Thank you everyone for signing up for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014. It is going to be an amazing year of sharing nonfiction books with one another.
Tomorrow I leave for Philadelphia to attend ALA Midwinter. I am so excited. I am looking forward to hearing the Youth Media Award announcements and since the purpose of this challenge is nonfiction I am of course excited about the Robert F. Sibert Medal Award and Honor Books. Don't forget to check out my Mock-Sibert picks, here.
This week I am sharing with you a new biographical series for young readers created by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos.
Ordinary People Change the World Series by Brad Meltzer
"We can all be heroes. That's the inspiring message of this lively, collectible picture book biography series from New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer.
"Kids always search for heroes, so we might as well have a say in it," Brad Meltzer realized, and so he envisioned this friendly, fun approach to biography— for his own kids, and for yours.
This engaging series is the perfect way to bring American history to life for young children, and to inspire them to strive and dream." - Brad Meltzer
I am Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer, Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos (Dial, January 14, 2014)
I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer; Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos (Dial, January 14, 2014)
My thoughts about the series:
This new biographical series for young readers features important historical figures, ordinary people, who did some extraordinary things. In a small picture book format, the first two books feature Abraham Lincoln and Amelia Earhart. The stories are simply told with a touch of humor in the dialogue. There are few black and white photographs in the back of each book.
The one thing I was sad about was that aside from some black and white photographs there were no additional end notes, or resources. Despite the small book size and the picture book format, the narrative aspect of the text presents a bigger than life example of two American heroes.
This new children's biography series introduces young readers to a way of looking at important historical figures, and hopefully sparking them to read more on the character that they just met.
About the author:
Brad Meltzer is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of adult thrillers (including The Inner Circle and its recent sequel, The Fifth Assassin). His two nonfiction gift books, Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter were New York Times Bestsellers as well, and he has won the prestigious Eisner Award for his comic book work, Justice League of America. Brad is also the host of the History Channel TV show Brad Meltzer's Decoded. For more information, visit: www.bradmeltzer.com
About the illustrator:
Christopher Eliopoulos (www.chriseliopoulos.com and www.miserylovessherman.com) began his illustration career as a letterer for Marvel, and has worked on literally thousands of comics. But along with that, he is also the author/artist of many comics, including the popular series Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers and Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius, for which he was nominated for multiple Eisner Awards and received a Harvey Award. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and their identical twin sons.
Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews below:
