Author Archives

Tom Bober is a school librarian at RM Captain Elementary, 2018 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress, and author of the upcoming book Elementary Educator's Guide to Primary Sources: Strategies for Teaching. He writes the Picture Books and Primary Sources posts for AASL’s KQ blog and has written articles for several publications. Tom also presents at conferences, runs workshops, and gives webinars to promote the use primary sources in student learning. He began his career as an elementary classroom teacher, was also an educational technologist, and has spent the last nine years as a school librarian.

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: When Washington Crossed the Delaware by Lynne Cheney and Peter M. Fiore

  By Tom Bober on 07/23/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Last month I helped to give a workshop in Lexington, Kentucky, through a grant called Project CHARGE (Civics History through Advanced Research and Geography Education). Over five days, elementary and middle school teachers focused on mid-17th-century history through the adoption… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution. By Rob Sanders and Jamey Christoph

  By Tom Bober on 06/19/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  I am always glad when an anniversary of an event coincides with a historically based picture book. It adds a greater purpose to bring that book and event into student learning. This is the case with the upcoming 50th anniversary… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Waiting for Pumpsie by Barry Wittenstein

  By Tom Bober on 05/17/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Primary sources can give students an opportunity to explore an event or individual over time. A historically based picture book can reveal a lesser known event or individual from history. Paired together, the two can lead to engaging learning for… Read More ›

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights by Kate Hannigan

  By Tom Bober on 04/22/2019 • ( 2 )

  

  There are times when reading a historically based picture book that I cannot help but make comparisons to today. Primary sources can help me focus that comparison. This was the case when reading the picture book A Lady Has the… Read More ›

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: The Boo-Boos That Changed the World by Barry Wittenstein

  By Tom Bober on 03/20/2019 • ( 1 )

  

  There are times when I read a historically based picture book and hope that I can find great primary sources to accompany it. I felt this way when I read The Boo-Boos That Changed the World written by Barry Wittenstein… Read More ›

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan

  By Tom Bober on 02/22/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  There are picture books that take a moment in history that I have a basic understanding of and expand it to the point that I realize that I know very little about that moment. That was the case with What… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Diana’s White House Garden by Elisa Carbone

  By Tom Bober on 01/16/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  In my state, Missouri, the Missouri Association of School Librarians has book awards for K-12 students. When the list for their picture book award, the Show Me Award, contains a picture book that focuses on an actual event or individual,… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Strong as Sandow by Don Tate

  By Tom Bober on 12/19/2018 • ( 0 )

  

  My students love the extraordinary. That is why I knew they would enjoy Strong as Sandow by Don Tate. Tate tells the story of Eugen Sandow, once known as the strongest man on earth. It also tells a story of… Read More ›

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

  By Tom Bober on 11/19/2018 • ( 0 )

  

  When I read a historically based picture book, I am often amazed at how the author and illustrator can take a moment in history and explore it in just thirty-two short pages. The best of these stories help me feel… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Crossing Niagara: The Death-Defying Tightrope Adventure of the Great Blondin by Matt Tavares

  By Tom Bober on 10/17/2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Political cartoons used as primary sources can be difficult for students to understand. Cultural references that they may not be aware of can be mixed with political references. These can be confusing without the proper context. I came across one… Read More ›