Ryan, P. (2002). When
Marian Sang. Illus. by Brian Selznick. New York: Scholastic Press.
This is the story of Marian Anderson noted African-American singer and her struggles in life to gain a musical education and to forward her career. Marian always loved to sing and everyone loved to hear her sing. She just could not imagine that singing had a color. She would learn over the course of her life that although her voice was accepted everywhere her person and skin color was not.
Illustrations the simplicity of the church choir and the
grandeur of the opera houses in which Marian sang. The pictures also show the diversity in color
on status of the groups that attended her performances. The cover depicts Marian as described in the
book with her eye closed “as if to find the music within.” The end paper display smooth rich mocha color
of her skin.
Genre: Nonfiction Biography
Format:
Picture bookSuggested Age or Grade level (s): Ages 6-10
Awards: 2003 ALA Notable Books for Children
2003 Notable Books of the English Language Arts
2003 Notable Social Studies Trade Books
Bryant, J., & Sweet, M. (2008). A river of words: The story of
William Carlos Williams. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young
Readers.
"Gurgle, gurgle -- swish, swish,
swoosh--gurgle, gurgle" the sound of the river flowing creates the meter
of poetry which flows through William Carlos Williams. As life speeds up, the rhythm of the words
bring everything back into perspective.
The illustrations of
Melissa Sweet bring to life the words that were the heartbeat of Willie
Williams. She uses beautiful painting as
well as scrapbook pages with words from his poems flow and spill onto every
surface to depict what an integral part of the man words were. This book is a
great way to introduce free verse poetry and to express that poems can be
spawned from common place things.
Genre: Non Fiction-
Biography
Format:
Picture BookSuggested Age or Grade level (s): Ages 7 and up
Awards: 2009 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book
2009 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
2009 ALA Notable Children's Books
2008 New York Times Best Illustrated Books
2009 IRA Teachers' Choices Reading List
2008 School Library Journal Best Books
2008 Parents' Choice Award (Recommended)
A Junior Library Guild selection
Rappaport, D., & Kelley, G. (2009). Eleanor,
quiet no more: The life of Eleanor Roosevelt. New York: Disney/Hyperion
Books.
Eleanor
Roosevelt was the wife of the 32nd president of the United States but that is
not all that defined her. She born into
an affluent family with a loving but alcoholic and often absent father with a
critical and difficult to please mother.
Through this story we learn how Eleanor discovered she had a voice and
how she use it to aid many down trodden people.
In
a style we have come to recognize as Doreen Rappaport's, the audience is
allowed to "hear" the voice of Eleanor Roosevelt through the large
boldfaced quotes on each page. The
illustrations which appear as full page paintings or sometimes more than a page
are very dark and shadowed at the begin of the book the illuminate the darkness
of she existence. As the story
progresses there is more white space used on each page to bright the
illustrations. This book can be used to
teach biographies and U.S. history.
Genre: Non Fiction-
Biography
Format:
Picture BookSuggested Age or Grade level (s): Ages 5 - 8
Awards: 2009 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book
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