Reddit mentions: The best children biographies

Yeah, as a beader I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. It's useful for skills, but terrible for actual cultural teachings. And so many gross culturally appropriative pins. So. Many. But its search functions sometimes outdo google when it comes to specific Indigenous items, so... yeah, mixed feelings. :p

I was an Ojibwe kid growing up in another people's territory. My folks did what you propose -- they taught me about Ojibwe stuff and made sure I had plenty of exposure to local cultures and peoples too. Are there any cultural centres nearby that you could travel to?

For crafts: You could do some very simple beadweaving with big pony beads and craft wire. I made snowflakes sort of like these ones with my little cousin last year for Christmas. Note that you needn't go as elaborate as this blog post does -- you could stop at "round 3" and still have a cute, decent sized snowflake.

While you craft, you could talk to him about beading history. Long, long ago, we didn't have plastic or glass beads. Long ago we only worked with porcupine quills, seeds, bone, stone, and shell (and metal in some central and south american regions) -- and we had to turn them into beads by hand. Some people still know how to do those things.

When the Europeans traded us glass beads, Indigenous people knew exactly what to do with them! After all, master weavers existed across the continent. We adopted glass beads and made incredible things with them, and we are still doing that today. (Bonus: If y'all have any eastern European heritage, that's another area with a rich history of incredible beadwork!)

You could teach him the Ojibwe word for beads, "manidoominensag", and how it's an 'animate' word, meaning we view beads are living beings, that beads have a spirit. I imagine that many kids would have an opinion on that - I know I did. :)

Or, if you'd rather focus on Menominee, maybe learn the word for beads in that language! I think Menonimee has a lot of similarities to Ojibwe (same language family), so the animacy thing may still apply.

Another craft could be to get round paper or canvas and paint a medicine wheel. While you paint, you could tell teach him about the four quadrants, and the things each quadrant represents.

Really you could apply this process to most crafts. Making little tipis? Talk about actual tipis, what they are made from, when they were used, how people transported them, etc. Learn the word for the craft in one or more of the languages of your ancestors!

For Ojibwe language and culture, take a look at this puppet show, Boozhoo Nanaboozhoo. It became popular almost overnight on facebook, lots of people saying their kids love it. There's some other fun stuff, and a bit of serious/heavier stuff in there too.

Another resource that may be useful to you is The Mishomis Book. It's probably too advanced to read to your little one right now, but you could read it and pull out some of the simpler concepts to teach.

Sure, here you go:

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"He eventually made recruiting visits to Miami, Louisiana State and Mississippi State. But these schools wanted him as a defensive back. McNair wanted to play quarterback."

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"Steve was recruited heavily by schools like Florida State, but every school who recruited him wanted him to play safety."

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From the out-of-print book "Running & Gunning":

"When Cardell Jones heard that schools like Florida State were recruiting Steve McNair, he gave up on the idea of carrying on a 'family tradition.'"

(Cardell Jones was the coach at Alcorn State at the time, and Steve's brother Fred had played there, so Jones had hoped to lure Steve there as well).

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"McNair was recruited by several of those colleges as a defensive back -- he tied Terrell Buckley's state career record with 30 interceptions at Mount Olive (Miss.) High. But he wanted to play quarterback. When Jones offered him the chance, he chose Alcorn over the likes of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, Florida State, Miami and Mississippi State."

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Steve was recruited heavily by schools all over the southeast, including Florida State. But every major program wanted him as a defensive back. Steve considered himself a quarterback and refused to go to any college that didn’t share this view. That essentially narrowed his choice down to Alcorn State in Mississippi"

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"McNair was initially offered a full scholarship to the University of Florida to play running back"

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"McNair spurned a full scholarship to the University of Florida because they were only offering it to be a running back"

Hi! Nice to finally "meet" you all. :D

I'm Amy Kim Kibuishi, formerly Amy Kim Ganter. I started my career as a graphic novelist/freelance illustrator, but I decided to write prose six years ago. It was always my first love, long abandoned because I thought I could never be good enough. I hope to prove myself wrong, one day.

I am mostly known for writing/drawing a two book graphic novel called "Sorcerers & Secretaries," and an online comic called "Reman Mythology."

These days I just write and take care of my two lovely kids (1-yr-old and a 3-yr-old).


Personal Links:

• twitter
  
  
• blogger (current art blog)
  
  
• deviantart
  
  
• tumblr (mostly reblogs)
  
  
• old art site
  
  Published Comics:
  
  
• Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 1
  
  
• Sorcerers & Secretaries vol. 2
  
  Anthologies that feature my comics:
  
  
• Flight vol. 2
  
  
• Flight vol. 4
  
  
• Goosebumps Graphix: Terror Trips
  
  
• First Kiss, Then Tell
  
  
  My current WIP
  
  
• Rema -- An illustrated novelization of Reman Myth, all online to read minus the epilogue.
  
  

Anything by Petter Hessler (Country Driving, The Oracle Bones) or James Fallows (China Airborne, Postcards from Tomorrow Square).
Both were long-time journalists posted in the country, Fallows for The Atlantic, and Hessler for New Yorker/Nat Geo, I think, and both do an excellent job of simultaneously capturing the political, commerical, and human sides of the transitions currently wracking China.

Additionally, I'm a big proponent of learning a country's history in order to understand its culture. Wolfram Eberhard's History of China, is excellent, comprehensive, and free on Kindle. I recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/History-China-Wolfram-Eberhard-ebook/dp/B0084991IG/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419117875&sr=1-1&keywords=chinese+history

> Who else could treat winning an election as an excuse to play the constant angry underdog/victim narrative so much?

Well, truthfully, Hilary. They literally wrote books about her and how she was an underdog her entire life "fighting the good fight." I'm not arguing whether that was true or not, just answering your question of who else plays the underdog narrative.

https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

There are some great books for young kids about Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and MLK by Brad Metzer in a very Bill Watterson-style (Calvin and Hobbes) that resonated with my girls. Another great one is about Ruth Bader Ginsberg that is titled "I Dissent!".

All have good examples of civil (and legal) dissension with examples that kids can apply to their own lives.

Richard Scarry's biography is very good. Amazon Link

He was an interesting guy, and his books were very influential in changing the way children's books were written and produced.

Very highly recommended if you are a fan of his work.

Good overall. They went over the story pretty well for a 4-7 age range. One thing that bugged me was they referred to the "mockingbirds" Darwin was so fascinated by on the Galapagos. I know they are part of the same family, but really, who has EVER heard of "Darwin's Mockingbirds"?

Other than that error, they talk about his beetles, the skeletons he found on the beach, the Galapagos tortoises, the beagle, etc. All the necessary basics, including a map of his journey.

The reviews on Amazon seem pretty positive, except for the person who got a used book that was written in (not the books fault)
http://smile.amazon.com/Animals-Charles-Darwin-Explorers-Chronicle/dp/0811850498/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404497298&sr=1-14&keywords=charles+darwin+childrens+book

There is an excellent (and illustrated) book about this as well:
The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-That-Saved-Curious-George/dp/0547417462/

Try anything by Mary Roach. Her nonfiction books cover a variety of science topics and are interspersed with her stories about traveling to the studied locations and misadventures with equipment like space toilets.

If you want to combine nonfiction, travel, and graphic novels, I'd heartily recommend Primates, which just came out. It's about Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, and Birute Galdikas (who is always forgotten), arguably the most influential great ape researchers of all time.

The best place to get information about native and indigenous Americans is to go to the source. Books by native/indigenous Americans using their own voices to tell stories about encountering Europeans in North America for the first time, as well as talking about their own culture and traditions can be found here:

Giving Thanks

The Very First Americans

Native American History for Kids

Getting to Know the Native American Indian Tribes

1621 - National Geographic

Four Seasons of Corn

Author page for Joseph Bruchac (His Squanto book is "not recommended" but he is an authorized writer of native American stories)

American Indians In Children's Lit - Thanksgiving Books to Avoid (there is a comment on this list that shares several titles and authors that may also be beneficial to this subject).

> Is that what they're making 4th graders do book reports on nowadays? That's pretty astounding. In 4th grade I was lucky if I could understand White Fang.

Nah, you're just an imbecile who thinks that just because something happened for you that it must mean the entire nation is like that.

• Marie Curie (Kids Can Read Series, Level 3): Age Range: 6 - 8 years -- Grade Level: 1 - 3
  
  
• Marie Curie for Kids: Her Life and Scientific Discoveries, with 21 Activities and Experiments (For Kids series): Age Range: 9 and up -- Grade Level: 4 and up
  
  
• Marie Curie's Search for Radium (Science Stories): Age Range: 9 - 12 years -- Grade Level: 4 - 7
  
  
• Who Was Marie Curie?: Age Range: 8 - 12 years -- Grade Level: 3 - 7
  
  
• Marie Curie and Radioactivity (Inventions and Discovery): Age Range: 8 - 14 years -- Grade Level: 3 - 4
  
  But yes. /u/poiumty just learned how to read in 4th grade, so other kids around the country must be just as uneducated as him.

Hillary Clinton: Some Girls are Born to Lead

It Takes a Village: Picture Book by Hillary Rodham Clinton

A Girl Named Hillary: The True Story of Hillary Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight

Hillary Clinton: The Life of a Leader

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark

I Look Up To... Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Elizabeth Warren: Nevertheless, She Persisted

And there are a lot more where those came from. There were a lot of politician worshiping children's books I chose not to include because my list was already pretty long.

That's awesome!!! This book about Hillary looks sooooo cute!

Did you even read the piece?


The connection to Common Core is that "His biography has been, not surprisingly, designated as an approved piece of Common Core literature." They are referring to this is the book which they go on to excerpt including the parts they find questionable.


Children at Bluffview Elementary who have been assigned to read the book, entitled “Barack Obama,” published by Lerner Publications and a part of Scholastic’s “Reading Counts” program, were informed on page 40 that despite Obama being a “nice fellow,” many allegedly believed that no white American would vote for him in 2008 based solely on the color of his skin.

“But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president,” the book reads.

The book, approved for children as young as seven years old, also goes on to specifically mention controversial comments made by President Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright, while also claiming that the president has worked to bring whites and blacks together.

I hadn't seen that This Week in Baseball History yet. Very cool.

My nephew loves football and basketball. He never really got into baseball. Then he did a book report on (I think) this Roberto Clemente book and now he loves him and likes baseball a bit more.

This is a book my son has wanted for awhile. He put it on his wishlist for Christmas in hopes of getting it. It’s all about his idol, and it’s a good addition to his sports collection. Thank you for this offer.




https://www.amazon.com/dp/054567350X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BYC6BbVMPRSRS


The same book is on book depository. I looked it up.

Also, check out this picture book on the life of JRR Tolkien's life called "John Ronald's Dragons". It's fantastic and while it would be for an older baby (likely 2+) it's incredibly fun.

Please do haha! They're both on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/G-Golazo-Ultimate-Soccer-Alphabet/dp/162937671X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548737895&sr=8-1&keywords=g+golazo

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1629375888/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Biography of Walt Disney Written by his daughter, Diane Disney Miller. I always thought he was the most interesting person. I might just buy this for myself right now... God I want a kindle so bad so I can just download it and read right away! Maybe soon...

If you're talking specifically post-Qin, there are huge variations in levels of continuity (or noncontinuity) between subsequent dynasties. I'm not knowledgeable enough first-hand to comment in detail on the subject, but I'm reading Wolfram Eberhard's A History of China, which is available for free on Kindle. Certainly around the Three Kingdoms (right after Han) and then around the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (right after Jin, before Sui) the country had fragmented into largely separate landed polities vying for control. The Three Kingdoms fragmentation lasted six decades; the North-South Kingdoms lasted over a century and a half. These are significant enough that I would consider "Qina" as a state to have broken up during those times, and thus the concept of unbroken imperial rule from Qinshihuang to be untenable.

In addition, there was the constant external pressure by various non-landed ethnic groups, which themselves did not exist in a state of unchanging stasis, but also intermarried, supported, betrayed, opposed, and otherwise interacted with the people of the post-Qin kingdoms. Eberhard's recounts a dizzying array of peripheral clans, muting from one to the next, sometimes seizing power and marrying into the settled families and kingdoms. Xiongnu, Huns, Turkics, Sogdians, Uyghurs, and Tibetans are all mentioned as key concerns with profound effects on the stability of the central cosmopolitan regions.

While Qinshihuang was the first ruler to declare himself an emperor with the title of Huangdi, Eberhard maintains (and I agree) that it's oversimplistic to claim that he "founded China as we know it". Later non-Imperial kingdoms exceeded his territory, influence, and population individually without ever unifying the nation.

Instead, Eberhard terms "modern China" as starting from the late Sui and early Tang, whereupon a historian could more confidently claim an unbroken (or near-unbroken) line of Imperial command across dynasties. Prior to that, when empires collapsed into long-term squabbling intermediary kingdoms, Eberhard terms the period of "medieval China".

Lets not forget "it's her turn" or even a children's book like this

https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

Nope, you're just overly defensive towards the obvious. Just deal with it, Chelsea will be pushed upon us and sold to us.

This is green in color!

https://www.amazon.com/Primates-Fearless-Science-Goodall-Galdikas/dp/1596438657

http://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-12-Lebron-James/dp/054567350X

There are multiple Hillary Clinton children's books out there.

https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

But she was Born to Lead!

Oh jeez https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

HRC: Some Girls are born to lead (read: some girls are born into leadership)

I don't know how that title got past any copy editor with a head on their shoulders.

Iirc the author posted it on here this summer. I typed in 'barca alphabet book' and found it:

https://www.amazon.com/G-Golazo-Ultimate-Soccer-Alphabet/dp/162937671X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548737895&sr=8-1&keywords=g+golazo

didn't work today, but here's a taste: https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

Because some girls are born to lead

https://www.amazon.com/Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Some-Girls/dp/0062381229

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1481451138/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GW9509TDAM5SK320D9SC

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553533886/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KX8VQCXPV626F6P6Z658

These actually are worse than the cover suggests (which is already pretty bad). I remember them even comparing Hillary to huge rulers and civil rights leaders like Queen Elizabeth, Martin Luther King, and even Ghandi.

It was total propaganda and the fact they are directed at little kids horrified me

They've been subjected to constant propaganda about the woman for years now. You know, I even found a fucking children's book dedicated to her. Here it is: Some girls are born to lead PUKE. Nobody's born it lead, you've got to earn it.

As a side note, I was just looking at her wikipedia page today and do you know there's ZERO mention of her 6 years on the board of directors at WalMart? That's kind of a huge deal, yet her heavily guarded wikipedia page makes no mention of it. Hmm, wonder why