Buy books for kids

I co-taught a class at Highlights Foundation (remember Highlights Magazine? That's them) for several years with talented nonfiction author Jen Swanson. The portion I taught was how to write picture book biographies (on the basis that I had one measly picture book bio published...I mean, it did a lot of honors, but still...)

I read a lot of PB bios as research on how to write one, of course, but for teaching the course, I had to continue reading many, many of them. What strikes me is that while 90% of them are solid and well-written, only about 5-10% of them are actually unique in style and stand out from the rest.

Someone who consistently writes these top-notch PB bios is, I'm proud to say, a friend of mine. Beth Anderson is a former educator who really gets what it takes to make this format appealing to both kids and adults. I recommend you pop over to her website to see all the books she's written (and buy them for the kids in your life!)

Here, I want to showcase two of my absolute favorites:

They are extremely clever takes on portions of history I never knew. I love when I learn something new in my readings, but especially when I'm entertained at the same time.

I'm a big fan of Beth's writing and you will be, too, once you've read her books!