Category: Biography

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George Bellows: Painter with a Punch!

When I saw the title George Bellows: Painter with a Punch! by Robert Burleigh I was curious. Was the book about an artist who was also a boxer? It turns out George Bellows never boxed, but his action-packed paintings do pack quite a wallop!

George Bellows was an artist who painted vibrant scenes of New York City life during the early 1900’s. Young readers are likely to be interested in the fact he was also a gifted athlete as well as artist, playing both baseball and basketball, yet he chose to devote his life to art.

Robert Burleigh’s fast-paced, present-tense narration creates the “you are there” feeling that he says George Bellows also strove to capture in his paintings.

Personally, I was impressed by the depth and variety of his works, and especially the artist’s use of lighting. The reader will find a great deal to study in each one, for example the odd faces in the crowds of the boxing scenes.

The recommended age for this book is 8+, which I think is appropriate given content, such as the graphic nature of the fight scenes and the bleak depictions of poverty.

For the right age groups, George Bellows: Painter with a Punch! would be a fabulous book to use as a jumping off point for an art project. I used to be an Art Masterpiece volunteer, and this would a perfect book to build lessons around. It will also appeal to children interested in history and, to some extent, sports.

Shelf-employed has another review

Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (June 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1419701665
ISBN-13: 978-1419701665

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s round-up is at Practically Paradise. Be sure to check out her new location.

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Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by author/illustrator Claire A. Nivola is a lovely new picture book biography of a pioneer of in the field of ocean studies.

If you have never heard of Sylvia Earle, she is a scientist and conservationist whose goals in life have been to delve deeply into the oceans and learn as much as she can, and then share her passion and knowledge with others. As Nivola quotes in her extensive Author’s Note in the back matter, Earle realizes, “You can’t care if you don’t know.”

As so appropriate for a children’s book, after a brief introduction to the immenseness and importance of the ocean, Nivola describes Earle’s childhood. Sylvia Earle spent her early years on a farm in New Jersey, where she began to study all the living things around her. If she had stayed there, things might have turned out very differently. Instead, when Sylvia and her family moved to Clearwater, Florida when she was twelve. Suddenly, she had a beautiful ocean to explore right in her own backyard. Her life was changed forever.

Nivola has allowed her subject to tell her own story without excessive crafting. Nivola’s delicate and whimsical watercolors are lovely, and they rise to a new level in the underwater scenes, where Sylvia becomes a sea creature herself.

Life in the Ocean is will be a hit with children who are interested in oceans, in science, in history and/or in conservation. The incredible story of Sylvia Earle’s life is sure to inspire future explorers.

Adults who are interested in learning more about Sylvia Earle, should try her TED presentation or the Mission Blue website.

If you’d like to learn more about Claire Nivola, Seven Impossible Things has a fascinating author interview.

Other reviews of Life in the Ocean may be found at:

Jean Little Library

Shelf-employed

The Nonfiction Detectives

Included in a list of biographies of 20th Century Women Scientists at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (March 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374380686
ISBN-13: 978-0374380687

Book was provided by my local library.

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A Stick Is An Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play

Just in time for National Poetry Month we have the picture book A Stick Is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 

“School is done.

It’s a sunny day.

Goodbye, TV.

Let’s go out and play!”

Marilyn Singer’s poems are fast-paced, upbeat, and succinct. She effortlessly creates the rhythm and energy of children at play.

LeUyen Pham’s watercolors also capture the joy of children playing outdoors. All the children are smiling, laughing, moving.

It is easy to get caught up in nostalgia reading these poems. Remember the joys of blowing bubbles, playing with jacks or jumping rope? The reality is, however, that many children will never have the memories we adults take for granted because they don’t have many opportunities to go outside and play. Hopefully this book will inspire them to do just that.

Spring is a perfect time to read A Stick Is an Excellent Thing and then go outside and enjoy some of the activities pictured. When they come back inside, perhaps it will also entice children to read and enjoy poetry, and even write their own poems.

(Personal Note:  Kudos to Singer for suggesting children release their fireflies after only a minute or two.)

Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books (February 28, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547124937
ISBN-13: 978-0547124933

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

Today’s round-up is at Rasco From RIF.

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Migrant Mother: How a Photograph Defined the Great Depression

Just in time for the end of Women’s History Month, I have a book regarding a famous photograph that is actually about the history of two women. Migrant Mother: How a Photograph Defined the Great Depression by Don Nardo captures not only the life of Florence Owens Thompson, the subject of the iconic portrait, but also reveals the life of the photographer, Dorothea Lange, a woman with her own impact on history.

The story of the photograph is much more dramatic than you might think. Dorthea Lange was just finishing a month-long assignment and was driving home to see her family. She was exhausted and it was raining. When she saw the sign “pea-pickers camp” along the highway, she drove right by. She continued driving for 20 miles. She was going home. But something made her turn around and drive all the way back. The result is this era-defining photograph:

The woman in the photograph was part of a group of migrant workers who went from farm to farm picking vegetables during the Great Depression. They were huddled in a makeshift tent. She told Lange that they were eating leftover frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields and any birds they could catch. Later in the book we learn more about Thompson and her situation and how she came to resent the photograph.

Nardo fills the book with black-and-white images, including other images taken of Thompson taken the same afternoon. (In fact, the size of the book and number of photographs give the book the look of a picture book at first glance, although the text is obviously for an older audience.) The only color image is a modern one of Thompson’s grown-up daughter, Katherine McIntosh, shown in the video interview below.

Migrant Mother is a look at the complexity of the lives of two women whose paths crossed during a difficult time in history. This book is an awesome resource for teachers, with a Timeline and Source Notes. It speaks to both the themes of education and empowerment.

One of Thompson’s daughters speaking briefly about their life:

Nonfiction Detectives also has a review of Migrant Mother

Reading level: Ages 10 and up
Paperback: 64 pages
Publisher: Compass Point Books (January 2, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756544483
ISBN-13: 978-0756544485

Book provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.