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A Grosset & Dunlap Who Was…? Contest & Giveaway for Women’s History Month

Read on to learn about a cool new Grosset & Dunlap contest along with a Good Reads With Ronna giveaway!
Let’s celebrate Women’s History Month together!

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Who Is Jane Goodall? by Roberta Edwards with illustrations by John O’Brien, Grosset & Dunlap

When I was growing up the biographies for kids were awful. They looked like they had been on our local library’s shelves for decades, in other words, as old as the famous people they were about! Plus, they weren’t engaging, and there’s nothing worse than a boring biography (insert yawn here). Had they pulled me in the way the Grosset & Dunlap Who Was…?  biography series for young readers does, who knows, I might have become an historian. That’s also why the contest Grosset & Dunlap is running is not-to-be-missed!

CONTEST: WHO WAS…? 100th Book Contest! (Scroll down for the GRWR giveaway, too!)

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Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis McDonough with illustrations by Nancy Harrison, Grosset & Dunlap

Grosset & Dunlap’s Who Was…? series, with over 50 titles featuring famous thinkers, politicians, and history-makers published to date, is particularly interesting. This past summer I reviewed Who Is Bob Dylan? by Jim O’Connor and learned a lot of things I didn’t know about the musician and song writer. (Click here to read the review.) A recent fave is Who Was Christopher Columbus? by Bonnie Bader. The eclectic biography collection includes everyone from George Washington to Walt Disney to Dolly Parton. With their quirky cover art, interior illustrations, and novel-like prose, the books make learning about important figures exciting and accessible for middle-grade readers, both in the classroom and at home. The success of the series has inspired the spin-offs What Was…? and Quien Fue…?, for Spanish language readers. And now having Common Core Curriculum in 45 states makes these nonfiction books all the more relevant. Click here to learn more about the What Was…? series.

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Who Was Frida Kahlo? by Sarah Fabiny with illustrations by Jerry Hoare, Grosset & Dunlap

WHAT: Penguin Young Readers recently announced that the subject of their 100th Who Was…? biography (to be published in Summer 2015) will be chosen by their readers! How cool that kids can have a hand in helping to select who will be written about. Perhaps they’d like to see a biography written about former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor or author Louisa May Alcott? Think hard. Will it be Diana, Princess of Wales or maybe scientist and two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie? They can choose from Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher or Catherine The Great. There are so many deserving individuals and these are just the women. Kids can also choose an important male, but since we’re celebrating Women’s History Month, I just picked female candidates. Believe it or not, they can even cast a vote for a teacher, an athlete, a rockstar, a movie star or their very own mom or dad. Click here to find out more.

WHEN: From March 1 – June 1, 2014, readers will be able to cast their vote for the figure of their choice. Voting will take place at bookstores, libraries, schools, book fairs, and online at www.whowasbookseries.com. The winning subject will be announced on July 1, 2014.

Good Reads With Ronna Giveaway

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Who Was Eleanor Roosevelt? by Gare Thompson with illustrations by Nancy Harrison, Grosset & Dunlap

In conjunction with Grosset & Dunlap’s 100th Who Was…? book contest, we’re happy to offer our readers a Women’s History Month giveaway (for US only, through the end of March) – 1 prize pack of 3 women’s history titles. The winner will receive a copy of Who Was Frida Kahlo?, Who Was Eleanor Roosevelt? and Who is Jane Goodall? To be eligible to win, you must first LIKE us on Facebook or FOLLOW us on Twitter. Doing both gives you an extra entry. Click here to enter via email and give us your address. Remember to also write Who Was…? in the subject. This giveaway will run through March 31, 2014. One winner will be chosen on April 1, 2014 by Random.org and notified via email. Good luck!

 

 

 

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Dare to Dream to Change the World

Me…Jane ($15.99, Little Brown Books, ages 1 and up) by author, illustrator and comic book artist, Patrick McDonnell, has won so many book awards that we simply cannot list them all. Most recently it was named a 2012 Caldecott Honor Book, and we at Good Reads with Ronna had to find out for ourselves just what all the buzz is about.

This story is about a curious ten-year-old girl named, Jane. Along with her favorite stuffed animal chimp, Jubilee, Jane explores the natural world outside her house, climbing trees, watching birds and reading books about what she discovers. She even hides in her granny’s chicken coup to watch a hen lay an egg. One day Jane takes a fancy to the animals of the African jungle after reading about them in Tarzan of the Apes. She is so touched by the book that she dreams of a life in Africa, living with and helping wild animals. One day her dream comes true, as she grows up to be Dr. Jane Goodall, world renowned for her studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania.

The story, written in simple prose, so beautifully and subtly depicts the innocence of a curious and highly intelligent child. The illustrations are really darling, with their muted tones, printed on matte-finished paper – perfectly fitting for the nature of this story. In the back of the book is a page with information about the accomplishments of Dr. Goodall and another page with an encouraging message from Jane herself. What I love about the book is that it inspires the youngest readers to embrace their passions and realize their own dreams of changing the world one day. (We certainly need more scientists to help save the planet!) There’s nothing better in life than finding your calling, and there’s no better example of a person who has done that than Jane Goodall.

– Reviewed by Debbie Glade

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