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Children's Corner: Kids, meet Julia Child, Jean Laffite and others
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New picture book biographies offer a great way for kids to meet people such as French cooking expert Julia Child, Olympic gold medalist Alice Coachman and Jewish pirate Jean Laffite.
While these biographies use the picture book format, they generally aren't aimed at preschoolers. Most have lengthy, fact-driven texts and don't mince the grim reality that faced their subjects.
But these picture-book biographies are perfect for elementary school and even middle school students looking to read about some fascinating folks.
Here's a closer look:
• Child, who gained fame for introducing Americans to French cooking, is the star of two new picture book biographies.
In "Bon Appetit!: The Delicious Life of Julia Child" (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, $17.99, ages 6-10), author/illustrator Jessie Hartland captures Child's legendary appetite for food and for life. At 6-feet-2, Child was a commanding figure who fell in love with French cooking when she moved to Paris with her beloved husband, Paul, after World War II. Ms. Hartland's book -- with its hand-lettered text, vibrant gouache art and free-flowing narrative punctuated with French phrases and a refrain of "I'm hungry!" -- offers an entertaining literary testament to Child's cheerful, outsized personality.
Author Susanna Reich zeroes in on Child's years in Paris in "Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat" (Abrams, $16.95, ages 5-8). Child and her husband had a series of cats throughout their marriage, but Minette was their first in Paris and thus got some tasty scraps as Child learned French cooking. While Minette is the focus, Ms. Reich's text remains factual; at the conclusion of the story, she provides the source for each quotation. Amy Bates' watercolor-and-ink illustrations bring to life the Paris of Child's time, and the delights of Minette's daily routine.
• Once called the "Pacific-Coast Pocahontas," Winnemucca lived in two worlds. Born a Paiute Indian in Nevada in 1844, she also lived among white people for long periods, learning to read, write and speak English.
As author/illustrator Deborah Kogan Ray shows in "Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca" (Farrar Straus Giroux, $17.99, ages 8-12), Winnemucca used her knowledge of white culture to try to educate Americans about the increasingly dire plight of her tribe, and other American Indians, in the second half of the 19th century. Ms. Ray highlights Winnemucca's bare-knuckle courage as she battles -- often unsuccessfully -- prejudice, violence and unscrupulous politicians.
Ms. Ray's evocative illustrations nicely break up the lengthy text of the book, which ends with sections offering more details about Winnemucca and her tribe, as well as a time line and author's note.
• He's known in the history books as a swashbuckling pirate who became a hero for helping save New Orleans from the British during the War of 1812. But, as author Susan Goldman Rubin writes in "Jean Laffite: The Pirate Who Saved America" (Abrams, $18.95, ages 7-12), Laffite also was Jewish, and his faith was a defining element.
Raised by his strict Grandma Zora, the young Laffite was appalled by her stories of the suffering his family endured in Spain because of their faith, before they immigrated to what is now Haiti. As a result, Laffite and his brother Pierre vowed to become pirates like their older brother Alexander and devote their lives to capturing all vessels flying a Spanish flag. Laffite eventually moved to New Orleans and established a pirate hideout nearby in the marshy, alligator-filled Barataria Bay. His knowledge of those waterways helped the U.S. Army defeat the British in 1815. Ms. Rubin's text is straightforward and filled with interesting details, while illustrator Jeff Himmelman's dramatic illustrations, done digitally, will thrill young pirate fans.
• Alice Coachman grew up in poverty, in a world where she and other African-Americans faced constant prejudice. She also faced her father's disapproval of her desire to run and jump; he believed such exercise wasn't ladylike. Refusing to bow to either prejudice or her father's disapproval, she kept running and jumping. As author Heather Lang details in "Queen of the Track" (Lee & Low Books, $16.95, ages 6-10), Ms. Coachman's fierce determination eventually carried her to the 1948 Olympics in London, where she made a record-breaking high jump and became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal. Ms. Lang's well-told story is matched by Floyd Cooper's expressive pastel illustrations.
Look also for these other picture book biographies:
• "Silent Star: The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy" (Lee & Low Books, $18.95, ages 6-12), written by Bill Wise and illustrated by Adam Gustavson.
• "First Mothers" (Clarion Books, $17.99, ages 7-12), a humorous and factual look at the mothers behind our U.S. presidents, written by Beverly Gherman and illustrated by Julie Downing.
• "It Jes' Happened" (Lee & Low Books, $17.95, ages 6-10), the story of African-American artist Bill Traylor, written by Don Tate, with illustrations by R. Gregory Christie.
First Published August 14, 2012 12:00 am
