Picture Book Biographies

Enjoy reading picture books but are looking for something new to try... then checkout these great picture book biographies about interesting people in history.

 

1. She loved baseball: the Effa Manley story by Audrey Vernick

• Effa Manley was the first female to own a baseball team and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Mermaid queen by Shana Corey

• This is the story of one of the first professional female athletes, who introduced the world to women as competitive swimmers and is credited with the creation of synchronized swimming.

3. Stealing home: Jackie Robinson against the odds by Robert Burleigh

• This story both capture the moments before Jackie Robinson steals home plate in the first game of the World Series against the NY Yankees and tells the story of his life through brief captions. 

 

 

4. Manfish: a story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne

• Jacques Cousteau combined his childhood love of the sea and film to explore the vast sea and bring these discoveries into people’s living rooms and movie theaters 

5. Odd boy out: young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

• This story explores Einstein’s early years when he struggled with school and his family.

6. I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen

• Discover Galileo’s world changing idea about our solar system and what happened to him to presenting these ideas

 

 



7. Miss Moore thought otherwise by Jan Pinborough

• This is the story of how one woman worked to give children the right to use the library and borrow books.  Before Anne Carroll Moore came along, it was believed that children did not have a place in the library. 

8. Sky high: the true story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss

• Maggie Gee was one of only two Chinese-American women pilots during World War II. Growing up, female pilots were rare and WWII gave Maggie her chance to serve her country while doing what she spent her childhood dreaming of.

9. Louisa May's battle: how the Civil War led to Little Women by Kathleen Krull

• Louisa’s three months serving as a nurse during the Civil War helped to create her greatest work and create a unique writing style.

 



10. An eye for color: the story of Josef Albers by Natasha Wing

• Painter, Josef Albers saw art in simple things and spent his life studying color. He changed the way the art world looked at color and the way teachers taught art.

11. A splash of red: the life and art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant

• This is the story of a self-taught artist, who used his memories, surroundings, and harsh struggles to create beautiful art that hang in museums today.

12. Sandy's circus: a story of Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone

• When Sandy was young he was always fiddling with odds and ends.  As he grew older he moved onto wire sculptures, creating lions, horses, dogs and other creatures until he created a whole circus.  Calder traveled between Paris and New York amazing audiences and creating a new form of mobile art. 

13. Jim Henson: the guy who played with puppets by Kathleen Krull

• Discover the life of the man who created Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.  From his early childhood through his adult life discover all the moments that led to his success.

14. Different like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews

• At the age of twelve, Coco was orphaned and sent to live at an orphanage run by nuns.  There she learned to sew and used that skill to make her way through society.  With an unapologetic attitude and the desire to stand out Gabrielle Chanel made a name for herself in 20^th century Europe and throughout the world.

15. The boy who drew birds: a story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies

• Before John Audubon, many scientists believed that small birds did not migrate but instead hibernated in large groups under water in the winter.  John Audubon was the first to discover that even small birds migrated in the winter.  Learn about the year of Audubon’s discovery.

16. Lost boy: the story of the man who created Peter Pan by Jane Yolen

• See how J.M. Barrie’s life from childhood through adulthood helped to shape his classic story of Peter Pan.  From his life growing up in a home filled with children and stories to his adult life befriending the Llewellyn Davies family all helped to create the magic of Peter Pan.

 

17. The Beatles were fab (and they were funny) by Kathleen Krull

• Discover Beatlemania from the beginning.  Find out how John, Paul, George, and Ringo started out and how their music crossed a continent and amazed the world.

18. Bill the boy wonder: the secret co-creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman

• While most Batman fans know who Bob Kane was, he was not the sole creator of Batman.  Learn how Batman really came to be with the assistance of Bill Finger, the original writer of the Batman comics, and why his name never ended up on a Batman comic.

19. Queen of the falls by Chris Van Allsburg

• At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired charmed school instructor goes on the adventure of her life as she attempts to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. 

20. Stand Straight, Ella Kate: the true story of a real giant by Kate Klise

• Ella Kate started out a small child but grew to be more than eight feet tall.  What was the subject of her tears as a child became the thing that allowed her to tour the country as a star attraction on the biggest traveling show of her day.

 Enjoy!