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.

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Samuel Morse, That’s Who! By Tracy Nelson Maurer and El Primo Ramon

  By Tom Bober on 12/18/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Traveling the world, becoming inspired, overcoming obstacles, and changing life as we know it all sound like parts of some amazing movie. They are also parts of the picture book story of Samual Morse, inventor of the telegraph and Morse… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs by Helaine Becker and Marie-Eve Tremblay

  By Tom Bober on 11/20/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  There are certainly historically based picture books about inventions that I’ve read before, but none may have surprised me more than Helaine Becker’s Lines, Bars and Circles. I had never attributed the creation of the line, bar, and circle graphs… Read More ›

• Engaging Students with Inquiry Using Primary Sources

  By Tom Bober on 11/15/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Teaching research is not just teaching about where information is according to Rebecca Newland. In her 2019 AASL National Conference presentation “Engaging Students with Inquiry Using Primary Sources,” she noted that teaching researching is also an opportunity to teach students… Read More ›

• 5 Kinds of Nonfiction

  By Tom Bober on 11/15/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Whether we organize the nonfiction in our library by Dewey, ditching Dewey, or some other method, our libraries are often organized by topic. In her AASL National Conference presentation, Melissa Stewart gave conference attendees another way to think about nonfiction… Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Interview with Donna Janell Bowman, Author of King of the Tightrope

  By Tom Bober on 10/23/2019 • ( 1 )

  

  As we continue to explore picture book authors who utilize primary sources in their research, I was excited to interview Donna Janell Bowman who, in her newest book, writes about one of my favorite lesser-known historical figures, The Great Blondin…. Read More ›

• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Interview with Barry Wittenstein, Author of A Place to Land

  By Tom Bober on 09/24/2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Authors and illustrators of historically based picture books often use primary sources as part of their research. These sources shape their understanding of a person, place, or time and ultimately help to shape the final story. As we enter the… Read More ›

• Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: How the Cookie Crumbled by Gilbert Ford

  By Tom Bober on 08/22/2019 • ( 2 )

  

  When I first read Gilbert Ford’s book How the Cookie Crumbled where readers are introduced to Ruth Wakefield and the invention of the chocolate chip cookie, I immediately wondered what primary sources could be paired with the book. My searches led… Read More ›

• 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 ›