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My First Book of Biographies: Great Men and Women Every Child Should Know
An accessible collection of introductory biographies combines colorful illustrations with profiles of forty important men and women, including Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks, Neil Armstrong, and Michelangelo.
79 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Jean Marzollo
410 books76 followersJean Marzollo was an American children's author and illustrator best known for the I Spy series, a best-selling and award-winning collection written entirely in rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Walter Wick. Over her career, she wrote more than 100 books for children, parents, and educators, including Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, The Little Plant Doctor, and Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught high school English and later worked in educational publishing, serving for 20 years as editor of Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out Magazine. Later in life, she began illustrating her own books.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 2, 2017
Summary: This collection is a great resource for students of all ages. Introducing them to a unique set of amazing individuals who represent multiple races, cultures, genders and livelihoods.
Characteristics: This story is full of wonderful pictures, stories and connections that students can relate to on many levels. With easy to read text, students are able to internalize ideas and movements that have changes our world for the better.
Mentor Writing Traits:
Ideas: Written with the intent to inform, this collection does a great job providing multiple levels of information and role models from multiple backgrounds. The authors were thoughtful about the representation and provide students and opportunity to learn through their own lens.
Organization: This book provides an easy to read structure that students can follow along with ease. It provides the same format for all individuals and provides the same information on most individuals.
Classroom Integration
This is a great book to have as a resource in the classroom. Being that it represents all people well, it gives students an opportunity to learn about individuals who are like them who have done amazing work. It is also a great resource for writing projects where students can do reports on individuals they connect with or compare and contrast individuals based on a specific movement or organizational support.
Reading Level: Level P
Characteristics: This story is full of wonderful pictures, stories and connections that students can relate to on many levels. With easy to read text, students are able to internalize ideas and movements that have changes our world for the better.
Mentor Writing Traits:
Ideas: Written with the intent to inform, this collection does a great job providing multiple levels of information and role models from multiple backgrounds. The authors were thoughtful about the representation and provide students and opportunity to learn through their own lens.
Organization: This book provides an easy to read structure that students can follow along with ease. It provides the same format for all individuals and provides the same information on most individuals.
Classroom Integration
This is a great book to have as a resource in the classroom. Being that it represents all people well, it gives students an opportunity to learn about individuals who are like them who have done amazing work. It is also a great resource for writing projects where students can do reports on individuals they connect with or compare and contrast individuals based on a specific movement or organizational support.
Reading Level: Level P
August 29, 2015
This collection of short biographies contains 36 alphabetical, one-page sketches which introduce young readers to 45 well-known men and women of varied interests, from different time periods and cultures, and with diverse ethnic backgrounds who have made a mark in the history of this world. Each entry is illustrated with a bold, colorful, full-page watercolor painting by illustrator Irene Trivas. In the Introduction, author Jean Marzollo says that the brief biographies in this book “are meant only to introduce you to these folks” so that “Hopefully, you’ll find them so interesting that you’ll want to read more about them now and as you grow.”
Yet, one of the biggest complaints I saw about My First Book of Biographies is that while the biographies do introduce children to some of the greatest people in history, they are so short as to be of questionable value because there is very little of substance. Of course, one must keep in mind the age and ability of the children for whom it was written. It works well as an introduction for first to third grade range but would probably not be as appropriate for older children. Any time one has a collection of biographies, there will always be the question as to why some people were chosen and others were not. It is easy to see why Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill were included. A good case can also be made for George Washington Carver, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and even Babe Zaharias and Amelia Earhart, as well as many of the others.
But Katsushika Hokusai? What average, American adult has ever even heard of this person? Obviously multicultural “diversity” is a prime consideration here. And some political correctness must be included. After statements about how many nations celebrate Christopher Columbus, it is said, “Native Americans, or ‘Indians’ as Columbus called them, feel differently. For them, Columbus is no hero because he began the European conquest of their homelands and their many peoples.” Yeah, that’s right—blame it all on dead, white, European males. On the other hand, the book does use, and even explain, the abbreviation B.C. instead of the vacuous B.C.E. so common today. With its easy-to-read text, it is a good first exposure for youngsters to some fascinating figures, both historical and contemporary, of major cultural importance.
Yet, one of the biggest complaints I saw about My First Book of Biographies is that while the biographies do introduce children to some of the greatest people in history, they are so short as to be of questionable value because there is very little of substance. Of course, one must keep in mind the age and ability of the children for whom it was written. It works well as an introduction for first to third grade range but would probably not be as appropriate for older children. Any time one has a collection of biographies, there will always be the question as to why some people were chosen and others were not. It is easy to see why Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill were included. A good case can also be made for George Washington Carver, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and even Babe Zaharias and Amelia Earhart, as well as many of the others.
But Katsushika Hokusai? What average, American adult has ever even heard of this person? Obviously multicultural “diversity” is a prime consideration here. And some political correctness must be included. After statements about how many nations celebrate Christopher Columbus, it is said, “Native Americans, or ‘Indians’ as Columbus called them, feel differently. For them, Columbus is no hero because he began the European conquest of their homelands and their many peoples.” Yeah, that’s right—blame it all on dead, white, European males. On the other hand, the book does use, and even explain, the abbreviation B.C. instead of the vacuous B.C.E. so common today. With its easy-to-read text, it is a good first exposure for youngsters to some fascinating figures, both historical and contemporary, of major cultural importance.
January 5, 2024
5 stars because this was the first book I ever owned and I would read it over and over again back then because I literally had nothing else to read.
I remember the time that I was really thankful that I obsessed over this book was when we had a presentation in class that I had forgotten about, but thankfully I already memorized Marie Curie's story ('cause she was my favorite in the book) and I was able to make an impromptu presentation.
I remember the time that I was really thankful that I obsessed over this book was when we had a presentation in class that I had forgotten about, but thankfully I already memorized Marie Curie's story ('cause she was my favorite in the book) and I was able to make an impromptu presentation.
February 7, 2009
These are concise, 1-page biographies with an illustration for each. The kids like to go through and pick somebody to read about, but it is not the first book they are drawn to.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews