Books About Real People

Most of the country is preparing for a return to school or already hard at work, but learning doesn't have to be a bore! This is a fun list of books about real people.  {I'm not calling these biographies because each of these books reads like a story.}

• Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone.  Boys like this book.  Girls are inspired by it!  It's a win-win.
• On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einsteinby Jennifer Berne. I love the illustrations and I love how the book begins with Einstein's childhood.
• A Home for Mr. Emerson by Barbara Kerley. We love Kerley's style and this is probably our favorite.
• Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris.  Written in a clever style with pauses incorporated into the story to define difficult words in dictionary-fashion!
• The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdosby Deborah Heiligman.  Gavin thought it was a joke when I tucked this book into his library bag, but he gave it a (reluctant) try and liked it anyway.
• The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock. My kids love abstract art. I'm not a fan of the style, but this book fascinating.
  
• Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pantsby Tony Johnston. Great liberties are taken with the facts, but the story is too much fun to let that stop you. The author's note at the end sorts out the true from not-quite-as-true.

Honorable Mention

These books are also worth considering:  

• Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Everythingby Maira Kalman 
• The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According To Susy)by Barbara Kerley  
• Mozart: The Wonder Child: A Puppet Play in Three Actsby Diane Stanley 
• What To Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy by Barbara Kerley 
• Helen's Big World: The Life of Helen Kellerby Doreen Rappaport

*****

For even more stories about real people,  I compiled another list 2 summers ago featuring books on famous (and not-so famous) naturalists: Nature Study For the Non-Outdoorsy Type