The Power of Biographies for Young Readers

The Power of Biographies for Young Readers

Non-fiction has the reputation of being boring. In my own youth I thought of history, for example, as boring. It focused so much on wars, treaties and what I think of as “big men,” meaning leaders, mostly white men, and was entirely fact based. But who were these...
Two Tales of Adventure

Two Tales of Adventure

The Emperor’s Ostrich, by Julie Berry (Roaring Brook Press), begins with a farmgirl looking for her runaway cow, and ends up as a story of growth, adventure and friendship. Tossed in with that set up is a touch of supernatural in the form of ancestor spirits, who...
Knights, Castles, and Dragons, Oh My!

Knights, Castles, and Dragons, Oh My!

Thomas and the Dragon Queen, a lively middle-grade novel, has knights, castles, mighty war horses, princesses and dragons. The reader starts out thinking they know what they are getting from a book with those ingredients, but Crum turns almost every one of those...