Nonna's Reading Guide to Heroes & Heroines, 2023

Photo by Gabriela Braga on Unsplash

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12 Exceptional Picture Biographies

Children love to learn about real heroes!   July is when we read books about artists, musicians, astronomers, pilots, scientists, athletes, explorers - all ordinary people who have changed the world and are worthy of sharing with your children.

Sharing with our children how others have become heroes and heroines requires books that are not preachy or boring. Books about people with all the character traits we want to see in our kiddos must be exceptional - exceptional writing and exceptional illustration.

Here are 12 books that more than meet these requirements!  Enjoy!

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Why do I think Edwin Binney is a great hero to share with your children? He was curious. He was kind. He was a great listener to others' suggestions and ideas. He was persistent. And because of these character traits, Binney created one of the all-time best art  tools for children!   Heroes are not just those who accomplish great feats. Heroes are also those people who are generous with their heart, time and resources!

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The real heroes and heroines in this story are the families who live in Cateura, Paraguay, a small village built on a landfill of garbage. Chavez gave music lessons, but the people of Cateura learned to share their new found hope for a better life with each other and the world.

If you can share only one book this month with your kiddos, choose Building an Orchestra of Hope.

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Leo Fender is a remarkable hero who just kept on tinkering. Many of our kiddos need to hear the encouragement found in this picture biography to never give up on their passions!

Perseverance requires a strong vision, an equally strong will, and the flexibility to keep on tinkering or trying new ways to accomplish their goals.

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I was thrilled to read this picture biography about a wonderful women from my hometown.

Fearless in the face of hardship, fearless in the face of racism, fearless in the face of gender discrimination - this kind of fearlessness is something we must show and teach our children!

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Heroes & heroines are problem solvers extraordinaire! They see a big need in the world and find a way to help solve the problem - just ordinary people working to make the world a little bit better!  Victor Hugo Green  was just such a hero. For thirty years, he published the Green Book for black families traveling by car around the country to help them avoid sundown towns and Jim Crow laws.

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One hundred years after Einstein's predictions about ripples in space-time, LIGO announced the first detection of gravitational waves in space - waves created by the collision to two black holes 1.3 billion years ago.  And González's work on detecting background noises at the atomic level made this discovery possible - she built on Einstein's theoretical work. Heroes & heroines give credit where credit is due - always.

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Tom Crean was a British  Royal Navy seaman and a crew member on three of Britain's Antarctica most famous expeditions. The naval officers, scientists and explorers who wrote and spoke about the expeditions noted Crean was loyal, courageous, and physically strong with a keen sense of humor - all heroic traits to admire!

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Children shape their reality based on the building blocks we provide – home-life, loving relationships, community, culture all play a part in how our kiddos develop a positive self-identity. Heroes and heroines who look like our kiddos and excel at the things which interest our kiddos are the best kind!

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 Wong's work is most accessible for children through Disney - his Chinese-inspired sketches and paintings set the artistic direction for Bambi!  Despite innumerable obstacles and a lack of recognition, Tyrus focused on the one essential passion in his life: his art. Many heroes and heroines go unrecognized....

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Pura Teresa Belpré loved the stories her Abuela taught her in Puerto Rico, but was surprised these folktales were not on the shelves when she began to work at the New York Public Library. Belpré's life's work was to make sure her heritage was accessible to everyone through stories. Heroes and heroines take pride in their identity and heritage!

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Shoham's Bangle is not a biography about a famous person, but about a heroine closer to home - Shoham's Nana.  Sasson's Nana Aziza told her the story of how her family was airlifted from Iraq to Israel in 1951 in Operation Ezra & Nehemiah - relocated along with 120,000 other Iraqi Jews. Heroes and heroines are often the people we love the most.

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I admire Stephen Hawking for his dark humor as much as I admire his brilliance in the face of debilitating ALS. I mean, who throws a birthday party where everyone must come dressed as an object in the sky and comes as Pluto, God of the Underworld himself?!!!  Hawking's discoveries changed the way we think about the world and his life reveals that heroes and heroines do not need superpowers.

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