Award-winning author Steve Sheinkin has
written a number of remarkable accounts of remarkable people in U.S. history,
meticulously researched and richly narrated. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the
Carlisle Indian School Football Team is one of them. Named Wathohuck
by his mother (translated from the Potawatomi as “Bright Path”), Jim spent much
of his childhood outdoors on Oklahoma land granted to Indians amidst the rush
of eastern settlers. At sixteen, Thorpe entered the Carlisle Indian School in
Pennsylvania, one of the schools established around the turn of the twentieth
century to immerse native children in white culture. Such schools were an often
harsh and unforgiving setting where students were forbidden to speak their own
languages. Sheinkin’s story includes “Pop” Warner, Thorpe’s legendary football
coach at Carlisle and a true believer in his skill, smarts and drive as an
athlete. Readers also learn about early football and about the bigotry that
athletes faced on and off the field. At the heart of the book is the riveting
story of the Carlisle Indian School Football Team, its unflinching use of
strategy in the game, and its determination to win, defeating Harvard and Army
in edge-of-the-seat encounters. Ages 12 to adult.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
Author Karen Hesse, 1998 recipient of
the Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust, gracefully, poetically, painfully
opens up Oklahoma’s devastating dust bowl years of the 1930s through the voice
of fourteen-year-old Billy Jo. Having endured loss after loss, Billy Jo is
endeavoring to survive despite the grim realities of the landscape around her
and her father’s slow deterioration. Hesse crafts Billy Jo’s unsentimental,
powerful fictional journal with a riveting sparseness. Billy Jo likens her
mother to tumbleweed “holding on for as long as she could, then blowing away on
the wind.” She describes her father as “steady, silent and deep” as the sod and
herself as the wheat. “I can’t grow everywhere, but I can grow here, with a
little rain, with a little care, with a little luck.” Readers don’t easily
forget the inner strength of this young protagonist. Ages 10 up.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
As a child, Lady Bird, future First Lady,
loved exploring the pine forests, bayous and hills of her home in East Texas;
she helped her Aunt Effie plant daffodils alongside the native bluebonnets that
covered the forest floor. Her passion for the vibrant beauty of wildflowers
stayed with her when she moved to Washington, D.C., as the wife of a
congressman. She made sure her daughters had a small garden to nurture.
Understanding how deeply the nation was mourning after the tragic death of
President Kennedy in 1963, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson believed that beauty in our
cityscapes and landscapes could help us heal. Congress passed the Highway
Beautification Act, which had a tremendous impact nationwide, and in the
capital itself more cherry trees were planted. When she returned to her native
Texas, she helped establish the National Wildflower Research Center, now named
the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Colorful illustrations by Joy Fisher
Hein fill the pages of Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers: How a First Lady
Changed America. A visual glossary encourages readers to identify the dozen
distinctive wildflowers depicted in this inspiring book by Kathi Appelt. For
ages 4-9, and fans of America’s quiet
history.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
Published over eighty years ago and
translated into more than sixty languages, Munro Leaf’s The Story of
Ferdinand remains a beloved picture book for children and their grown-ups
today. Ferdinand is a peaceful bull, preferring to sit under his favorite cork
tree and smell the flowers while other young bulls butt their heads together.
Ferdinand becomes a big, strong bull, but still serene. Even when he is
transported to the bull ring with all its matadors and picadors, having been
mistaken for a fierce bull, he holds steady to his nonviolent nature. Robert
Lawson’s memorable black and white illustrations are as iconic for readers as
Ferdinand’s gentle nature. Ages 3-5, for starters!
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
