This month, I picked a few picture book biographies from Sarah MacKenzie's list on Read Aloud Revival.
Manfish : A Story of Jacques Cousteau
by Jennifer Berne
A beautifully illustrated story of Jacques Cousteau, the inventor of SCUBA diving, and all the wonderful things he saw underwater.
Papa is a Poet : A Story About Robert Frost
by Natalie Bober
Told from the perspective of one of Frost's older daughters. Includes quite a few of his more well-known poems in the back.
Step Right Up : How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness
by Donna Bowman
A former slave learns about herbs and medicines that help people and animals. He rescues an abused Arabian mare from a circus and hopes her colt will be a great racehorse. The colt isn't build for that, but "Doc" shows kindness to him anyway and ends up teaching him amazing tricks, seeming to read, spell, and do math.
Trombone Shorty
by Troy Andrews
An autobiographical sketch of this jazz player's life growing up in New Orleans, filled with music.
Dare the Wind
by Tracey Fern
A beautifully illustrated story about Eleanor Prentiss and her ship The Flying Cloud which set a record for sailing from New York to San Francisco in 89 days. She learned about sailing and navigation in a time when women sailors were unheard of.
Snowflake Bentley
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
The story of a farmer-scientist who loved snow and devoted his life to studying snowflakes, even taking pictures with a microscope camera.
Big Machines : The Story of Virginia Lee Burton
by Sherri Duskey Rinker
This was an EXCELLENT book about the author of some of our favorite stories, such as Mike Mulligan, Katy and the Big Snow, Choo-Choo, etc. Engaging illustrations tell how she wrote these books for her two boys who loved big machines.
A River of Words
by Jen Bryant
A picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, a doctor and poet in the early to mid- 1900s.
We've also been on a Bill Peet kick, so we've read several of his books recently:
Cowardly Clyde
by Bill Peet
Clyde is a knight's war-horse who is afraid of everything, though his master is always wishing for some great heroic adventure. They find it in the dark woods one day, and Clyde finds his courage.
Ella
by Bill Peet
A spoiled elephant runs away from her circus after being asked to do work she felt was beneath her. She runs into worse circumstances, and returns to the circus with a better attitude.
Farewell to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
A group of animals must leave their home because of approaching destruction by monster machines. Led by an old racoon, they jump on a passing train and finally end up in a place just like home, only better.
Huge Harold
by Bill Peet
Harold is a rabbit who grows too big to live with his family. He heads out to find a place of his own, but is rejected and hunted to exhaustion. He finally holes up in the loft of a kind farmer's barn. The farmer feeds and cares for him through the winter, and then finds a good use for him pulling his carriage.
Smokey
by Bill Peet
An old train engine is discontented with only moving trains around in the yard. When he overhears that he is about to be discarded in a junk pile, he decides to take off on his own adventure. He meets with near-disaster before being rescued and given a new lease on life teaching school children their letters.
The Whingdingdilly
by Bill Peet
A dog is dissatisfied with being a dog and wishes to be something more important, like the horse next door. He runs away and gets turned into a strange mix of creatures. He gets captured and put on display. He is miserable until he is returned to his normal self. He then is content with who he is.
We also read several books about hospitals and emergency rooms:
The Berenstain Bears Hospital Friends
by Mike Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears get a tour of their hospital, learning about x-rays, surgery, physical therapy, etc.
The Hospital
by Aaron Carr
A basic picture book introduction to the hospital.
Maisy Goes to the Hospital
by Lucy Cousins
Maisy the Mouse breaks her leg on a trampoline and goes to the hospital to get it treated.
What If I Need Stitches?
by Therese Stea
An informative picture book about when and why stiches are needed and how they are done. The day after we read this, my 11 year old had a bike accident and gouged a quarter-sized hole in his knee. I took one look at it and knew, from reading this book, that he was going to need stitches. At least we were a little more prepared for it because of this book.
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