In the realm of modern children's literature, biographies of women showcase lives of exceptional talent, perseverance, civic engagement, and more: lives meant to inspire young readers. Since its inception in 2001, the Robert Sibert Informational Book Medal and Honor award has included a biography (or two) every year, with the exception of 2004 and…

Engineering design-based learning entered the discourse of science education with the release of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). Since that time there has been a focused effort to embed engineering design and engineering-based thinking in elementary school experiences. As thinking like an engineer is…

The annual "National Council for the Social Studies" (NCSS) Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People list often contains picture books that profile citizen role models--people who worked to change society for the better. In 2018 the list includes beautiful, thoughtful biographies of people who chose "doing good" over…

When the author became a public-school teacher and decided to teach second-grade students about Jane Goodall, he could not find literature appropriate for seven-year-olds. Children's books about her lifework simply did not exist. So, the author used an encyclopedic entry and the knowledge he had from the documentary to form his own text, which was…

Few twentieth century scientists have generated as much interest as Albert Einstein and Marie Currie. Their lives are centrally depicted in numerous children's biographies of famous scientists. Yet their stories reflect interesting paradoxes and tacit sets of unexplored sociocultural assumptions about gender in science education and the larger…

This article presents the 62 books chosen by "School Library Journal's" editors as the best of the year. While novels include some historical settings and contemporary concerns, it is fantasy that continues to reign supreme. More original, and more creative than ever, it includes selections that are frightening, edgy, wildly funny, electrifying,…

Stories about Abraham Lincoln have captivated children for generations. The Lincoln story has taken on almost mythic proportions, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction or exaggeration. Young readers never tire of talking about Lincoln's early days--from his birth in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky to his childhood in…

American publishers have published numerous children's books about Barack Obama over the past several years; most take the form of informational biographies. This article reports on a research project aimed at how these books incorporate sociohistorical narratives, particularly those related to the civil rights movement. Though the features of the…

Who is an American, what is the American experience, and what historical events are important enough to include in books for youth? These complex ideas are examined in a bolder, intellectually fresh manner in information books, biographies, and histories that have been published over the past several decades. Some examples of recent works are…

Trevor Owens' paper provides a critique of the role of gender and authority in selected children's books that presented biographies of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. In the context of discussing Trevor's (2009) article about children's literature, this forum explores issues related to the (a) representation and construction of gender, science,…

Educators, students, and parents are among those who have stereotypical preconceived ideas about science and scientists. The study reports on a content analysis of graphic images in 303 of the "Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12" from the years 1973 through 2005. Using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, all of the images…

Unpleasant facts traditionally have been omitted from children's biographies, but there is a movement toward greater realism. (PF)

Based on an interview with Jean Lee Latham in Autumn 1966; includes an annotated bibliography of her publications. (RD)

An author of over twenty books for teenagers describes her problems in writing biographies. (PF)