Betsy Ross

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Wendie's Wanderings

Holiday House

(pub. 9.12.2011)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Becky White
     and Illustrator:  Megan Lloyd

C haracter:   Betsy Ross

O verview from the jacket flap: 

"Betsy ripped.
Rip, rip,
Seven rich,
Crimson strips.

Inch by inch, bit by bit, Betsy Ross clips, dips, and stitches.
What is she making?"

T antalizing taste: 

"Betsy snipped.

Snip, snip.

Thirteen stars.

Zip, zip.

Betsy dipped.

Dip, dip.

Indigo dye.

Drip, drip."

and something more:   In Betsy Ross, Becky White's sparse text (64 words) and Megan Lloyd's "dyed, clipped, and stiched" illustrations perfectly convey the essence of Betsy Ross' creation of the American flag.
And the Author's Note includes a discussion of the stars that I hadn't heard before: "According to legend ... George Washington made a pencil sketch for the flag in 1776 ... each star having six points. However, Betsy Ross thought that five-pointed stars would look nicer.  When George Washington said that this type was too difficult to cut, Betsy Ross showed him how to cut a five-pointed star with a single clip of her scissors." The back matter then gives step-by-step instructions of how to fold paper or fabric, and then with one snip of the scissors "Make Your Own Betsy Ross Star." I think I'll see if the second graders in the class in which I volunteer want to try it!

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She Loved Baseball

The Effa Manley Story

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by The Swimmer Writer

Harper Collins Childrens

(pub. 10.19.2010)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Audrey Vernick
     and Illustrator:  Don Tate

C haracter: Effa Manley

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "Effa Manley always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth's mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first—and only—woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

         From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences." 

 

T antalizing taste: 

     "As Effa grew up in Philadelphia in the early 1900s, America grew up too. Bold new music - jazz - blared and folks stepped out in strange new shoes called sneakers... [In] 2006... Suttles and Mackey - and ten other Negro League players - were finally inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Effa would have been so proud.  Something else happened that day - something amazing. Effa was inducted along with them!....  On Effa's gravestone it says: "SHE LOVED BASEBALL.  In 2006, baseball proved it loved her back."

and something more:   The teacher activity guide for She Loved Baseball - The Effa Manley Story posted on Audrey Vernick's website proposes an interesting activity for students:

"Effa grew up in the 1920’s listening to a new kind of music—jazz—
and sneakers were all the rage. If someone were to write a
biography about your life, what kind of music would be mentioned? What
about a fashion trend? Draw an illustration of yourself like the one Don
Tate created of Effa listening to jazz music. In the background, add some of your favorite things that are popular in today’s culture."

What type of music would accompany your biography?  I think I would have different music for different phases of my life. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY

And, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, The King Center Imaging Project’s website – www.thekingcenter.org/archive – will go live today.  The King Center Imaging Project is a digitization effort to preserve and make publicly available the tens of thousands of documents from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other key figures and organizations from the Civil Rights Movement housed at The King Center.

On the King Center site, Coretta Scott King writes that "The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example — the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit."

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The Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Great Kid Books

Abrams Books for Young Readers

(pub. 9.1.2011)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Victoria Griffith
     and Illustrator:  Eva Montanari

C haracter: Alberto Santos-Dumont

 

O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "When the Wright Brothers were gliding in the air over Kitty Hawk, a charming Brazilian named Alberto Santos-Dumont was making his own mark on the history of flight. Alberto loved floating over the crowded streets of Paris in his personal flying machine called a dirigible... In the early 1900s, Alberto had the skies to himself. But he wanted to fly farther and faster than his dirigible could take him... After several years of hard work, Alberto was ready to try out his new flying machine, which had been transformed from a balloon to a box with wings! ... Beautifully illustrated and full of little-known facts about the history of aviation, this book will enlighten young readers about who really flew the first airplane!"

 

T antalizing taste: 

     "'I tell you,' said Alberto ... 'these machines will mean the end of all wars. Once people are able to fly to different countries, they will see how much we have in common. We will all be friends.'"

and something more:   I had never hear of Alberto Santos-Dumont, and I was fascinated by the back story of The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont.  Victoria Griffith explains in her Author's Note that it began with "an unremarkable response to an unremarkable question."  Victoria had asked her daughter what she had learned in school one particular day, and her daughter had answered, "'We learned how the Wright Brothers invented the airplane.'"  Victoria explains that she "was unprepared for [her] Brazilian husband's reaction. 'That's ridiculous!' he exclaimed, horrified. 'Everyone knows that Alberto Santos-Dumont invented the airplane.'"  Victoria, a correspondent for fifteen years to the UK's Financial Times "was intrigued [and] decided to find out more and discovered that the claim to the invention remains controversial."  I'm so glad Victoria has shared Alberto's story and his contribution to history.

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