Tag Archives: mrs. harkness

 

The Case for Loving by Selina Alko, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko.

This book. It’s by an interracial couple about an interracial couple in the past, the Lovings, who went to court to fight for the legality of their marriage and changed everything. Qualls and Alko combined illustration techniques to create a truly special, collaborative book with love at its center.

 

Growing up Pedro by Matt Tavares.

Even if you’re not a baseball fan, I guarantee this story of two brothers looking out for each other will get to you. Pedro Martinez was once a kid growing up in the Dominican Republic, dreaming of the major leagues. This is the story of how he got there and the relationship with his older brother that sustained him.

 

 

 

 

Enormous Smallness by Matthew Burgess, illustrations by Kris Di Giacomo.

This biography of E.E. Cummings is moving because of its beauty—in illustrations and layout design and in poetry. Not only that, but it’s infused with spirit and the idea that you can accomplish your dreams with courage and by staying true to yourself. Yes.

 

 

 

Swan by Laurel Snyder and Julie Morstad.

The perfect combination of joy and melancholy, this tribute to Anna Pavlova’s life (and death) brings sweet, satisfying tears.

 

 

 

 

Ivan the Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherin Applegate, illustrated by G. Brian Karas.

If you loved the middle grade novel, The One and Only Ivan, then you’ll love this pared down picture book version for younger readers. It gives us the real life story of a gorilla captured from his home and family, living an isolated shopping mall experience, and then finally finding a new home and companions.

 

 

 

 

Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers.

This book will make you feel things because of who wrote it (principal ballerina Misty Copeland) and how she did so. And it will make you feel things because of who it’s addressed to: young people with dreams that seem far away to impossible. Plus those vibrant, fiery illustrations that dance on the page.

 

 

 

 

And finally, one to look forward to!

Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (out in October!).

This is the origin behind the origin of Winnie the Pooh, the real life bear named Winnipeg. It’s a beautiful example of a story within a story—a mother telling her son a bedtime tale about their family history: a veterinarian in the army during World War I and the bear cub he bought for twenty dollars at a train station. It’s a masterful book and has so much to say about those moments when one’s “heart makes up one’s mind.”

 

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company for the image of Finding Winnie.

 

 

Any tear-inducing (in a good way) non-fiction picture books to add to the list?