Maybe I’m a sucker for a good lighthouse story after sitting on the 2019 Caldecott Committee where Sophie Blackall won for Hello Lighthouse. But more likely, I’m drawn to an intriguing story. That was what I found when I opened… Read More ›
close reading
Picture Books and Primary Sources: The Fighting Infantryman: The Story of Albert D.J. Cashier, Transgender Civil War Soldier by Rob Sanders and Nabi Ali
Often when students learn about large topics like the Civil War, teachers work to help students see the human side of the event. It can personalize an abstract larger-than-life event, given an entry point to put themselves in someone else’s… Read More ›
Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
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
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 ›
Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
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 ›
Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources: Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
As I’m home over the summer, I often see the mail carrier delivering the mail. The daily visits reminded me of the book Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell. Based on a true story that took place in 1914, May… Read More ›