Today is Sally Ride Day!

Ride was an American physicist and astronaut.  She joined NASA in 1978 and was the first American women in space in 1983.  On the flight, she was a mission specialist.  Her job was to operate the robotic arm, go on space walks, and conduct science experiments.  Using the robotic arm, she released satellites into space.

Prior to her mission Ride was accosted by the press with silly questions like, “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” In response, Ride insisted she saw herself in only one role – that of an astronaut.

Ride left NASA in 1987 and went to work at the Stanford University Center of International Security and Arms Control.  Two years later, she became a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego and director of the California Space Institute.

With her partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride wrote five books for children about science and space.   She particularly wanted to help girls understand science and mathematics.  Until her death in 2012, she was involved in science programs and festivals in the United States.  Sally Ride Day was created in honor of her birth date May 26, 1951.

Sally Ride’s Books

The Inventors of LEGO® Toys

By Erin Hagar and Illustrated by Paige Garrison

Published by Duo Press

In this engaging book Erin Hagar tells the story of the Danish carpenter and his family who overcame a desperate situation and created one of the most popular toys in history, LEGO® toys.  Knowing the story behind these amazing toys with make you appreciate them even more.

 Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions

By Chris Barton and illustrated by Don Tate

Published by Charlesbridge

Did you know the Super Soaker (one of the top twenty toys of all time) was invented by accident?  While attempting to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners inventor Lonnie Johnson created the mechanics behind this popular toy.

The Hole Story of the Doughnut

By Pat Miller and Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

In 1847, Hanson Crockett Gregory from Rockport, Maine, signed on a schooner as the ship’s cook.  He prepared balls of fried sweet dough called “sinkers” for breakfast.  The center of the dough was heavy with grease and when the sailors ate them, they felt like cannonballs had fallen into their stomachs.  Gregory cleverly solved the problem by cutting a hole in the center of the dough and then frying it in lard – hence the doughnut was born.

In honor of National Photography Month, I want to share the story of the man who made the camera as easy to use as a pencil.  Who was he?  George Eastman, the founder of Kodak.

Eastman lived in upstate New York in the small rural town of Rochester. In 1870, while working as a bank teller, he became fascinated with the new invention of photography.  Back then a photographic kit consisted of a huge camera, a tripod, fragile glass plates and jars, a funnel, brushes, chemicals, and a tent to use as a darkroom.

From the beginning, the bulk of the paraphernalia worried Eastman. It seemed to him you ought to be able to carry less than a pack-horse load to take a photograph. Despite the disadvantages, Eastman became “wholy absorbed in photography.”

He took lessons and read photographic journals. When he had the chance, he took trips to practice his hobby. During the summer of 1878, Eastman traveled to Mackinac Island on Lake Huron in Michigan. He wanted to photograph a natural bridge that had formed on the island. When he went into his portable dark room to begin preparing his photographic plates, a group of tourists spotted him. They assumed he was a professional photographer and lingered near the bridge so he would take their picture.

Eastman ignored them. When one of the men from the group approached him and inquired about the cost of his photographs, Eastman replied he was an amateur and his photographs were not for sale.

This angered the tourist and he complained, “Then why did you let us stand in the hot sun for a full half-hour while you fooled around with your contraptions? You ought to wear a sign saying that you are an amateur!”

The tourist had no idea that one day this young amateur would revolutionize the field of photography and make it easy for him to take his own photographs.  Plus, the Kodak trademark would be known around the world.

[Excerpts from  George Eastman: Bringing Photography by Lynda Pflueger]

Did you know?

Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and the Father of the University of Virginia.” Evidently, he didn’t feel being President was all that important.

President Zackary Taylor voted for the first time at the age of 62. Why? Because he was a soldier and moved around a great deal before he became president.  He was also a spendthrift and refused to pay postage due on the letter informing him he had been nominated to the presidency. His wife Margaret was also an independent soul.  When she lived in the White House, she refused to serve as her husband’s hostess.  The job of White House hostess went to their daughter Betty Taylor Bliss.

Ulysses S. Grant was the first president to run against a woman candidate, Virginia Woodhull. She was nominated by the “Equal Rights Party” in 1872.  Grant was the first president to receive an Indian Chief in the White House and to establish our nation’s first National Park (Yellowstone) in 1872.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was man of many talents. He was a skilled chef famous for his vegetable soup, steaks, and cornmeal pancakes.  He was also licensed to fly an airplane and loved golf so much he had a putting green set up on the White House lawn.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson used to go through the White House at night turning off lights to save taxpayers money. He was the only president to take the oath of office from a female, Judge Sarah T. Hughes, and the first president to name an African American to his cabinet.

This month, I have the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Churnin the author of The William Hoy Story, How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game. Her book was published on March 1, and has already gone into a second printing.

How did you discover William Hoy’s Story?

Steve Sandy, who is a longtime fan of Hoy, emailed me after I wrote a short piece for The Dallas Morning News about a play about Hoy. The play entitled Signal Season of Dummy Hoy by playwrights Allen Meyer and Michael Nowak was performed at Garland High School, in Garland, Texas. We started corresponding and Steve told me what a hero Hoy is in the Deaf community and how it is his dream for Hoy to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

What about Hoy made you want to write his story?

At first, I was wowed by Hoy’s contribution to the game– teaching the umpires signals we still use today so he could play the game he loved. The more I learned about him, the more I was impressed by his character. He was honest, kind, smart, and determined. For every kid who has ever been told he or she can’t do something, for whatever reason, here is Hoy showing there is always a way if you can only think of it. Plus, your difference may be the very thing that makes the game better for everyone.

How long did it take you to research Hoy’s story?  Any interesting tidbits you would like to share?

I was so lucky to have fabulous resources from Steve Sandy. What took years for me was to fully absorb and process this information and to learn the craft of writing a compelling children’s story. I wrote many, many versions before coming up with this one.

 Describe your journey to publication with Hoy’s story?

When I realized I needed help with craft, I took classes with Susanna Hill, Kristen Fulton and Mira Reisberg. I participated in challenges, including Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo and Angie Karcher’s RhyPoIdMo (even though I never tried this in rhyme!). I sent it to Rate Your Story and received a lot of encouragement from RYS founder Miranda Paul. I got my agent, Karen Grencik, through 12X12. She believed in Hoy from day one. She sent it to Wendy McClure of Albert Whitman and Company and Wendy liked it right away.

Do you have any advice you would like to share with other writers?

Write what you are passionate about. I always felt that Hoy deserved to have his story told. I tried to learn from every rejection and criticism. I didn’t take it personally.  I took it gratefully because, I knew that everyone in this incredibly generous and gracious community wanted exactly what I did– the best book possible for kids.

Nancy hopes that her book about William Hoy will garner enough support for him to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and make her friend Steve Sandy’s dream come true.

Did you know three famous children’s writers were born in April?

Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey, an American-born Irish writer, is best known for the Dragonriders of Pern fantasy series. Early in her career she was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New Times Best Seller list.

McCaffrey’s son Todd wrote a compelling biography of his mother entitled Dragon Holder. Todd often collaborator with his mother and was her most devoted fan

Gertrude Chandler Warner

Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut. As a little girl she dreamed of becoming an author. Her first attempts at writing were for her Grandfather.  Every Christmas she gave him one of her stories as a gift.  When she grew up, she wrote The Boxcar Children Mysteries.

Warner’s life is chronicled by Mary Ellen Ellsworth’s book Gertrude Chandler Warner and The Boxcar Children

Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon. When she was old enough to go to school her family moved to a farm in Yamhill. The town was so small it didn’t have a library. Her mother arranged to have books sent to Yamhill from the State Library System and set up a makeshift library in a room above the town bank. That is when Cleary learned to love books.

Cleary will be 100 years old on the 12th of this month and she has sold 91 million books worldwide.  Her books have won many awards. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the John Newbery Medal in 1984 and her books Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (my daughter’s favorite books when she was eight years old) were both Newbery Honor Books. Cleary has written two memoirs about her life entitled A Girl from Yamhill followed by My Own Two Feet.

The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game

By Nancy Churnin and Illustrate by Jez Tuya

Published by Albert Whitman & Company

William Ellsworth Hoy was deaf.  Despite his disability, he wanted to play professional baseball.  He practiced and practiced and was finally picked up on a team.  But couldn’t hear the empires’ calls.  So one day, he asked the umpire to use hand signals.  His suggestion changed the game of baseball forever.

The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

By Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Steven Salerno

Published by Clarion Books

Edith Houghton was born in 1912 in Philadelphia. At the age of ten, she became a female baseball player. She played ball with women who were older than she was and even traveled with her team to Japan. Later in life, she became the first woman to scout for a professional baseball team.

Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

By Marissa Moss

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Kenichi Zenimura (Zeni) stood only five feet tall and wanted to be a baseball player. People told him he was too short.  But he didn’t care.  He was a natural athlete and when he grew up he played ball with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  When WWII broke out, Zeni and his family were sent to Gila River internment camp in Arizona. In the barren desert environment, Zeni brought the game of baseball to the camp and later became known as the “Father of Japanese-American Baseball.”

Legends:  The Best Players, Games and Teams in Baseball

By Howard Bryant

Published by Puffin Books

The title “Legends” tells it all. Author Howard Bryant has compiled the best the sport has to offer by telling the story of the players, teams, and important moments in baseball history.

HAPPY READING!

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women 

By Catherine Thimmesh and Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

Did you know that a woman invented Liquid Paper commonly known as “white-out” and a woman invented the “space bumper” that was used to protect spacecraft and the astronauts? These are only a few of the woman profiled in this collective biography. Colorful and inventive collage artwork by Melissa Sweet illustrates this unique book.

 Headstrong

By Rachel Swaby

Published by Broadway Books

The title of this book intrigued me the beginning. Swaby has written a collective biography of fifty-two women who had an amazing impact on the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  Bravo Ladies!

Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Joan of Arc to Mother Teresa 

By Michelle Roehm McCann and Amelie Welden

Illustrated by David Hahn

Published by Aladdin/Beyond Words

This is an inspirational book profiles forty-six “movers and shakers” who  made their mark on the world before they were 20 years old. Go Girl Power!

Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists 

By Jeannie Atkins and Illustrated by Paula Conner

Published by Dawn Pubns

This collective biography profiles six women who were curious about nature and due to their passion for science overcame obstacles in male dominated arena.  This book was selected by the Children’s Book Council and National Science Teacher’s Association as one of the “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children for 2001.”

Next Monday, February 22, we will be celebrating George Washington’s birthday as a federal holiday.  To celebrate, I wanted to share my favorite books about the first president of the United States.

George Washington’s Teeth 

By Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora and Illustrated by Brock Cole

Published by Square Fish

George Washington suffered most of his life with bad teeth. By the time he was 24 years-old, he had lost at least one tooth a year. When he was elected president, he had only two teeth left. This humorous tale is one of my favorite books about Washington. It is written in verse and based on Washington’s letters, dairies, and historical records. (By the way, contrary to common belief, Washington never had a set of wooden teeth.)

George Washington and the General’s Dog

By Frank Murphy and Illustrated by Richard Walz

Published by Random House Books for Young Readers

This easy reader is a delightful story about George Washington and his love of animals. Children will be amused to learn Washington named his dog “Sweetlips” and maybe surprised to learn how kind he was to one of his enemies.

Farmer George Plants a Nation 

By Peggy Thomas and Illustrated by Layne Johnson

Published by Calkins Creek

This well written book focuses on George Washington as a farmer, inventor, and scientist. On his farm, Washington sought to improve farming methods and share his knowledge with others. This aspect of Washington’s life has often been overlooked. With Johnson’s exquisite oil paintings and Thomas’s detailed text, this is an excellent book for older readers.

Interesting Trivia – George Washington was born in Virginia on February 11, 1731, according to the then-used Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar which moved Washington’s birthday a year and 11 days to February 22, 1732.

Tomorrow is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and these are my favorite biographies about him.

Abe Lincoln’s Hat

By Martha Brenner and Illustrated by Donald Cook

Published by Random House Books for Young Readers

Abraham Lincoln was absent-minded.  To stay on top of things, he kept his letters, court notes, contracts and his checkbook in his top hat.  Colorful watercolor drawings illustrate this delightful book.

Lincoln: A Photobiography

By Russell Freedman

Published by Clarion Books

I have read this well illustrated biography of Abraham Lincoln many times.  Freedman skillfully covers Lincoln’s life and gives a moving account of his death shortly after he was elected to his second term in office.  This book won many honors: the Newbery Medal, the Jefferson Cup Award and the Golden Kite Honor Book Award.

Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War 

By Albert Marrin

Published by Dutton Juvenile

The theme of Marrin’s book is Lincoln the war leader.  Marrin portrays Lincoln as a cautious and principled man who by meeting the challenge of our national crisis, the Civil War, became our greatest president.  This well-researched and fascinating biography was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Booklist Editors’ Choice.  It holds a special place in my Civil War library.