The Incredible Life of Balto

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Capstone Connect

Alfred A. Knopf (Random House)

(pub. 8.9.2011)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and illustrator: Meghan McCarthy

C haracter: Balto, a famous Alaskan dog

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "Most people know the story of Balto, the world-famous dog who led his sled team through a blizzard to deliver a liefesaving serum to the stricken people of Nome, Alaska, in 1925.  Balto shot to instant stardom - a company named dog food after him, a famous sculptor erected a statue of him that stands in New York's Central Park to this day and the dog even starred in his own Hollywood movie.
         But what happened to Balto after the hoopla died down?  With a lively, informative text and humorous, vibrant illustrations, Meghan McCarthy captures the extraordinary life of Balto beyond his days as a celebrity." 

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Sadly, Balto and the team were sold again, this time to a man who ran a sideshow.  There Balto and the others were all but forgotten.  For a dime, people could go into a room and see the once-celebrated dogsled team."

and something more:   As a author of narrative nonfiction picture books, I was fascinated by Megan McCarthy's discussion of her research experiences and how she dealt with contradictory accounts regarding Balto, including what color fur he had.  As she explains in her "Detective Work" section at the back of The Incredible Life of Balto, "No matter where information comes from, it gets filtered through many perspectives over time.  As a nonfiction writer, I make it my job to take all of the information and piece it together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.  But there's more to it than that.  I like to choose subject matter that hasn't been covered before or shine a new light on a known topic."  Yes!  A true tale with a cherry on top, as a I see it.
         Meghan explains her focus for this book: "Many children's books about Balto tout him as a hero, but none mentions the fact that he was essentially abandoned, sold off, and shown as a live attraction in a dime show.  What inspired me about Balto's story was the happy ending after all his struggles.  I knew that the whole story needed to be told." 
         Meghan's student activities included in the book remind me of my high school journalism class.  Unbeknownst to us, one day our wonderful teacher, Mrs. Hallenbeck, asked two students to argue and push and shove right before class began.  And after we learned that it was a staged argument, we had to write everything we had seen and heard --- we ended up with a roomful of different reports.  It certainly made an impression on us regarding the reliability of "eyewitness" reports.

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The Bravest Woman in America

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Ana's Nonfiction Blog

Tricycle Press (Random House)

(pub. 7.12.2011)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: Marissa Moss
and illustrator:  Andrea U'Ren

C haracter: Ida Lewis, lighthouse keeper

 

O verview from the publisher: 

        "Ida Lewis loved everything about the sea, so when her father became the official keeper of Lime Rock Lighthouse in Newport, Rhode Island, she couldn’t imagine anything better. Throughout the years, Ida shadowed her father as he tended the lighthouse, listening raptly to his stories about treacherous storms, drowning sailors, and daring rescues. Under her father’s watchful eye, she learned to polish the lighthouse lens so the light would shine bright.  
        She learned to watch the sea for any sign of trouble. And, most importantly, she learned to row.
        Ida felt ready for anything—and she was."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "The boys' faces were white with cold, their lips blue. One passed out, lying limp on the bottom of the boat.
        Ida didn't think. She rowed - harder and faster than she ever had. The waves crashed over her head, tilting the boat along a wall of green and gray. Ida kept on rowing, frantic to get them all to safety.
        'I can do it,' she told herself.  ' I have to do it.'"

and something more:  Marissa Moss' Author's Note in this picture book biography, The Bravest Woman in America, states that Ida Lewis "went on to rescue many more people after that first time when she was sixteen.  She was sixty-three when she made her last rescue.  Officially, she saved eighteen lives, but the real number may be as high as twenty-five."  And, I chuckled at Ida's quote: "Anyone who thinks it is un-feminine to save lives has the brains of a donkey."  Gotta love her spunk!

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The Firehouse Light

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Amy O'Quinn

Tricyle Press (Random House)

(pub. 5.25.2010)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: Janet Nolan
         Illustrator:  Marie Lafrance

C haracter: a lightbulb

 

O verview from jacket flap: 

      "Here is the true story of a little lightbulb, located in a firehouse, that has stayed lit for more than one hundred years.  As horse-drawn carriages make room for automobiles, dirt roads give way to paved streets, and new buildings transform small clusters of homes into bustling neighborhoods, a small town grows and changes.  And fighting fires changes, too: fires once fought by bucket brigades and hand-pulled hose carts are now attended by full-time firefighters and modern firetrucks.  Yet now, just like then, the lightbulb grows, strong and steady, above the brave firefighters and their trucks."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Finding firefighting equipment in the dark was not easy. Then one day a businessman gave the firefighters a gift.  No longer would they have to waste time lighting lanterns.  A wire burning inside a ball of glass would light the way. Day after day, year after year, the ligthbulb did not burn out...
       Strong and steady, it still glows above the heads of firefighters - it burns when they leave to fight a fire and stays lit after they return."

and something more:   Of course, I had to check out the lightbulb's website which includes a link to a professor of physics and her grad student's interesting research paper regarding this amazing lightbulb that just celebrated its 110th anniversary this past June.
      And, as a writer, I'm always curious about the inspiration for books. Janet Nolan, the author of this nonfiction picture book, The Firehouse Light, explained her reaction to the lightbulb story in a Publisher's Weekly interview: "'I walked around in an excited daze for a while... I kept thinking of all the things that have happened—all the things that have been invented and all the wars fought —while this tiny lightbulb kept burning. In our disposable society, it struck me as awe-inspiring.'"  
      What a great way for children to think about history and culture -- the transformations in American society and firefighting, and the concept of quality.  The grad student's research paper states that the "intention of the [Shelby Electric] company [that developed this particular lightbulb] is not to make lamps to see how cheaply they can be made, but to see how well they can be made."  I only live a hour or so from the lightbulb's firehouse -- I'm planning a visit!

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Queen of the Falls

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Apple With Many Seeds

Houghton Mifflin

(pub. 4.4.2010)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor and illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

C haracter: Annie Edson Taylor

 

O verview from jacket flap: 

      "Come and meet the Queen of the Falls and witness with your won eyes her daring ride!
       At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired charm school instructor named Annie Edson Taylor, seeking fame and fortune, decided to do something that no one in the world had ever done before - she would go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel..."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "'When I was nine years old,' she said, 'I stood here with my father, in this very spot. I'd never seen anything like that waterfall. It looked like the end of the world, beautiful and dreadful, all at once.'"

and something more:  I thought this book was perfect for today's Nonfiction Monday roundup at Apples With Many Seeds because it has the Canada - United States connection of Niagara Falls.  The photograph of Annie Edson Taylor, born in 1838, in Chris Van Allsburg's Author's Note captures the fascination of the picture book biography, Queen of the Falls. In her prim and proper dress, she does not look the part of a daredevil who would squeeze herself into a barrel she designed for her ride over Niagara Falls.  I can't imagine just riding down a river in that barrel, much less over the Niagara Falls!   

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