Steamboat School

Deborah Hopkinson

This fictional story, based on the life and work of Rev. John Berry Meachum, shows how some African-Americans struggled in the mid-1800s to get an education: A new 1847 Missouri law has made it illegal to educate blacks (whether slave or free), so Meachum’s Tallow Candle School in St. Louis must close—but he then hatches an ingenious plan that ignites hope along the Mississippi River. The story reminds readers “that being brave can sometimes be a small thing, like lighting a candle, opening a book, or dipping an oar into still, deep water.” (2016)

Heroes of the Surf

Elisa Carbone

Before the creation of the U.S. Coast Guard, “surfmen” served in the U.S. Life-Saving Service. This book tells the story of Anthony and Pedro, who travel from Brazil to New York City with their families aboard the steamship Pliny. On the night of May 13, 1882, the Pliny ran aground during a fierce storm, and brave men from life-saving stations along New Jersey’s coast answered her distress call. The story of how the surfmen rescued passengers using tools like Lyle guns and breeches buoys—a precursor to the zip line—will intrigue little adventurers. (2012)

Radio Rescue

Lynne Barasch

Barasch recounts the experiences of her father, Robert Marx, who became the youngest person in the United States to receive his amateur radio operator license in the early 1900s. The story introduces young readers to Morse code, ham radio operation, and ham radio’s many uses in the days before modern phone lines and computers. In 1926, when a powerful hurricane descended on the Florida coast, ham radio operators conveyed updates. Far away in New York, Robert picked up an alert about a family stranded in the flooding, then took a risk and practiced persistence to help the family. (2000)

The Camping Trip That Changed America

Barb Rosenstock

Last year the National Park Service celebrated its 100th anniversary, a milestone due in part to two men who went on an unlikely camping trip in the early 1900s. President Theodore Roosevelt, intrigued by John Muir’s call to save the trees, persuaded the naturalist to give him a guided tour of California’s Yosemite wilderness. In this book, Rosenstock imagines what the two men saw and the conversations they had that spurred Roosevelt to put large tracts of land under federal protection. Caution: The book attributes creation of the natural wonders to evolutionary processes. (2012)

Afterword

In her recently released picture book Six Dots (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016), Jen Bryant explores the early life of Louis Braille. After a tragic accident leaves Louis shrouded in darkness, he is buoyed by the support of his family and village leaders, along with his determination to read like everyone else. The storyline traces how Braille’s remarkable resilience and creative thinking led to the invention of the Braille system. One disappointment: The book does not have raised dots for the included Braille alphabet.

In The Noisy Paint Box (Alfred A. Knopf, 2014), Barb Rosenstock introduces young readers to artist Vasily (or Wassili) Kandinsky, a pioneer in the abstract art movement. When Vasily’s aunt gives him a paint box, his senses are awakened to a world in which he hears colors singing and sees music dancing. Before he can paint what he feels, Vasily must overcome others’ expectations—a journey Mary GrandPré’s colorful and vibrant illustrations bring to life. —K.C.