We couldn’t let Black History Month go by without sharing one of our most anticipated books of Fall 2019: Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou. Written by award-winning biographer Bethany Hegedus and illustrated by fine artist Tonya Engel, Rise! will be the first in-depth picture book biography of Dr. Angelou and will be published ahead of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of Angelou’s masterpiece, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Continue reading
Tag Archives: biographies
Introducing Lee & Low’s New Line of Chapter Book Biographies
Chapter books are an essential stepping stone on the road to literacy. Chapter books allow young readers to linger in a story, and provide a bridge between picture books and more complex, challenging texts. But when it comes to diversity, chapter books still lag behind. Many classroom shelves and home libraries are lined with the same worn chapter book series that kids have been reading for decades, without much variety.
At Lee & Low, we believe that it’s just as important for young readers to have access to diverse chapter books. That’s why we’re excited to launch our “The Story Of” series, a new line of chapter book biographies out now. These chapter books go beyond the common names to introduce readers to amazing leaders and heroes whose names you might not know but whose achievements have shaped our world. Continue reading
Building a Biography: An Interview with New Voices Award Winner Andrea Loney and Senior Editor Jessica Echeverria
At Lee & Low Books we are always interested in biographies of unsung heroes. Stories of lesser-known individuals who used their talents and overcame obstacles to achieve their dreams and serve their society fill our shelves of published titles. Each year our New Voices Award judges consider dozens of biographical submissions on the lookout for a winning combination of compelling characters and well-researched storytelling. But how do these components come together to create a manuscript? How does a writer condense someone’s entire life into a picture book? Does the writer or editor decide what information goes in the story and back matter? What is back matter, anyway? To answer these questions, and for an inside look at the editorial process, we interviewed Andrea Loney, author of the 2014 New Voices Award-winning biography Take A Picture of Me, James VanDerZee! and Jessica Echeverria, our Senior Editor who helped turn Andrea’s manuscript into an absorbing debut!
Activism in Children’s Books: 5 Revolutionary Biographies
This week marks the release of Martí’s Song for Freedom/ Martí y sus versos por la libertad, our new bilingual picture book biography of the Cuban revolutionary and poet José Martí. In celebration, we’ve pulled together a list of five of our favorite picture book biographies about revolutionary figures who started movements. Use these award-winning books to teach about social activism, core values like perseverance and grit, and the importance of art and science in our society!
Celebrate Black History Month with Two Book Collections from LEE & LOW BOOKS!
A heads up to our blog readers that we have two great sales happening now to celebrate Black History Month!
We’re offering 25% off two Black History Month collections on leeandlow.com through the end of the month. Kick-start your Black History book collection or mix things up with great books that can be used all year long.
Resources For Teaching About Wangari Maathai and Seeds Of Change
Jill Eisenberg, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching English as a Foreign Language to second through sixth graders in Yilan, Taiwan as a Fulbright Fellow. She went on to become a literacy teacher for third grade in San Jose, CA as a Teach for America corps member. She is certified in Project Glad instruction to promote English language acquisition and academic achievement. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.
In honor of Wangari Maathai’s birthday on Tuesday, April 1 and upcoming Earth Day later this month, we at Lee & Low Books want to share all the fantastic resources and ideas that are available to educators who are teaching about Wangari Maathai’s legacy and using Seeds Of Change: Planting a Path to Peace.
Dancing in the Fishbowl
I take ballet classes at the Ailey Extension, which offers open classes for adults. Most of the time, my class meets on the fifth floor, and the building’s amazing floor-to-ceiling windows give us a view of the sun setting over midtown. Sometimes, like last night, we dance in the studio affectionately referred to as The Fishbowl, a ground-floor studio whose two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows give us a view of everyone walking past on 9th avenue or 55th street.