Miguel's Brave Knight - a review

Quick! Think of a book that fits the following:

• long and difficult to read
• not originally published in English
• has an adjective specifically to describe it
• has a popular idiom inspired by it
• inspired a hit Broadway play
• a bestseller in countries around the world
• popular for centuries
• inspired artwork by a master

(see Note below)

Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? a review

I have to admit that Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? is the first I've read in the Who Was ... ? series.  When I first began receiving them a year or so ago, I thought that kids would be turned off by the caricature cover art.  I was wrong.  They have been quite popular for biography assignments. One reason is because Grosset & Dunlap (Penguin) was smart enough to make them each about 100 pages long.  (Teachers, I do wish you would be less strict with page counts, particularly in nonfiction.  Kids miss out on a lot of great books because they're trying to reach that magic number.)

In any case, I am pleased to see that the latest entry into the Who Was? series is writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for her book Uncle Tom's Cabin, or for being, as President Lincoln said,  "the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war."

Rau, Dana Meachen. 2015. Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

The first chapter bears the title of the book, "Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe?" and gives a very brief synopsis of her life and its impact on history.  Other chapters elaborate on her personal life and her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Today's young readers should find it fascinating that in an age before telephones, radios, televisions and computers, the publication of this one book made Harriet Beecher Stowe a wealthy and well-known celebrity in the U.S. and Europe, and it helped bring about the end of slavery by changing public opinion.

The book is illustrated with black and white drawings, and also contains several double-spread illustrations featuring background information that is necessary to gain an understanding of the era. These inset illustrations explain The Famous Beecher Family, The Underground Railroad, The Congregational Church, and Frederick Douglass.

The story of Harriet Beecher Stowe is a perfect illustration of the power of the pen. Hopefully, it will inspire young readers to seek out a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the future.

Rounding out the book are time lines and a bibliography.

Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? will be on a shelf near you on 4/21/15. My copy was provided by the publisher.

Following on the heels of the Who Was... series' popularity, there is a  What Was ... series and now, a Where Is... series.  Details on all three series may be found on the publisher's site.

Learn more about Harriet Beecher Stowe at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.  If you've never read Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, there are numerous free copies available in various formats from Project Gutenberg.

Today is Nonfiction Monday.  Stop over to see all of today's reviews.

Bill The Boy Wonder - a review

Nobleman, Marc Tyler. 2012. Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. Ill. By Ty Templeton.  Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Batman.  Who doesn’t know Batman in one format or another? The 1960s TV show, the incredibly popular Dark Knight movie series, cartoons,  and of course, the original comic books which first appeared in 1939, bearing the name of Batman creator, Bob Kane. 

Every Batman story is marked with the words “Batman created by Bob Kane.” 
For almost thirty years, fans did not suspect otherwise.  But that is not the whole truth.  Bob Kane himself said so.
A Finger had a hand in it, too.

Bill the Boy Wonder is the story of that Finger, Bill Finger, the co-creator and long-time writer of Batman.

First forced to hide his identity as a Jew (his real name was Milton) to obtain work during the Great Depression, later writing in obscurity while Batman illustrator, Bob Kane,  rose to fame, and finally working (if only half-heartedly) to gain his duly deserved recognition, Nobleman chooses to present Bill, The Boy Wonder as a story with three parts, "Secret Identity 1 – Bill," "Secret Identity 2 – Writer of Batman," and "Secret Identity 3 – Co-creator of Batman."  This well-sourced and researched biography is as fascinating as it is entertaining,

Bill liked to ride through the city to think.  As the bus picked up passengers, Bill picked up plots from street scenes and daydreams.

He recorded stray facts – the boiling point of mercury, the Chinese character for virtue, what happens when a dog’s nose gets cold – in what he called his “gimmick book.”  He routinely skimmed it for a spark that might ignite a story.  In time he had a library of gimmick books at his Fingertips.  He even let other writers – his competitors – hunt for story ideas in them.

Though brimming with details and quotes, Nobleman moves the story along with the talent of a comic book writer.  A six-page Author’s Note adds details and period photographs.

Ty Templeton, a Batman artist himself, was the perfect choice to illustrate this fascinating look at Bill Finger’s work and the work of other talented artists, writers and fans who struggled to garner for him the credit he deserved.  The end papers are dramatic and inspired, and the illustrations are done, of course, in comic book style with white text box insets.

from Ty Templeton's site

Even if you’re not a Batmanian, you’ll love this book. It's clear that it was a labor of love for the author.

• Kirkus' review of Bill the Boy Wonder

(I'll be showing this one at my book club meeting!)

Can’t get enough of Bill The Boy Wonder?  Check out these great sites:

• The official site of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Co-Creator of Batman - the publisher's site containing puzzles, games, a contest, educator resources and more!
• Noblemania  - the author's blog
• An interview with Nobleman and Templeton that appeared on The Comics Cube blog

 and just for fun,

•  artist Ty Templeton's plug for the book

As I was reading this book, I could see a small child wearing the Batman symbol on his tee-shirt and his Crocs, and my own children were planning an opening night visit to the theater to see the Dark Knight’s latest incarnation.  Bill Finger’s now not-so-secret-identity lives on.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at Practically Paradise.

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Myers, Walter Dean. 2008. Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told. Ill. by Bonnie Christensen. New York: Amistad Collins.

This is an older title, but perfect for Women's History Month.

Well-known, award-winning author, Walter Dean Myers, turns his considerable skills to this biography of Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), writer, activist, suffragist, businesswoman. Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in Mississippi.  Following the Civil War and the death of her parents in a yellow fever outbreak, Ida became a teacher to support her many siblings.  Using her skills learned as a teacher, Ida became a writer.  From suffering ill-treatment at the hands railroad employee, Ida became an activist. The lynching of several friends created in Ida B. Wells, a full-fledged crusader - writing and  lecturing, at home and overseas, on the atrocity of lynching.  As an activist, she met with other like-minded leaders - Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. DuBois, to name a few. She was a talented writer and a successful business person - driven not by personal gain, but by an unwavering sense of fairness and humanity.

Ida Wells spoke up for what she believed.  Her weapons were her keen  mind and her pen. ... For more than a half century this dynamic, intelligent woman used her writing skills to promote freedom, safety, and justice.

It is amazing that the story of such an influential woman could have fallen out of our collective consciousness in such a short amount of time. Kudos to Walter Dean Myers for placing this story into the hands of young readers. Back matter includes a timeline and selected quotes from Ida Wells. At forty pages, with  pen and watercolor illustrations, this is an ideal book for grades 4 and up.

In 1990, Ida B. Wells was honored with a US Postal Service commemorative stamp.

During Women's History Month, please be sure to stop by the blog that I am hosting with fellow blogger, The Fourth Musketeer, KidLit Celebrates Women's History Month.  Authors and kidlit bloggers have pitched in to offer compelling posts related to women's history for each day in March.

Knucklehead

Scieszka, Jon. 2008. Knucklehead:Tall tales and mostly true stories about growing up Scieszka. New York: Viking.

If you know a reluctant reader with a biography book report assigned, and you don't point him toward Knuckleheads, you're missing a great opportunity to turn that child into a great reader. Scieszka knows his audience and his biography is right on target. His biography humorously details the events in his childhood that led him to his current success as an author. Raised in a family of six boys and hard-working parents, he has a wealth of material to work with.

He mentions his many of his favorite childhood stories, Mad Magazine, My Side of the Mountain, Go, Dog. Go!, and more. He was not a fan of Dick and Jane.

"When I read the Dick and Jane stories, I thought they were afraid they might forget each other's names. Because they always said each other's names. A lot.

So if Jane didn't see the dog, Dick would say, 'Look Jane. Look. There is the dog next to Sally, Jane. The dog is also next to Mother, Jane. The dog is next to Father, Jane. Ha, ha, ha. That is funny, Jane.'

Did I mention that Dick and Jane also had a terrible sense of humor?

At home, my mom read me real stories. These were stories that sounded like my life. These were stories that made sense. She read me a story about a guy named Sam-I-am. He was a fan of green eggs and ham."

Knuckleheads, his father's name for the collective Scieszka boys, is full of life's great lessons - read, if it sounds to good to be true - it is, listen, learn to cook (because stirring oatmeal is more fun than picking up dog poop!), have a sense of humor.

Chapter 36, "What's so funny, Mr. Scieszka?" will have the reader in stitches.

Black and white graphics and period photos and advertisements add humor and interest - Gregg's broken collarbone x-ray and the dreaded Halloween bunny suit come to mind.
This is a heartwarming and hilarious biography that will entice even the most reluctant of readers. And for budding humorists, Knuckleheads is a "must read."


A note about Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca):

Jon Scieszka is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He is probably best known for his Time Warp Trio series and The Stinky Cheese Man, although these are just a fraction of his large and growing collection of juvenile fiction, easy fiction, non-fiction, and poetry titles. His main focus is promoting reading to boys. To this end, he has two great websites: Guys Read http://www.guysread.com/ focusing on older boys, and Trucktown,
http://www.behindthepulse.com/trucktown/kidspage.php , (a site with a tortuously long url)that corresponds with his new preschool series , Trucktown.

My favorite Jon Scieszka stories? "Duck-billed Platypus vs. Beef Snack Stick," and "Straw and Matches," from Squids Will be Squids.