Monday, December 1, 2014

Biographies

Greetings!

I received a question about biographies and autobiographies last week. A reader commented that they are automating their school and realized in the process that they were fairly low on Biographies and Autobiographies. This is one of the big reasons that it is important to organize your library and automation helps a lot to point out where your particular ‘holes’ are. My reader’s comment was that although she could find many online, she didn’t have the time to proofread each one and wondered if I had any suggestions.

As far as biographies go, I would expect that they would not need to be proofread. If they are written for children, then they should be just fine. But here are some suggestions.

1. If your school does not have the biographical series The Childhood of Famous Americans, I would recommend them. They are written for middle grades and for the most part, children in 3rd - 6th grades could read them. The one drawback for them is that they are basically only the childhood with very little of what they did as adults to achieve fame. Positive aspects of this series is that it is continually reprinted though in different covers. The stories are in a bit larger print and the vocabulary isn’t difficult. Our junior high teachers usually do not accept these books for book reports since they are too easy for the upper grades.
2. There is a great set of books about Christian heroes called Heroes of the Faith. These are usually white covers with a burgundy strip at the top of the book. People include John Bunyan, William Carey, Fanny Crosby, Billy Graham, C. S. Lewis, Mary Slessor, Martin Luther, and more. These are published by Barbour Publishing.
3. There is a set of books called The Trailblazer Series. They are written by Dave and Neta Jackson and are great stories. I understand that some liberties are taken with the story by adding characters to the facts. However, the first page explains all this and the stories are very good.
4. There is a set of president biographies that our 3rd and 4th grade teachers like very much. It is the Checkerboard Biography Library. They are small books (approx.. 48 pp) with lots of photos and primary source materials.

All of the sets above do not need proofreading. If you need biographies, check your curriculum to see what biographies you need in the library and then order for the proper grade level. It is no use getting a set of books for 3rd and 4th graders of the presidents if only the 7th and 8th graders study them.

If your assignment is to read 200 pages about John Adams or another biography, know that the school library may only have shorter books about him. I recommend that students read from multiple sources to complete the 200 page assignment.

I hope that you have a wonderful week. Enjoy!

Audrey

PS. I am reading a biography about Abigail Adams that I am enjoying very much. What an intelligent woman she was especially in that time period when women were not formally educated.