Summer time is a great time to relax and sit down and read with your children.  Below are twelve of my favorite picture book biographies – one for each week of summer.

 

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear

By Lindsay Matick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

This is an endearing true story of the bear Winnie, who inspired the character Winnie-the- Pooh.

 

The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans

By Barbara Walsh and Illustrated by Layne Johnson

Published by Calkins Creek

Miona Belle Michael, a school teacher in Georgia, wanted the soldiers who had lost their lives in WWI to be remembered.  She diligently worked to establish the red poppy as a symbol of honor to be used to remember the fallen heros.

 

Aaron and Alexander: The Most Famous Duel in American

By Don Brown

Published by Roaring Brook Press

The story behind the most famous duel in American history between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.

 

The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams

By Tanya Lee Stone and Illustrated by Kathryn Brown

Published by Henry Holt and Co.

Jane Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  She turned her house into a community center which helped transform a poor neighborhood in Chicago.

 

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art

By Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary Grandpre

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Vasya Kandinsky was a proper little boy who studied math and history. He practiced the piano, sat up straight, and was perfectly polite. When his family sent him to art classes, they expected him to paint pretty houses and flowers. But Kandinsky had other ideas.

 

Manfish:  A Story of Jacques Cousteau

By Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Eric Puybaret

Published by Chronicle Books

Jacques Cousteau was a curious little boy who grew up to be an international oceanographer and champion of the seas. This lovely book, with poetic text and gorgeous illustrations, portrays an inspiring and magical portrait of Cousteau.

 

Trombone Shorty

By Troy Andrews and illustrated by Bryan Collier

Published by:  Abrams Books for Young Readers

Troy Andrews was a musical prodigy and earned the nickname “Trombone Shorty” because he wielded a trombone twice as long as he was high.

 

In Mary’s Garden 

By Tina Kugler and illustrated by Carson Kugler

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books

Wisconsin artist Mary Nohl made art out of anything she liked and turned common things into unusual art.  Her garden became her art gallery.

 

Barnum’s Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World

By Tracey Fern and illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Barnum Brown’s parents named him after the circus tycoon P.T. Barnum. They hoped he would do something extraordinary. And he did! He became a paleontologist for the American Museum of Natural History and discovered the first documented skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Barnum’s Bones is one The Washington Post‘s Best Kids Books of 2012.

 

Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King

Written and Illustrated by Bonnie Christensen

Published by Henry Holt and Company

Release date: April 21, 2015

Elvis Presley was a shy kid who found solace in singing at church and learning to play the guitar.  One day on a lark, he recorded a song for his mother’s birthday at Sun Record Studios and the rest is history.

 

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch

By Chris Barton and illustrated by Don Tate

Published by:  Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

John Roy Lynch was born a slave in Mississippi. But, with the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, he was able to begin a new life.  Eventually he was elected to the United States Congress.

 

Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower 

By Greg Pizzoli

Viking Books for Young Readers

Robert Miller was a con artist.  In 1900, he moved Paris, France, to practice his trade.  Using the alias “Count Victor Lustig” he sold the Eiffel Tower twice.

 

 

Happy Reading!!!