Sequoyah by James Rumford

Sequoyah: The Man Who Gave His People Writing by James Rumford, translated by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby.

Quite appropriately, this book about the man who invented the Cherokee written language is printed in two languages: English and Cherokee. The story itself is almost unbelievable. Sequoyah was fifty years old and knew no English and couldn’t read when he began to invent a written language for the Cherokee people in about 1809. People laughed at him and persecuted him for his strange ideas. Yet he persevered, and he is famous for having given his people a writing system and a written language.

I didn’t know that the giant Sequoia trees of California are probably named for Sequoyah. Rumford’s tale of the life of Sequoyah is framed as a story told by a father to his children about how the trees are like the man Sequoyah, even though Sequoyah was crippled and old and not a warrior at all.

“Now, who was this Sequoyah? my father asks.
He was a famous man, we say, because he invented writing for the Cherokee.
He was a brave man because he never gave up.
He was a leader because he showed his people how to survive—
How to stand tall and proud like these trees.”

The introductory blurb calls this book “a poem to celebrate literacy, a song of a people’s struggle to stand tall and proud.” And indeed, it is both narrative and poetic. I was moved, after reading this brief history of Sequoyah, to find other books and read more. A man who is famous for inventing an alphabet? That’s my kind of biography.

More books about Sequoyah:

Sequoyah: The Story of an American Indian by C. W. Campbell.

Sequoyah: Young Cherokee Guide (Childhood of Famous Americans) by Dorothea J. Snow.

Sequoyah and the Cherokee Alphabet by Robert Cwiklik.

Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees (Landmark Books, 65) by Alice Marriott.

Sequoyah by James Rumford is available for checkout from Meriadoc Homeschool Library. If you are interested in purchasing ($5.00) a curated list of favorite picture book biographies with over 300 picture books about all sorts of different people, email me at sherryDOTpray4youATgmailDOTcom.

The Real McCoy by Wendy Towle

Mar27

The Real McCoy: The Life of an African-American Inventor by Wendy Towle, paintings by Will Clay. Scholastic, 1993.

The Real McCoy: the genuine article; the actual thing.

There is some controversy over the origin of this common idiom, as author Wendy Towle indicates in her biography of inventor Elijah McCoy. The book calls the life and work of Mr. McCoy “one possible origin” of the phrase.

Whether or not his work spawned an idiom meaning genuine or original work, McCoy’s life story is certainly an inspiring testimony to excellence and successful invention. Elijah McCoy was born in Canada, the son of former slave who escaped from Kentucky and came to Canada via the Underground Railroad. He eventually studied engineering in Scotland and then came to live in the United States just after the end of the Civil War. Unfortunately, he could not find any work as an engineer because of his skin color, so he became a fireman/oilman for the railroad.

Or was it providence? Elijah McCoy soon began inventing devices to make the trains run more safely and efficiently, including his most famous invention, the automatic lubricating oil cup. He eventually patented over fifty inventions in his lifetime: the first portable ironing board, a lawn sprinkler, tires and tire treads, better rubber heels for shoes, and many devices that were used in the transportation industry in Detroit where McCoy lived.

Wil Clay, a well-known African American artist, painted the vivid and colorful pictures that adorn the pages of this picture book biography. His paintings make the time period and story come alive as readers learn about one of the heroes of American invention.

There’s also another picture book biography of Elijah McCoy in the Great Idea series by Tundra Books, titled All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine by Monica Kulling. I prefer the Towle/Clay book with its rich paintings, but either book would deliver a good reading experience for children who are interested in the stories of real people who overcame obstacles and achieved noteworthy success.

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone

Mar26

Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. Henry Holt, 2013.

“I’ll bet you’ve met plenty of doctors in your life. And I’ll bet lots of them were women. Well, you might find this hard to believe, but there once was a time when girls weren’t allowed to become doctors.”

According to this picture book biography, Elizabeth Blackwell changed all that. Because a woman named Mary Donaldson told Elizabeth Blackwell that “she would have much preferred being examined by a woman” and because Mary urged Elizabeth to consider becoming a doctor herself, Elizabeth Blackwell, who lived during that time when women weren’t allowed or expected to become doctors, found herself thinking and dreaming about the idea of being a female doctor. Some people laughed at the idea. Some people criticized. The medical schools she applied to all turned her down. But Geneva Medical School in New York finally admitted her—as a joke!

The illustrations in this picture book are bright and whimsical and appealing. The illustrator, Marjorie Priceman, also illustrated some of my favorite picture books, including How To Make an Apple Pie and See the World, How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA, and Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (all available from my library, Meriadoc Homeschool Library).

Elizabeth Blackwell graduated medical school and became the first woman doctor in the United States. Except for a few details about her childhood and her med school experiences, what I’ve told you here is what the book tells in its main text. The author’s note at the back of the book includes a few more details about Elizabeth Blackwell’s life. This biography would be the perfect length for primary children, ages four to seven. And it would be a good introduction to Elizabeth Blackwell and the advent of female doctors for older children.

Then if you or your children want to read more about Ms. Blackwell, check out the following books:

Elizabeth Blackwell: Girl Doctor (Childhood of Famous Americans) by Joanne Landers Henry.

Lone Woman: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the First Woman Doctor by Dorothy Clarke Wilson.

The First Woman Doctor: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. by Rachel Baker. (Messner biography)

I tend to agree with Ms. Donaldson. I prefer a female doctor, and I’m glad we have the choice nowadays to go to a woman doctor or a male doctor, whichever we prefer. And, of course, I’m glad that women can become doctors.

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? is available for checkout from Meriadoc Homeschool Library. If you are interested in purchasing ($5.00) a curated list of favorite picture book biographies with over 300 picture books about all sorts of different people, email me at sherryDOTpray4youATgmailDOTcom.

The Twenty Children of Johann Sebastian Bach by David Arkin

Mar25

The Twenty Children of Johann Sebastian Bach by David Arkin. Ward Ritchie Press, 1968.

This picture book biography, published by a quirky little SoCal publisher/printer, is an early example of the picture book biography. As far as I can tell the author is David I. Arkin, father of the actor Alan Arkin, not David George Arkin, who was an actor and no relation to David I and Alan. The book is dedicated to David Arkin’s wife Beatrice. However, there’s not any information that I can find on the internet that ties this book directly to David I. Arkin, other than the wife’s name.

At any rate, the writing in the book is adequate, not as exciting as it might have been. The illustrations are beautiful. Bach and his twenty children and their family life together are painted in positive and engaging words and pictures. The book tells us that Bach had seven children with his first wife, who died, then thirteen more with his second wife. Seven of the twenty children did not survive past their first birthday. But those who did live were much beloved, and their musician father is shown writing music for them, educating them, and singing lullabies to his many babies.

The author does leave some questions unanswered. He tells us what happened to eight of the children when they grew up. Five of the boys grew up to be great and famous musicians and composers themselves. Three of the girls lived with their parents all their lives, never married, and one married her father’s favorite pupil. But what happened to the other four living children? (Actually, I looked, and Wikipedia says that only ten of Bach’s children lived to become adults. So, somebody has the count wrong. and that still leaves one grown child unaccounted for in the book.)

I suppose it’s hard to keep track of twenty children. I only have eight, and I’m not always sure what they are all doing with their lives. So, we can leave off the counting and just enjoy Arkin’s story of a big, happy, musical family. And then play some Bach while you look at the illustrations one more time.

If you are interested in purchasing ($5.00) a curated list of favorite picture book biographies with over 300 picture books about all sorts of different people, email me at sherryDOTpray4youATgmailDOTcom. I’m highlighting picture book biographies in March. What is your favorite picture book about a real person?

Dreaming in Code by Emily Arnold McCully

Mar23

Dreaming in Code: Ada Byron Lovelace, Computer Pioneer by Emily Arnold McCully. Candlewick, 2019.

This new biography for children of mathematician Ada Byron Lovelace is NOT a picture book, and indeed, although it’s recommended for ages 10-14 in the marketing information, the book chronicles the actions and accomplishments of a woman who lived a rather shocking and tragic life. I’m not sure all fourteen year olds, much less ten year olds, are ready for the revelations that McCully sees fit to include in her biography, revelations of adultery, child abuse, incest, cruelty, and drug abuse.

In addition, the biographer is rather prejudiced. Lord Byron, Ada’s rake of a father, is very nearly absolved of all his faults, mostly because he wrote a poem in which he mentioned his longing to see his daughter after her mother, Lady Byron, ran away with the child and refused to allow Byron near her. Lady Byron, who does seem to have been something of a tartar, is painted in the darkest of terms as “obsessive” and “neglectful”, also self-centered and hypochondriacal, a dark and bullying force in Ada’s life for its entirety. Lord Byron gets off easily, I suppose because he died young and wrote good poetry.

Ada herself, because she was a genius and because she’s the subject of the book(?), is shown as a martyr to her mother’s domineering and dictatorial selfishness and whimsy. Nevertheless, there are numerous indications that Ada wasn’t much better than her parents when it came to being a decent parent and a faithful wife. McCully tells us that Ada was unfaithful to her long-suffering husband on more than one occasion, that she worried that she was a neglectful mother, and that she called her three children “irksome duties”. She was also drug-addicted, unhealthy, and an inveterate gambler. Perhaps one could blame all of Ada’s adult sins and problems on her horrible childhood and her horrible parents, but nevertheless it’s a wonder she was able to accomplish as much as she did in the fields of mathematics and invention.

So, the story of Ada Byron Lovelace is not terribly edifying, but it is a cautionary tale, I suppose. The sins of the fathers are often visited upon the children, and it takes the power of God to break a family heritage of sin and rebellion.

Takeaway:

“This was Ada’s great leap of imagination and the reason we remember her with such admiration. Her idea that the engine (Babbage’s Analytical Engine) could do more than compute, that numbers were symbols and could represent other concepts, is what makes Babbage’s engine a prototype-computer.”

The Extraordinary Mark Twain by Barbara Kerley

Mar21

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (according to Susy) by Barbara Kerley. Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. Scholastic Press, 2010.

In 1885-6 when he was at the height of his fame, Samuel Clemens’ thirteen year old daughter, Susy, really did write her own biography of her famous father. She wrote secretly at first and then as the work progressed, Mr. Clemens became aware of his young biographer and did his best to help her along by submitting to interviews and giving “pronouncements about himself at the breakfast table just to help his biographer along.” Apparently Clemens/Twain liked very much to talk–mostly about himself. But Susy gives in her journal, which was a diary of sorts as well as a work of biography, an adulatory yet frank picture of her father as only a thirteen year old daughter could.

The design of this picture book biography is quite creative: excerpts from Susy’s diary are inserted into the book as small mini-booklets. The author, Barbara Kerley, adds her explanatory and interpretive notes on the beautifully illustrated pages of the forty page picture book. The result is an intriguing and delightful portrait in words and pictures of an extraordinary man—and of his intrepid and writerly daughter.

The penultimate page of the book gives some extra information about Samuel Clemens and about Susy Clemens, who, sadly, died young from spinal meningitis at the age of twenty-four. Her tragic death made her father value the 130+ pages of Susy’s journal/biography all the more. “I have had no compliment, no praise, no tribute from any source,” said Twain, “that was so precious to me as this one was and still is. As I read it now, after all these many years, it is still a king’s message to me.”

The final page is titled “Writing an Extraordinary Biography (According to Barbara Kerley with a lot of help from Susy).” Here Ms. Kerley encourages her readers to choose their own subjects and write their own biographies, and she gives them some rules or guidelines or tips for doing so. This part of the book, in combination with the text of the book itself, would be a fantastic addition to a unit study on biography and an encouragement to any aspiring biographer.

A good picture book biographer finds a hook, something in the life of the subject to focus on and to build the book around, rather than trying to tell everything about the life and times of the person being written about. Vincent Van Gogh’s insomnia, Lewis Carroll’s way with words, Antoine de St. Exupery’s disappearance—all of these make good “hooks” upon which to hang a story that introduces young readers to the life of a famous person. Susy the biographer gives the reader someone to identify with and a way into the life story of a complex man, Mark Twain.

I’m highlighting picture book biographies in March. What is your favorite picture book about a real person?

Vincent Can’t Sleep by Barb Rosenstock

Mar20

Vincent Can’t Sleep: Van Gogh Paints the Night Sky by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mary Grandpre. Knopf, 2017.

“At present, I absolutely want to paint a starry sky.”

“It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day.”

“If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And . . . it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky.”
~Vincent van Gogh

The themes of this book, Vincent van Gogh’s sleeplessness and his famous painting of a starry night, are inspired by the artist’s actual, frequent bouts with insomnia and of course, by his art. The insomnia, which was probably a symptom of his mental illness, plagued him throughout his life, from boyhood. In this story, biographer Barb Rosenstock sees the inability as a source of inspiration and productivity for the talented and prolific artist. “Vincent’s personality shines through his art—–with each energetic brushstroke and wild color choice, he brings the night to life.”

I have enjoyed learning more about van Gogh and his art ever since last year when a speaker at a retreat I attended made Vincent van Gogh and his art come to life, so to speak. It often takes a true fan, a person who loves a certain artist or poet or writer, to introduce me to whole new world of that person’s art or poetry or fiction. An educated enthusiast can show me a way into another artist’s work that I just can’t find on my own. A friend in college introduced me to the poetry of T.S. Eliot, poems that I originally found confusing and esoteric, and I have enjoyed Eliot ever since. This speaker at the retreat last year introduced me to van Gogh, and I have been running into him, van Gogh, that is, ever since, in many unexpected ways and places.

Vincent Can’t Sleep is yet another gateway that will open up the world of Vincent van Gogh’s art for children, and even adults. Mary Grandpre uses van Gogh’s backgrounds and styles to create her own art for this luminous picture book. It is a tribute to van Gogh, and yet the artwork in it is new and fresh and beautiful in its own right.

Just as the makers of the film about van Gogh, Loving Vincent, used Vincent van Gogh’s art to create something new, the author and illustrator of this book about van Gogh have given me new insights into the man and his work. I didn’t know that he had insomnia, and I didn’t know the quotes about his use of color and paint to create pictures of the night sky. By the way, I highly recommend the film, Loving Vincent, for adults who, after reading this picture book, are interested in learning more about van Gogh and his art.

Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor by Patricia Valdez

Mar12

Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez, illustrated by Felicita Sala. Knopf, 2018.

In case you’re not current on your famous herpetologists, Joan Proctor was a British expert on amphibians and reptiles who became a curator of reptiles at the Natural History Museum, then a part of the British Museum, just after World War I. In 1923, Joan Proctor was appointed to the post of curator of reptiles at the London Zoo. She designed the Reptile House at the zoo, studied and cared for the reptiles housed there, wrote articles and scientific papers about her findings, and presented her observations and research before the Scientific Meeting of the Zoological Society of London in 1928. All of these accomplishments were done without a college degree and in spite of the chronic illness that kept Ms. Proctor from ever attending college.

Ms. Proctor was particularly interested in and fond of Komodo dragons, especially a Komodo dragon named Sumbawa with whom she took daily walks through the zoo. For any child who is an animal lover, or a fan of reptiles, lizards and snakes, this book would be a treasure.

The book mentions but does not emphasize the fact that Joan Proctor was something of a phenomenon in her day. In a time when middle and upper class women did not work outside the home at all, much less with snakes and lizards in the zoo, Joan Proctor’s work was novel and ground-breaking. The newspaper articles referenced in the bibliography carry titles that indicate that journalists were both curious and a bit shocked by her work:

“English Woman Charms Snakes: Joan Proctor, 25 Years Old, Has Charge of Reptiles in the London Zoo.” The Winnipeg Tribune, August 15, 1923.

“Girl Manages Reptile House in London Zoo.” Mount Carmel Item, December 28, 1929.

“Snakes Alive, and a Lady Who Loves Them. London’s Curator of Reptiles.” The Advertiser, Adelaide, Australia. January 4, 1930.

Unfortunately, Ms. Proctor died young, at the age of thirty-four, from complications due to her chronic illness. But her work and inspiration live on in this timeless picture book biography of a talented and fearless lady who defied expectations to pursue the study and career that she loved. And the book has quite a bit of information about Komodo dragons for readers who are particularly interested in them. (They are rather amazing creations, but I wouldn’t want to take one walking, no matter how tame he was.)

Out of School and Into Nature by Suzanne Slade

Mar4

Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Jessica Lanon.

“From the time she was no higher than a daisy, Anna was wild about nature. She loved to hold it close in her fingers, she wanted to feel it squish between her toes, which was why she ran barefoot all summer long, raised slimy tadpoles into pet toads, and climbed tall trees instead of sitting in their shade.”

Anna Botsford Comstock was an artist, conservationist, teacher and naturalist during the first half of the twentieth century. She enrolled at Cornell University in 1874, in an era when women were not encouraged to go to college or to study science and nature. Her Handbook of Nature Study, published in 1911, became a standard text for teachers, and she was the first female professor at Cornell University.

This picture book introduces children and adults to the nature-loving Mrs. Comstock and her passion for the importance of nature study as a part of a child’s education. The book includes beautiful nature paintings of everything from butterflies to spiderwebs to sunflowers to stinkbugs, and it would be an inspiration to anyone just starting out to do “nature study” with children.

Out of School and Into Nature also features several quotes from Mrs. Comstock herself concerning the vital importance of children interacting with nature:

“Nature study cultivates in the child a love of the beautiful.”

“The nature story is never finished. There is not a weed or an insect or a tree so common that the child, by observing carefully, may not see things never yet recorded.”

In the parlance of Charlotte Mason educators, this picture book about “The Mother of Nature Education” is indeed a living book, as is Comstock’s own Handbook of Nature Study. Let this simple but beautiful book be an introduction to Anna Botsford Comstock and her ideas about nature study, and then move on to her book and share the book and the joys of nature with a child you know. You will both be the richer for having done so.

The Boy Who Drew Birds by Jacqueline Davies

Mar1

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

This picture book, only 32 pages, does not attempt to even summarize the entire life of artist and naturalist John James Audubon, but it does tell of one particular episode in the life of young Audubon as he was just beginning his life’s work in the study of birds. And that’s what I learned from the book: Audubon didn’t just draw birds, but he also studied their habits and features and habitats as a scientist would.

Audubon grew up in France and learned about birds from his father. He came to America mostly to avoid having to serve in Napoleon’s army. Ms. Davies’ book tells of how John James Audubon experimented and proved a theory about birds: that many birds return to the same nest each year after migrating, and their offspring nest nearby. He confirmed this theory by banding some of the birds he was observing with a silver thread. He was the first person in North America to band a bird.

This picture book story would be wonderful introduction to Audubon’s work, but of course, the next obvious step is to look at Audubon’s paintings and drawings and become familiar with Audubon, the artist. According to the author’s biographical note in the back of the book, “His revolutionary paintings pleased two audiences: scientists, who were drawn to their accuracy, and ordinary people, who simply enjoyed the beauty of his birds.”

Melissa Sweet, who illustrated this lovely picture book, says she was inspired by another aspect of Audubon’s art: “his handwriting and the quality of the handmade papers he used.” Sweet’s art is just that, sweet, and very much in tune with the setting and the cadence of Audubon’s amateur love for birds, which became something much more than amateur, indeed a profession and an art that continues to delight today.

There’s a Dover coloring book, called Audubon’s Birds of America Coloring Book that would be a fantastic go-along with this story. And of course, nothing substitutes for a nature walk and finding your own birds to observe (and draw) in the wild.

Semicolon

Books we must have though we lack bread.

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