Biography – Autobiography- Memoir

The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont

While the Wright Brothers were gliding over Kitty Hawk, the charming Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont was making his own mark on the history of flight. Alberto loved floating over Paris in his personal flying machine called a dirigible. He would tie it to a post, climb down, and spend the day shopping or meeting friends for coffee. But he wanted to make his invention even better. By 1906, Alberto had transformed his balloon into a box with wings! But now there was competition. Another inventor challenged Alberto to see who would be the first in flight. Alberto’s hard work paid off, and his airplane successfully soared into the air, making him the first pilot to lift off and land a completely self-propelled plane.

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s novels were strongly influenced by his childhood both in South Africa, where lions prowled and wild beasts roamed, and in the English countryside, where he imagined that elves and gnomes dwelled. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote many stories, studied languages–even inventing one of his own–and founght bravely in World War I. He wrote The Hobbit, a children’s book about a courageous creature with pointed ears and furry feet, which was an instant success. His next book, The Lord of the Rings, made Tolkien, an ordinary man with an extraordinary imagination, one of the world’s most beloved authors.

When I Was Puerto Rican

Esmeralda Santiago’s story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her childhood was full of both tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights as well as poverty. Growing up, she learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby’s soul to heaven. As she enters school we see the clash, both hilarious and fierce, of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture. When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity.

Orani: My Father’s Village

As a child, Claire Nivola loved summers in Orani, the village where her father grew up and where her many aunts, uncles, and 50 cousins still lived. She ran freely through the town’s cobbled streets with packs of cousins, who quizzed her about America while she took in all the simple joys and pleasures of daily life in a village where surprises met them at every turn.

High Riders, Saints and Death Cars: A Life Saved by Art

Nicholas Herrera started life as a mischievous, dyslexic boy, born into one of the old Spanish families of New Mexico. Bad teachers and poor schooling helped him to lose himself in drugs, drinking, riding motorcycles and driving fast cars. A near-death experience, a wonderful mother and a fascination with making art saved him. Today Nicholas Herrera is one of the most noted Santeros in the US. His work is displayed in folk-art galleries across the country and is collected by the Smithsonian. He is noted for the highly personal, political nature of his work and his innovative treatment of what can sometimes be a rather bland art form designed to sell to tourists. His work is intensely personal and even confessional. A survivor of alcoholism and drug addiction, which almost led to his death in a terrible car crash, Herrera is now sober and remarkably productive. His art is his life and his life is his art. Extraordinarily charismatic, Herrera is the grandson, nephew and son of artists. His young daughter is now following in his footsteps.

Sundiata: Lion King of Mali

The story of Sundiata, who overcame physical handicaps, social disgrace, and strong opposition to rule Mali in the thirteenth century.

Side By Side/Lado A Lado

Every day, thousands of farmworkers harvested the food that ended up on kitchen tables all over the country. But at the end of the day, when the workers sat down to eat, there were only beans on their own tables. Then Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez teamed up. Together they motivated the workers to fight for their rights and, in the process, changed history. Award-winning author Monica Brown and acclaimed illustrator Joe Cepeda join together to create this stunning tribute to two of the most influential people of the twentieth century. Todos los dÍas, miles de campesinos cosechaban los alimentos que se servÍan en los hogares de todo el paÍs. Pero al terminar la jornada, cuando los campesinos se sentaban a comer, lo Único que habÍa en sus propias mesas era frijoles. Entonces, Dolores Huerta y CÉsar ChÁvez se unieron para motivar a los trabajadores a luchar por sus derechos y en el proceso, cambiaron el curso de la historia. La premiada autora Monica Brown y el aclamado ilustrador Joe Cepeda se unen para crear Éste impresionante tributo a dos de las personas mÁs influentes del siglo veinte.

Biblioburro

Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there’s barely room for the family. What to do? Then he comes up with the perfect solution–a traveling library! He buys two donkeys–Alfa and Beto–and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 3

Vasco da Gama: Quest for the Spice Trade

Each colorful book in this series describes what an explorer’s life was really like on an expedition, from what they wore to what they ate, and includes colorful maps and images showing the areas explored; a look at the political climates of various countries that made explorers venture out into the unknown; and an examination of how explorers lived while on the high seas, on the trail, or in the encampment.