ELEM.Biographies & Weed of Month [LONG]

[Joan Kimball <jkim@BORG.COM>]

Weeding biographies in an elementary library is full of challenges.

CHALLENGE 1. BOOKS WITH FICTIONALIZED NARRATIVES: Lots of dialogue and
author made-up scenes.  If the book is well-liked and based broadly on
facts.  Don't weed it, just move it to fiction.

For primary kids a bit of dialogue helps to envision the person.  If the
dialogue is infrequent, based on original documents, and uses the idiom of
the era, I say it can stay in biography.  If the author writes that the
person PROBABLY said such and such, I would respect the author's guess. But
when dialogue and scenes appear to be wholly out of the author's
imagination, then --- if the book is valuable in other ways --- I would put
it in fiction or easies.  Example: Minty, A story of young Harriet Tubman,
by Schroeder which is a heavily fictionalized picture book illustrated by
Jerry Pinkney. It has been cataloged by the Library of Congress at 305 or
B, but I would put it in E. The Ballot Box Battle which depicts a fictional
girl becoming friends with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, has 324 for its official
CIP, but I would put it at E, wouldn't you?  Or possibly I'd put it in a
special easier-to-read non-fiction section, using E324 for the
classification.

CHALLENGE 2. BOOKS LACKING GOOD VISUALS:  Cartoon-like pictures with
constantly smiling characters negate the realism of a biography. Weed.  In
a book that depicts an explorer or person famous for a voyage, if there are
no maps the book is severely limited even for primary kids (several about
Columbus have no maps!).  Take them out unless the text is irresistible.

CHAllENGE 3. BOOKS ABOUT ENTERTAINERS: Popular but quickly outdated
figures, such as movie stars or athletes.  Weed most titles older than 1990
if the person is still playing; and weed biographies of athletes and
entertainers whose names are no longer recognized by the children.
Examples: George Brett by Burchard (no longer recognized); a biography of
Bill Cosby from the 1980's (outdated).

Sports biographies are a draw for non-readers. Buy the books in paperback,
cover with contact, and shelve with hardcovers.  Do minimum cataloging.
Consider paperbacks by Bill Gutman and by Matt Christopher which you can
get at Perfection Learning or Mackin.

CHALLENGE 4. OLD SERIES: of famous people from the past.
Get rid of Childhood of Famous Americans originally published in the
1950's.  They have been reissued by Alladin, but are heavily fictionalized
and don't even show the reason for the person's fame, since they end before
adulthood. (Example: Babe Ruth: One of Baseball's Greatest, by Van Riper)
Get rid of the Value Tales series published in the 1970's by Value
Communications of California. The Value Tales series deceives the reader,
giving the impression that each famous person was morally upright because
of some magic gimmick such as a talking squirrel (who speaks to Lincoln),
or a talking rope or cloud.  (Example: The Value of Determination: Helen
Keller by Johnson.)
As for the Garrard Publishing series of explorers and women, I have held on
to some of them as I haven't found replacements that are any better and
that my fourth graders can read. They aren't ideal.
The Landmark biographies published in the 1950's are just about out, but I
saved a few.  The one on Queen Victoria seems good still.  They were
written by recognized writers of adult books.  The writing holds up, but
the concepts in many cases are outdated. And the writing itself has become
too hard for  elementary kids to follow.  The Landmark book on Columbus has
happy Indian captives marching through the streets of Madrid. No thank you.
Weed Troll First Start and Troll Easy Biographies which have poor pictures
and text.  (Examples: Thomas Alva Edison: Young Inventor by Sabin.  Young
Frederick Douglass: Fight for Freedom by Santrey.)---I'm embarrassed about
these.  I got them free and put them in just two years ago, and haven't
pulled them yet.

CHALLENGE 5.  GOOD REPLACEMENTS for the holes you've created.

It is hard to find good biographies for elementary.

Some of the best biographies I've seen are Diane Stanley's offerings---not
a series, but a group of good titles, including Cleopatra, Charles Dickens,
Bard of Avon (Shakespeare), Good Queen Bess (Queen Elizabeth I of England),
Shaka: King of the Zulus, Last Princess (of Hawaii). My only quibble is
that the large picture book format puts older kids off.  The text works for
read-aloud to Gr.3-5, but I'd like to see Gr.4-5 reading it on their own,
too.

Publishers rise or fall by their editing.   Avoid series by these
publishers: Troll, Chelsea House, Enslow, Capstone, Abdo. Their texts are
boring or unclear; the visuals mediocre.   Tend to consider series
published by Millbrook, Blackbirch, Viking, Random House, Learning Works,
Morrow.

I have not found a series to get excited about.  Perhaps others have.

Some of Adler's Picture Book series (Holiday House) for primary have
cartoon-style pictures and brief, sweet texts that talk down to the reader.
A continually smiling Columbus, for instance, can do no wrong.  Adler's
Picture Book of George Washington might be acceptable.

Carol Greene's adequate Rookie Biography series from Children's Press,
Grades 2-4, treats many interesting people of the past both men and women,
with good pictures in a hard-to-follow layout, but the text, while clear
and well-researched, is dull.  I'd like more of a "spark".  I do buy many
of them to round out the collection.

Viking Press's Women of Our Time has good, working texts for Grades 3-5,
though some titles may be going out of date, for example, Margaret
Thatcher.

There are two series called Meet the Author.  The autobiographical series
published by Richard Owen has gorgeous color photos, but severely limited
text even for primary kids at whom it is aimed. (Example: Best Wishes by
Rylant)   The Meet the Author series--in paperback--- published by Learning
Works is aimed at Grades 5-8.  The books treat their subjects in depth with
a few good black and white photos.  The text is excellent, if more for
middle school than elementary.  So far, there are titles on Avi, Katherine
Paterson and Lois Lowry.
Buy them for your better gr.5 readers.

COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES.  Get Biography Today as books and as a periodical
subscription. (I order them from Omnigraphics).  They are very popular,
though I haven't figured out how best to catalog them: in 920? or with the
magazines?.

SINGLE TITLES.  I recommend:

BIOGRAPHIES FOR PRIMARY.

Abe Lincoln's Hat by Brenner
Columbus Day by Liestman (mostly his first voyage)
Flight: the Journey of Charles Lindbergh by Burleigh
The Great Alexander the Great by Lasker
Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express by Wetterer
The King's Day: Louis XIV of France by Aliki
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Lasky (Eratosthenes of Alexandria)
Teammates by Golenbock (Jackie Robinson and Peewee Reese)
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph became...world's fastest woman by Krull
Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree by Miller


BIOGRAPHIES FOR INTERMEDIATE (besides the Stanley titles mentioned above).

And then What Happened, Paul Revere by Fritz. Gr.2-4.
Avi by Markham (paperback). Gr.5-8
Eleanor Roosevelt:life of discovery by Russell Freedman.(Exc.b/w photos.) Gr.5-8
Escape from Slavery: the Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in his Own Words. Gr.4-8
Finding Providence: the Story of Roger Williams by Avi. Gr.3-4
Katherine Paterson by Carey (paperback). Gr.5-8
Leon's Story by Tillage. (Black sharecropper in South in 1930's) Gr.4-7
Over the Top of the World: Will Steger's trek across the Arctic by Steger. 3-7
Stephen Hawking: Understanding the Universe by Sakurai. Gr.3-6
Trapped by the Ice: Shackleton's Amazing Antarctic Adventure.  Gr.2-4

Two Tickets to Freedom: the True Story of Ellen and William Craft, Fugitive
Slaves, by Florence B. Freedman. Reprint in paperback, 1989 by Peter
Bedrick Books. ISBN: 0-87226-221-9.  Grades 5-8, Gr.4 for reading aloud.
Suspenseful narrative of two slaves in disguise as master and slave who
escape north by train.  Based on contemporary accounts. Great read-aloud.

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane. by Russell Freedman. Gr.4-7

Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy. by
Murphy. Eyewitness account with fine supporting material.  Good read-aloud.
Gr.4-10.


Joan Kimball, Librarian, Hart's Hill School, Whitesboro NY 13492
E-mail:  jkim@borg.com

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