Bio-blitz!…Come discover fascinating people! – orange marmalade
One of my favorite categories of children’s literature is the creative nonfiction biography, so once again I’m conducting what I call a bio-blitz. I’ll be bringing you a blast of fascinating, eye-catching picture book length biographies each week during the month of July.
Enough with the folks dominating our news feed daily!
Let’s hear about humanitarians and musicians,
scientists and architects,
people from the world pushing through obstacles to enrich the world.
Each February and March I write posts highlighting Black history and women’s history, so while I’m still aiming for diversity here, these catch-all posts during July will be heavier on non-Black, male figures. Keep in mind, though, that you can find hundreds – yes, hundreds! – of biographies I’ve recommended over the years in my archives where you’ll find more representation of Black and/or female individuals. I’ll add the link to that collection at the end of today’s post.
The Purple One: A Story of Prince
written by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Sirin Thada
published in 2024 by Enchanted Lion Books
Prince Rogers Nelson is certainly one of Minneapolis’s most famous and beloved hometown boys, a musical genius, a global superstar whose tragic early death united the world in moments of purple-hued sorrow. This gorgeous biography does a superb job of displaying his vulnerable humanity and astonishing talent.
The child of musicians, Prince was enamored with rhythm and sound from early childhood. But Prince’s musicianship went far beyond that of a typical kid. He was a protégé, composing songs by age 7, jumping on stage with the greats at concerts and dazzling the crowds with his dance moves, curbing his teenage loneliness and angst by writing song after song. He was a force to be reckoned with by the time he graduated from high school.
Prince’s rise to fame was not one smooth arc, but his incredible skill, determination, and commitment to remaining true to his own voice carried him through to iconic stature. Burgess covers the breadth of Prince’s life, the highs and lows, the personal and artistic, with finesse, and Thada’s ebullient artwork swizzles and struts with purple energy. It’s a superbly crafted bio for ages 6 to adult.
José Feeds the World: How a Famous Chef Feeds Millions of People in Need Around the World
written by David Unger, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns
published in 2024 by Sourcebooks
José Andrés is a hero of mine and of many around the world for his immensely impactful humanitarian organization, World Central Kitchen.
Trace his journey from a kid in his parents’ kitchen in Spain, to opening award-winning restaurants, to volunteering in a soup kitchen where he was deeply impressed with the profound comfort food brings to people in need. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti rocked his own personal world as he realized someone needed to feed these desperate people and that someone was him.
Following his work in Haiti, Andrés established World Central Kitchen, a phenomenal organization that has delivered food to people in crises everywhere from Guatemala to New York City to Gaza. Andrés is a smart, creative powerhouse unafraid to take on unimaginable challenges and continually learn from the world’s poor how to be more effective. Read about this incredible human with kids ages 5 and up.
Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World about Water Pollution
written by Julie Winterbottom, illustrated by Susan Reagan
published in 2025 by Rocky Pond Books
Ruth Patrick fell in love with pond scum at the tender age of five. Tramping about the woods in Missouri with her dad, Ruth learned to love nature, ask curious questions, and investigate the answers. When she peered at pond water under her dad’s microscope she discovered the magical world of diatoms, microscopic algae that fuel our world’s oceans and supply a huge amount of our world’s oxygen.
Her curiosity compelled her to keep studying these finicky, fragile organisms despite the academy insisting that as a woman she had a feeble brain. Along the way she made an enormously important link between the presence of diatoms and biodiversity in a stream and its degree of pollution. This led to our cognizance of clean vs. polluted waterways, the writing of the 1972 Clean Water Act, and the subsequent improvement in the health of our nation’s rivers.
Unusually engaging writing and gorgeous illustration work combine here to tell Ruth’s important life story. This lands at a time when the Trump administration is revoking vital environmental protections, greenlighting toxic pollutants, and seeking to erase the contributions of women scientists. Don’t miss this gem. Ages 5 or 6 and up.
Arthur Who Wrote Sherlock
written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Isabelle Follath
published in 2022 by Tundra
Arthur Conan Doyle moved from obscurity and poverty to astonishing success and fame. He created one of the most famous literary characters in the world, whose stories continue to be devoured and adapted in movies and TV shows. How did Arthur come up with Sherlock? And how did Sherlock’s smashing success impact him?
The answers are plum full of surprises, delightfully revealed in this colorful account. Doyle’s life was buoyed by stories, packed with hair-raising adventures, pock-marked with the difficulties that accompany poverty, replete with twists and turns — it’s like he lived seven lives! Along the way he invented a detective whose stories became so sought after, Arthur actually got sick of writing them!
So what did he do? Something so brash, so unexpected, definitely not what any modern day literary agent would allow. Find out his solution to success by taking this jaunty ride through Arthur Conan Doyle’s busy life. 100% enjoyable for ages 6 through adult.
Pedro’s Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys
written by Rob Peñas, illustrated by Carl Angel
published in 2024 by Lee and Low Books
When I was a middle-schooler in the early 70s, yo-yos were a huge fad. Everybody had one… or five… and lunch breaks found us all outside practicing our tricks — Walking the Dog, the Sleeper… most of us were not particularly good at it!
This fabulously popular toy was brought here by a Filipino immigrant named Pedro Flores. Born in 1896, Pedro and his friends countered their difficult life by carving a toy from a water buffalo horn. They called it a yo-yo which means “come back” in their language of Tagalog.
Pedro’s life followed lots of the difficult twists and turns so well known to immigrants until he arrived in the US and met a little boy who loved playing catch with him. Pedro decided to make a yo-yo to amuse him and that newfangled toy became an instant smash success! Read this joyful immigrant success story with ages 5 and up. Back matter provides lots more information about Mr. Flores and the long history of the yo-yo.
What Music! The Fifty-Year Friendship Between Beethoven and Nannette Streicher, Who Built His Pianos
written by Laurie Lawlor, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
published in 2023 by Holiday House
Everyone knows at least a tiny bit about Ludwig van Beethoven, but almost none of us knows about one of the most important women in his life, Nannette Stein Streicher. Nannette grew up in a large family (15 children!) of musicians in a tall house situated over the family business — a piano-building workshop. Fortunately for Nannette, her father was a progressive thinker who encouraged his daughter to play the piano, learn piano construction, and help run the business. Yay for Herr Stein!
One of their customers was the young phenom, Beethoven. Nannette and Ludwig were close in age, though they’d had vastly different childhoods, one warm and supportive, one cold and abusive. They shared a passion for the piano and a dream of creating instruments of ever-increasing capabilities.
In this fascinating dual-biography, we see how the intertwining of these two brilliant minds enabled them to invent new music as well as a musical instrument capable of expressing the emotions of that music. We also learn how Nannette’s friendship helped carry Beethoven through the trauma of losing his hearing in the midst of his storied artistic career. It’s a lengthier picture book biography, a lucid, engrossing account with artwork that beautifully situates us in their era and world. Share this with kids ages 8 and up, or just check it out for your own pleasure.
Along Came a Radioactive Spider: Strange Steve Ditko and the Creation of Spider-Man: An Unauthorized Biography
written by Annie Hunter Eriksen, illustrated by Lee Gatlin
published in 2023 by Page Street Kids
Confession: I know zippo about superheroes including the focus of this book, Spider-Man. Nonetheless, I found the story of his creator/creation fascinating. So, whether you’re a Marvel fan or as clueless as I am, there’s something for you here.
Steve Ditko was unique among the Marvel artists. A guy who had fallen in love with comics as a kid during the Great Depression, Ditko’s art gravitated toward the strange. Less bulging muscles and all-American men, more monsters and dark distortion. When the story of Spider-Man came to his art desk courtesy of Stan Lee, Ditko decided to break the mold of swoony heroes like Captain America.
Thus Peter Parker was born, a gangly, awkward teenager with a spindly alter-ego who relies on his spidey-sense to fight crime. Steve Ditko himself remained an elusive character until his death in 2018. Further details of his life, artistry, controversies, and philosophy are included in the back matter. Especially for Marvel fans and budding comics artists, it’s an intriguing account of an unusual fellow. Ages 6 and up.
That’s it for today. Next week I’ll have seven more fabulous accounts including two extraordinary athletes and an architect who invented a puzzle the whole world loves to play.
Find hundreds more superb biographies for a wide age range on my General Biography page here.
