Historically Speaking

Who can imagine what life must have been like for a kid living twenty thousand years ago? Lois Huey can! Travel back in time with author and archeologist, Lois Miner Huey , with her latest book, Children of the Past:Archeology and the Lives of Kids . Thanks, Lois, for talking with us today about this fascinating book. What inspired you to write about kids who lived thousands of years ago? Based on archaeological evidence, I was wondering what it was really like to be a kid years ago. My latest book Children of the Past Archaeology and the Lives of Kids (Lerner 2017) begins thousands of years ago with cave kids and goes through time to the 1790s. Finding evidence of children from various times in soil layers is exciting for archaeologists. I wanted to share that excitement and what that evidence of their lives meant in different time periods. In previous books like Forgotten Bones Uncovering a Slave Cemetery and Ick! Yuck! Eew! Our Gross American History, I've included ki...

I fell in love with Stacy Innerst's beautiful illustrations at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Los Angeles this month. Stacy is the recipient of the 2017 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Art for The Music In George's Head , a wonderful book about George Gershwin by Suzanne Slade. Seeing Stacy's books collected together made me appreciate their amazing illustrations all the more. Stacy has a wonderful way of bringing these historical biographies to life. I was amazed to learn that the Levi Strauss illustrations were actually created on denim!  Take a look at them for yourself!   Find out more about Stacy's work and August picture book release about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

So many great patriotic titles to read this holiday. I'm thinking the popularity of Hamilton on Broadway has a little something to do with some of these new releases. Don't you? I can't wait to read Melissa De La Cruz 's latest YA novel inspired by this famous couple. For younger readers, Don Brown has taken a stab at the famous duel.  Brown wrote and illustrated Aaron and Alexander , described as a tale of passion, patriotism, and pride. Here are a few others that shed light on our founding fathers.  Save Save

I came across a useful article pouring over some old NSTA magazines -- Using Biographical Letter s to Draw on the Nature of Science by William Medina-Jerez, Wayne Melville, and Dale Walker. "Science is a human activity with a rich, colorful, and controversial history. Teaching science from a historical perspective can influence the way students perceive, understand, and apply scientific concepts and processes." How true! The article brought to mind the story of Nikolai Vavilov in my latest book, THE STORY OF SEEDS . Vavilov's story, crucial to the history of seed science, farming, and food, shaped my ongoing research for the book and my writing. I found his story compelling and worth sharing with my readers. By the time I finished visiting Russia and writing the book  I felt as if Vavilov was a personal friend. Readers of THE STORY OF SEEDS might take the suggestion of the article's authors and write a biographical letter about Vavilov, Burbank, or Mendel. Oth...

I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to award winning author Candace Fleming speak out writing her latest - The Family Romanov - last week at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Los Angeles. If you haven't read this one yet, by all means READ IT! I have been fascinated by Russian history and the Romanovs for years, but this book brought me to places I hadn't explored. In her acceptance speech for her Golden Kite , Candace discussed how this was originally a book about Anastasia, but her research led her away from the young, naive girl to Anastasia's parents and their leadership. Research can pull you in different directions, as we writers of veritable books (nonfiction) know.  Candace mentioned in her workshop that her research on Faberge eggs never even entered the book. What readers will find in The Family Romanov is a rich story of intrigue, notorious characters, drama, and tragedy. Teens will gobble up the dramatic nar...

Author and school visit specialist, Alexis O’Neill  is here today to talk about her latest award-winning book, The Kite That Bridged Two Nations.  Alexis, this is a great nonfiction picture book that introduces readers to a historic kite contest and Homan Walsh, who dreamed of flying his kite across the wide Niagara. Can you tell us about the research that went in to writing this book? Nancy – thanks for your invitation to share! For pleasure years ago, I had read David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge , about John A. Roebling’s building of the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough mentioned Homan Walsh and the kite flying contest because Roebling finished the Niagara Suspension Bridge project when the original engineer left. When someone suggested to me that that incident might make a good kids book, my research began. Internet. I searched Wikipedia to get overviews of the event, people and places; collect key words and images; and examine biblio...

Yuck! Ick! Eew! by Lois Huey is disgusting!  And that’s what makes it a wonderful read for middle school kids interested in how people really lived in history. As a reader who loves to read historical fiction and imagine myself in those flowing gowns riding inside carriages and walking through heather-filled fields, Lois Huey’s book shatters that dream by shining a very bright light on the reality of those days.  Lois has done an amazing job on her research and so much of this information will be new to readers. This is a great book for classes studying Colonial America.   I’ll leave my dreams inside those romantic book pages and be thankful I can put on a gown for Halloween and still live in 2014 America!  Lois, can you tell us more about how you conducted your research for this book? In addition to information from excavations, I consulted original sources, that is, accounts from the time period. The people who lived then had little to say; they w...

Years ago my daughter asked her global history teacher why they weren't discussing Cleopatra….after all they were learning about ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt.  How could you NOT include the famous or infamous queen?  Well, the answer both dismayed and saddened us.  The NYS Regent in Global History didn't cover the great queen.   I so wish I had this book to hand to my daughter that year!   Cleopatra Rules is smart, hip, and fun.  Vicky Alvear Shecter has delivered a well-researched piece that should intrigue teens.   "So what did the romantic newlyweds do for their honeymoon?  They planned a war.  Because nothin' says lovin' quite like dead bodies on a battlefield."   Kudos, Ms. Shecter!  You've created a biography that will not only get picked up for those school biography assignments, but for pleasure! Readers will get a glimpse into the "bookish nerd" who became Queen of Egypt while coming away with a fascinating l...