| My Heroes, My People: African Americans and Native Americans in the West 1999 Non-Fiction This book is a 1999 Parent's Choice Gold Award winner for children aged 9-12. |   | 
The Parents' Choice Awards Committees, comprised of moms, dads, teachers, performing artists, librarians, and yes, kids themselves, search out and recommend products that help kids grow - imaginatively, physically, morally and mentally - fairly priced products that are fun, safe and socially sound. Children's media that helps children.
| | | Author: Morgan Monceaux | | Author: Ruth Katcher | | Illustrator: Morgan Monceaux | | Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux | | ISBN: 0-374-30770-9 | | Hardcover Price: $18.00 | |  |
Review:
Black cowboys, black marshals, and Native American leaders have long been omitted from historical reference books. Here, they are celebrated in glorious color. The thirty-six portraits of men and women are done in bold, folk art style, and the accompanying text is lively and peppered with quotations. | |
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My Heroes, My People - 154H
Description: African-Americans & Native Americans in the West. An artist takes a look at how the West was won by some-and lost by others. Brief portraits of an assortment of African Americans, Native peoples and men and women of mixed heritage show a collage of those who played roles in American history in a very different way. Monceaux's fascinating color illustrations liven of each of the 37 interesting subjects presented. by Morgan Monceaux & Ruth Katcher -
Bringing Them to Life
Artist, Musician, and Author
by Carla Ketner
A good biography must "animate its subject, infuse it with life," says biographer Russell Freedman. Sometimes, however, a fictional work brings a well-known person to life even more effectively than a traditional biography. When writing fiction, authors have the freedom to approach their subjects from a unique perspective. Some effective approaches that diverge from standard biography include viewing the person through the eyes of a neighbor child, focusing on a significant event from the subject's childhood or a specific period of his or her life, inventing letters written by a real or fictional character, or using art or poetry to tell the story of a creative life. Through such devices, the person portrayed becomes someone real who has believable flaws as well as incredible talents. When famous individuals can be brought to life and infused with character, readers gain insight into the personality of the individual profiled, who becomes more than simply a list of dates and accomplishments.
Although some of the books listed include fictional characters or fictionalized accounts of actual events, they also provide much factual biographical information about their famous subjects, and many contain detailed notes on sources used and fictional liberties the author took. Intrigued by the distinctive glimpses of the artists' lives, young readers want to find out more and study the subjects' artwork, listen to their music, or read their books. When used to supplement biographies in more traditional formats, these books are valuable resources for classroom teachers, as well as music teachers and art teachers. They can be integrated throughout the curriculum in many different ways, since they include interesting details about the culture in which the subject lived, leading to further study of historical times and unfamiliar places.
Artist
