By Deidre Havrelock Illustrated by Aphelandra 4 stars A beautiful picture book that tells the story of Carol Powder, her music, and her activism. The book goes through Powder’s childhood singing with her family, her great-grandfather making her a drum of her own and teaching her its songs, creating her own drumming group, Chubby Cree,…
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Illustrated by Supriya Kelkar 4 stars A beautiful picture book biography of Kamala Harris to inspire action and helping others regardless of how old you are. Follows Harris’ life and highlights her actions to stand up for herself and others in her childhood, in college, and as an adult. While the text is brief, it…
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by Franck Prévot Illustrated by Aurélia Fronty Translated by Dominique Clément 5 stars Originally published in French, this wonderful picture book biography celebrates the life of Wangari Maathai and her impact on the world. The book follows Maathai’s childhood in Kenya, her atypical education, founding the Green Belt Movement, and her activism to promote environmentalism,…
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by Laura Obuobi Illustrated by Olivia Duchess 4 stars An absolutely stunning picture book biography of Michaela Mabinty DePrince. The story follows DePrince’s life from her time at an orphanage in Sierra Leone, her adoption and moving to the US, her passion for ballet growing up, and her success as a ballerina. It also explores…
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Illustrated by Laura Freeman 5 stars A fantastic picture book biography of the life and work of Justice Ketanji Jackson. The book follows important events throughout Justice Jackson’s life from childhood, through her education, taking on various jobs, marriage, motherhood, and finally her becoming the the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. Well-written…
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by Chris Singleton and Ryan G. Van Cleave Illustrated by Adriana Pérez Perales 4 stars Such a cool series! Explore the life of Mae Jemison from childhood through years of education, research, and humanitarian efforts to her career as an astronaut and her work after space. Well-written and filled with interesting facts. Wonderful black-and-white illustrations…
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by Minda Dentler Illustrated by Stephanie Dehennin 5 stars A fantastically told story of Dentler’s journey to becoming the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship. The book follows major events in Dentler’s life including her childhood in India, contracting polio, being adopted and living in America, pushing herself to do things…
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4 stars A wonderful biography celebrating Zacherle, her creation of My Little Pony, her work on other Hasbro projects, and her career after Hasbro. The book also covers the My Little Pony generations and fandom, from the first My Pretty Pony through Friendship is Magic. Nice, short two-page chapters cover various aspects of Zacherle life….
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by Coretta Scott King with the Reverend Dr. Barbara Reynolds Adapted by Julia Sooy Illustrated by Ekua Holmes 5 stars A powerful adaptation of King’s memoir in a format suitable for young readers. I love to see so many more books focusing on the life and work of Coretta Scott King. The book covers King’s…
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by Priscilla Pardini Illustrated by Joanne Scholler Bowring 4 stars I’ve lived in Milwaukee for over 10 years and while I’ve heard the name Betty Brinn plenty of times, I didn’t really know anything about her. This was such a great biography to correct that. The book is quite text-heavy but I found the story…
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