’s resources to work! This is really all you need. Nancy’s website is an amazing resource! She has curated teacher guides for each of her picture books, often accompanied by videos and links to primary sources. Go check out what she has for The William Hoy Story. I mean really. You’ll be impressed. http://www.nancychurnin.com/readme/ Scroll down and click on the “Teachers Guide” link, check out the “Primary Resources” link for pictures of the real William Hoy and newspaper articles Nancy used to gather information, and then check out the videos she has included! I mean, if all I did for today’s post was direct you to her site, that would be more than enough!
- Make connections between historical events and historical characters. Read picture book biographies that fit within a certain time period and make connections. This isn’t one of Nancy’s books, but Two Friends by Dean Robbins would be a great addition to a study on the early civil rights movement and/or life in the 1800s. Two Friends imagines the meeting of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony who became friends in the mid-1800s (Did you know that?!). These two notable figures fought for expanded freedoms for different groups in similar ways. And the book is right there to help you and students begin to make the connection!
- Describe characters and how their actions contributed to events in a story. Ask questions about the real-life figures you read about. What were they like? What motivated them? How did they feel about different things that happened? What did they do as a result of who they were and what they cared about? Talk about the similarities and differences between the people you read about. What do people who made a difference have in common? How were their lives the same or different? How were their motivations the same or different? How were their methods the same or different? The possibilities here are truly endless.
- Write your own picture book biographies. For you teachers of older students, consider including a twist on the traditional research project. Yes, have your students research. Have them find primary and secondary resources and study historical (or modern) figures. Yes, have them make notecards (digital or otherwise). Yes, have them develop a thesis. Yes, have them write essays and papers that include the “traditional” features. But then, challenge them to condense their research, to pick out the things that are most essential. Challenge them to curate their research to write a picture book manuscript using Nancy’s books as “mentor texts.”
Use Them at Home…
- Cultivate a love for history in young readers. Read about real people and inspire curiosity and interest in your kids. Just reading biographies together is a great start! But you could take things further. Visit museums that connect to the people you read about. Find people who lived at the same time or who do/did the same things as the people you read about. Watch movie biographies or documentaries together (depending on the age of your kiddos).
- Compare your world/life to the lives of the people you read about. Brainstorm with your kids. How is your life the same as the life of ________? How is it different? Is the world today the same as it was when ______ was alive? How is it the same? How is it different?
- Consider how you can make a difference. Many of the people who are featured in picture book biographies made a difference in the world in some way. Talk about them: What problems did they see? What motivated them? Why did they do what they did? What did they do? Then, ask your kids: “What problems do you see? What motivates you? What could you do?” Help them to research organizations that care about the problems that they care about and facilitate learning that leads to wise action.
- Talk about how faith impacts action. You might not find this in a standard biography, but you could probably find out if you do a little digging. Try to learn what the people you read about believe or believed about God. Then discuss: How did what _______ believed about God affect their motives? Feelings? Actions?
Your turn! What are your favorite picture book biographies?
P.S. Celebrate life!