Biographies anyone?

Reading biographies for children has given me so much new information and understanding. How I wish these books had been available when I was younger. I think I might have appreciated learning about others more...Here are three new biographies that shed light on history and some fascinating people.



MADELEINE'S LIGHT: A STORY OF CAMILLE CLAUDEL by Natalie Ziarnik with illustrations by Robert Dunn. Boyds Mills Press, 2012.

Camille Claudel was a French sculptor. She spent a summer working away from the hustle and bustle of Parisian life. One of her inspirations from this time was a young girl named Madeleine. Claudel saw an inner light in this child and used her as a model for several of her works. Ziarnik uses this information to spin a fictional biography about that summer. <348>




QUEEN OF THE TRACK: ALICE COACHMAN, OLYMPIC HIGH JUMP CHAMPION by Heather Lang with illustrations by Floyd Cooper. Boyds Mills Press, 2012.

Alice Coachmen became the first African American woman to win Olympic gold. This picture book biography, beautifully illustrated in shades of browns and golds, tells of her aspiration to become an athlete when it was not considered suitable for women. <349>



BILL, THE BOY WONDER: THE SECRET CO-CREATOR OF BATMAN by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Ty Templeton. Charlesbridge, 2012.

Though his name is seldom seen within the pages of a Batman comic, Bill Finger was the uncredited co-creator of the comic. He also wrote for the Batman comics for years mostly without credit. Nobleman chronicles how this came to be in this slice-of-life biography. Illustrations are a cross between traditional picture book art and GN format. <350>