Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Two Very Different but Similar Stories

When I started to put this post together, I was thinking about books I had recently purchased and read. On the surface, each book appeared to be very different. One was about Ben Franklin & a Frenchman named Dr. Mesmer, and the other about Robert Miller, a.k.a. Count Victor Lustig.

However as I started thinking about them a bit more, I realized that the books were quite similar. Both books have France as a common location (at least for some part of the story), and both books deal with the gullibility of individuals.  In MESMERIZED, readers get a lesson in scientific method, as Ben Franklin seeks to reveal the truth behind Dr. Mesmer's "ability" to cure people. In TRICKY VIC, readers are introduced to a man who was not only able to "sell" the Eiffel Tower but also con the infamous, Al Capone. 

Written for similar age audiences, each book provides teachers and readers with a wealth of information for discussion and also a look at the challenges in writing nonfiction books when even primary sources can be a bit unreliable. Additionally, both books marry text and illustrations in a way that are essential to the story. Finally, MESMERIZED and TRICKY VIC provide students with different approaches for writing biographical stories and would be excellent mentor texts.  

Note: This is one of those times when I realized that any review that I could write would not live up to the reviews done by others. Please see the links listed below the book information, which will take you to some well written reviews and interviews. 

Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery That Baffled All of France
by Mara Rockliff; Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
Candlewick Press (March 10, 2015)
Audience: Grades 1 to 4
History * Scientific Method * Biographical
Indiebound | WorldCat

Links worth checking out: Shelf Awareness Review & Interview 

Description from GoodReads: 
Discover how Benjamin Franklin’s scientific method challenged a certain Dr. Mesmer’s mysterious powers in a whimsical look at a true moment in history.

The day Ben Franklin first set foot in Paris, France, he found the city all abuzz. Everyone was talking about something new. Remarkable. Thrilling. Strange. Something called Science!

But soon the straightforward American inventor Benjamin Franklin is upstaged by a compelling and enigmatic figure: Dr. Mesmer. In elaborately staged shows, Mesmer, wearing a fancy coat of purple silk and carrying an iron wand, convinces the people of Paris that he controls a magic force that can make water taste like a hundred different things, cure illness, and control thoughts! But Ben Franklin is not convinced. Will his practical approach of observing, hypothesizing, and testing get to the bottom of the mysterious Mesmer’s tricks? A rip-roaring, lavishly illustrated peek into a fascinating moment in history shows the development and practice of the scientific method—and reveals the amazing power of the human mind.

Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower
by Greg Pizzoli
Viking Books for Young Readers (March 10, 2015)
Audience: Grades 2 to 4
History * Law & Crime * Biographical
IndieBound | WorldCat

Links worth checking out: 100 Scopenotes Review of Tricky Vic | Seven Impossible Things - The Making of Tricky Vic | Design of the Picture Book Review of Tricky Vic

Description from Goodreads: 
In the early 1900s, Robert Miller, a.k.a. “Count Victor Lustig,” moved to Paris hoping to be an artist. A con artist, that is. He used his ingenious scams on unsuspecting marks all over the world, from the Czech Republic, to Atlantic ocean liners, and across America. Tricky Vic pulled off his most daring con in 1925, when he managed to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to one of the city’s most successful scrap metal dealers! Six weeks later, he tried to sell the Eiffel Tower all over again. Vic was never caught. For that particular scam, anyway. . . .
 
Kids will love to read about Vic's thrilling life, and teachers will love the informational sidebars and back matter. Award-winner Greg Pizzoli’s humorous and vibrant graphic style of illustration mark a bold approach to picture book biography.

Don't forget to link up your reviews:

The Sky Painter Blog Tour and Giveaway

The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist
by Margarita Engle; Illustrated Aliona Bereghici
Two Lions (April 28, 2015)
Audience: 1st to 3rd grade
Poetry * Biography * Art
Indiebound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
Louis loves to watch birds. He takes care of injured birds and studies how they look and how they move. His father wants him to become an engineer, but Louis dreams of being a bird artist. To achieve this dream, he must practice, practice, practice. He learns from the art of John James Audubon. But as Louis grows up, he begins to draw and paint living, flying birds in their natural habitats.

Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874–1927) is now known as the father of modern bird art. He traveled with many scientific expeditions all over the world. His best-known works—paintings for habitat exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York—are still beloved by visitors today. His art helped to encourage wildlife conservation, inspiring people to celebrate and protect the world of wings.

Poems by Newbery Honor–winning author Margarita Engle and illustrations by Aliona Bereghici capture the life of Louis Fuertes and the deep sense of wonder that he felt when he painted the sky.

________________________________________

I am excited to have Margarita Engle on the blog today. She stopped by and answered a few questions that I had about writing a biographical picture book. Thank you Margarita for stopping by and I can't wait until everyone can pick up a copy of the beautiful biography in verse.

How do you tackle a biography in 32 to 48 pages?

I knew there were many incredibly inspiring aspects of Fuertes’ life that I wanted to honor! However, I did not want this to be an unemotional text about facts and figures. I longed to show the spirit of Fuertes’ work, both in terms of science and art. He was an original thinker, conceiving something other bird artists hadn’t tried—the painting of living birds in flight. 

Did you see what you can find and then see if a particular event in his life should be the focus or a certain period of time.

Some of my picture books are made up entirely of a single long poem, but this needed many poems, one for each stage of life. In order to show Fuertes at different ages, I had to begin with childhood poems, and progress to adult ones. He was a quirky child, already certain that he wanted to be a bird artist. He had a bird hospital in front of his house. When he was still very young, he tied the leg of an owl to the kitchen table, so that he could paint its portrait! He was also a quirky adult, sketching caricatures of his college professors as birds, keeping a loon in the bathtub long enough to paint it, and clowning around to entertain children in his art studio. However, his work was serious. By pioneering the painting of living birds in flight instead of killing and posing them, he changed bird art forever. He inspired an entire generation of ornithologists, including Roger Tory Peterson. He was the bird artist on all the influential scientific expeditions of his era, and he painted the murals for habitat exhibits at the Natural History Museum in New York. There is so much to admire in his life that I only managed to fit a few highlights into this picture book, but I hope they are highlights that will inspire children to care about conservation and the protection of wildlife, including urban birds.

Where is the line between a biography and a fictionalized biography?

Nonfiction biographies are strictly factual. They are written in third person, while The Sky Painter is in first person. Nonfiction does not imagine thoughts and emotions, while my poems do. Nevertheless, I’m happy to report that my poems are based on Fuertes’ own books, letters, and field notes, so I know that only the details are imagined, not the basic events and his attitudes toward those events. A fictionalized verse biography can be honest, even though it includes an element of imagination.

About the author: 
Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and novelist whose work has been published in many countries. Her books include The Poet Slave of Cuba, winner of the Pura Belpré Award for narrative and the Américas Award;The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor book; Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian, a Kirkus Best Book for Children; and The Lightning Dreamer, Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist, winner of the 2014 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Young Adult/Children’s Literature. Margarita lives in California, where she enjoys bird-watching and helping her husband with his volunteer work for wilderness search-and-rescue dog training programs. To learn more, and to download a free activity kit for THE SKY  PAINTER, visit: www.margaritaengle.com

Check out the official book trailer:

Follow along on THE SKY PAINTER blog tour:

Mon, Apr 20     Library Fanatic

Tues, Apr 21     Kid Lit Frenzy

Wed, Apr 22    Unleashing Readers

Thurs, Apr 23   5 Minutes for Books

Fri, Apr 24     Teach Mentor Texts

Sat, Apr 25     Booking Mama

Mon, Apr 27    Sharpread

Tues, Apr 28   The Children's Book Review

Wed, Apr 29   Cracking the Cover

Thurs, Apr 30   A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

Fri, May 1     Archimedes Notebook

Giveaway: 
One lucky winner will receive a copy of THE SKY PAINTER: LOUIS FUERTES, BIRD ARTIST by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Aliona Bereghici. (U.S. addresses only.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

YA Friday Book Review: Kin

Kin
by Lili St. Crow
Razorbill Books (March 3, 2015)
Audience: Young Adult
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
"Dreamily dark and spellbinding with a hint of horror, New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow stuns with this toothsome retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

Full moon. Glowing eyes. Red lips. And such sharp, sharp teeth… 

In the kin world, girls Ruby de Varre’s age are expected to play nice, get betrothed, and start a family—especially if they’re rootkin, and the fate of the clan is riding on them. But after a childhood of running wild in the woods, it’s hard to turn completely around and be demure. Even if your Gran is expecting it.

Then Conrad, handsome and charming, from a clan across the Waste, comes to New Haven to seal alliance between their two families. The sparks fly immediately. Conrad is smart, dominant, and downright gorgeous. Yet as Ruby gets to know him more, she starts to realize something's...off. 

Then, the murders start. A killer stalks the city streets, and just when Ruby starts to suspect the unimaginable, she becomes the next target. Now Ruby’s about to find out that Conrad’s secrets go deeper than she ever could have guessed—and it’s up to Ruby to save her Gran, her clan, and maybe even herself....

Prepare to become thrillingly lost in the third, final, and simply mesmerizing installment of Lili St. Crow’s Tales of Beauty and Madness series."

Carolyn's thoughts on the book:
The Tales of Beauty and Madness series is easily one of my favorite fairytale-retelling YA series. Set in a lavishly complex and magical world, each book paints more and more of a picture of the enchanting setting, and specifically dives into the sub-community each heroine lives in. In Nameless, a retelling of Snow White, the reader learns about the Vampire Family (eerily similar to an Italian crime mob); in Wayfarer, a retelling of Cinderella, the Charming clan system is explored; and in Kin, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the Clan system of the werewolf community plays an integral role in the story. There are other great details that add even more to the story - the alternate history, the religious systems. Each of the three protagonists - Cami, Ellie, and Ruby - come from different backgrounds, but band together in the face of their hardships. One of my favorite things about this series is while all three girls do have borderline-extremely low self esteem (which may or may not be ultimately cured through validation from the opposite sex), and other high-school girl tropes, their ultimate triumph, or rather, their ultimate survival through everything they've experienced, is in no way because of the love interest - it's always two girls rescuing the third. They might as well have just hung up a sign reading 'No Prince Charming needed'. 

Something that I particularly appreciated in Kin was the brilliant and complexly nuanced portrayal of an emotionally abusive relationship - something that is all too often glossed over in YA (Stockholm syndrome much?). Kin is deeply psychological in that regard, which added a nice depth to an already lovely novel.  I'm sad that this series is ending, but Kin closes it out perfectly.

Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: The Baseball Edition

Each year, I do some type of baseball post. I marvel that baseball far surpasses other sports in the number of picture books, early chapter books, and novels for children and teens that are published. I know I am a little biased, but every year when I look at new releases, baseball still leads the pack.

This year, Matt Tavares is back with another baseball picture book biography. This one is about Pedro Martínez, his relationship with his brother Ramon, and the journey to the major leagues from the Dominican Republic. I have also included a couple of other baseball titles to check out and also links to past posts. 

Growing Up Pedro: How the Martinez Brothers Made It from the
Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues
by Matt Tavares
Candlewick Press (February 10, 2015)
Audience: Grades 3 to 7
Nonfiction * Biography * Baseball
IndieBound | WoldCat

Quick Thoughts on this book:
There is no denying that Matt Tavares loves baseball.  He has written and illustrated at least 7 picture books with the theme of baseball.  His most recent biography on Pedro Martínez follows in form and style as his biographies about Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. Also, in similar fashion, Tavares focuses on a specific aspect of the ball player's life and career. In this case, Tavares looks at the relationship between Pedro and his brother Ramon and how Pedro's dream of playing in the major league with his brother eventually came true. 

For more information about the book including teacher's guide, check out the publisher's page . For more information about Matt Tavares, check out his website.

Official Book Trailer:

A 3-minute drawing less with Matt Tavares:

Candlewick's Five Questions (Plus One) with Matt Tavares:

And not to forget the women of baseball...

Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story
by Emily Arnold Murphy
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (February 17, 2015)
Audience: Kindergarten to 3rd
Nonfiction * Biography * Baseball * Women's History
IndieBound | WorldCat

Quick thoughts on this book: 
Another aspect of baseball that fascinates me is how women have played a significant role in the history of baseball. New to me was the inclusion of Lizzie Murphy as an actual baseball player in the first half of the 20th century. Murphy played professional baseball from 1918 to 1935. When Lizzie realized that people were coming to see her play and yet she wasn't receiving a share of the collection, she took a stand "no pay, no play". This resulted in her receiving similar shares to the men on her team.  Definitely a biography to add to a classroom or school library.

For more information about the book, check out the publisher's website.

If you missed these 2014 nonfiction picture book baseball releases, add them to your pile:

Baseball Is.... by Louise Borden; Illustrated by Raul Colón (Margaret K. McElderry, February 18, 2014)

The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America's Hero by Barb Rosenstock; Illustrated by Terry Widener (Calkins Creeks, March 1, 2014)

Below are some of the previous posts that I have done around baseball books both fiction and nonfiction:

Review of There Goes Ted Williams

Common Core IRL: Baseball Edition

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2013 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game - Books on Baseball

Last week, I was unable to to do a nonfiction post. If you want, please link up twice with last week's link and then this week's link:

YA Friday Book Review: The Wrath and the Dawn

The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh
Putnam Juvenile Books (May 12, 2015)
Audience: 13 to 18 years old 
IndieBound | WorldCat

Description from GoodReads:
"A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all."

A wedding Invitation sent by the publisher made the book even more intriguing.

Carolyn's thoughts on the book:
I am a huge fan of fairy-tale retellings, but unlike the vast amount of YA books that seek to put a new spin on the tale of Cinderella or Snow White, I had never encountered a YA retelling of A Thousand and One Nights. I certainly had some concerns going in to the book (hello, Stockholm Syndrome), but my feminist fears were allayed: although Shahrzad, the protagonist, does ultimately fall in love with Khalid, she originally intends to assassinate him (so not the passive maiden typically depicted in fairy tales), and as the book moves along, both she and the reader discover more and more about the terrible reason Khalid has been wedding and murdering a young woman every night (and it's decidedly not some twisted, misogynistic hatred of women as a whole). Overall, the book definitely didn't echo the damsel-in-distress trope or any other typical, patriarchal clichés that seem to (sadly) abound in some retellings of fairy tales.

The book is masterfully crafted, artfully revealing the perfect amount of secrets and backstory as the story goes along. Shahrzad is a relatable and likable character, and her fierce loyalty and determination to protect her loved ones, whoever they may be, is one of her many endearing qualities. Likewise, Shazi's cleverness and intrepidness allow her to hold her own against Khalid. Their relationship is engrossing and captivating, the more they learn to trust and love one another -  despite the circumstances that bring them together and then tear them apart (in more ways than one). The mysterious magic and delicate political situation, in addition to being fascinating, add depth to the story and the setting. 

I am already anxiously anticipating the release of the sequel (The Rose and the Dagger) next year. The Wrath and the Dawn is a brilliantly enthralling tale, and especially suited for readers who enjoy retellings of fairy tales with strong female protagonists.

Carolyn is a teen blogger who shares her favorite YA reads and favorite book related finds with readers on Fridays.