5 Kid-Lit Books About Extraordinary Real Life People!
In recent years, children’s books have reminded me that they are surprisingly superb gateways to learn about real life people whose lives who lead (and are still) leading such extraordinary lives, it is a wonder that I never knew about them before.
As 2021 has very often times felt like a part two of the weary previous year, kid lit remains a way to warm my heart and keep me grounded. On that uplifting note, I’m sharing five books about extraordinary real life people for the younger readers that are worth reading and sharing!
The Cat Man of Aleppo
Created by Irene Latham & Karim Shamsi-Bashaand Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
Reading age : 4–8 years, Grade level : Preschool — Grade 3
Lovingly brought to life by illustrator Yuko Shimuzu (Barbed Wire Baseball, A Crack in the Sea) and writers Irene Latham (LOVE, AGNES
Postcards from an Octopus) & Karim Shamsi-Bashaand ( Home Sweet Home Alabama, Shelter from the Storm), The Cat Man of Aleppo is a treasure of a book of a incredible person who continues to look for the best in a bad situation. This children’s book recounts the true story of the courageous Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, who in the midst of the Syrian Civil War offered safe haven to Aleppo’s abandoned cats despite the violence and ruin that befell his home.
What makes The Cat Man of Aleppo, a book to love? A timely read for the young and old? I’d like to believe that the narrative lends an ear to how even in adversity, we must keep our hearts open to those who need us. In a short but lovely note from Alaa in the beginning (that is both printed in Arabic and English) he writes that “Remember both people and cats suffer pain and all of them deserve compassion. Together we can make the world a better place!”. Perhaps another interpretation is that to take care of the cats, the pets left behind is to take care of home, a place he refuses to leave as there is still work to be done. Along the way, his work includes helping look after orphaned children and finding aid local and far, faraway.
Having a loving heart and a desire to take care of those who need help is always what the world — no matter what country — no matter what language is spoken is needs. Civil wars, bombing of people’s homes, refugees seeking new homes and people grasping at rebuilding again and again is never ancient history or even fifty odd number of years ago. It is now. It is last December. It is a handful of year ago. It is happening and history is being shaped by it.
What is most impressive is the collective energy of the creative team that combined much research to make sure an authentic and respectful book could be completed. In the back pages, the illustrator Yuko Shimuzu’s note touches upon how she spent months reading books including memoirs, watching videos and pouring over countless photos to make sure her visuals that she was creating weren’t just accurate but the very place and people she had fell in love with during the process. The writers Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Bashaand both mentioned the traumas of current events facing Syria — Latham as a non-native and Shamsi-Bashaand as someone more familiar with the area. Since my initial discovery of Aljaleel back in 2016, he’s been displaced at least twice along with the sanctuaries he helped create for the cats, other animals, orphaned children and the wonderful people helping to keep the operation working — yet he’s alive and still driven in the year of 2021.
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
Created by Annette Bay Pimentel & Illustrated by Nabi Ali with a Foreword by the activist herself: Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins
Reading age : 4–8 years, Grade level : Preschool — Grade 3
Chronicling the true story of lifelong activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her childhood contribution to disability rights and the history of the ADA, this book is penned by by Annette Bay Pimentel (Girl Running, The Do You Really Want to Meet…a Dinosaur? series) and illustrated by Nabi Ali (We Move the World). This amazing children’s book paints on page the true story of how an eight-year-old girl became a disability rights activist and captured Congress’s attention with her demonstration in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Jennifer who first started going to meetings of activists with her family when she was about six, became aware of the difficulties of being a disabled person in America as early as when she first went to Kindergarten. In the foreword of the book she speaks about the difficulties of her life back then having to attempt to navigate the world as a wheel chair user, being born with cerebral palsy: she felt left out and did not like being separated!
While she acknowledges the work that has been done she also takes note that there is still a long way to go. Her words really resonated with me as she also wrote that she hopes that her story inspires kids and that they know that they don't have to be a grown-up to help bring about change! This is one of the best messages in a kid’s book ever: inspire activism and serve as representation for disabled children and young ones with special needs while serving up a slice of history accessible for readers of all ages.
Author Pimente keeps the prose simple yet flowing and always centering the Jennifer on the page as someone relatable and someone who takes her own agency — however limited-into her own hands. Illustrator Ali profoundly illustrates the iconic Capital Crawl, the sprawling crawl-in up the steps of the Capital Building by that took place in when Jennifer and others descend up the heart of Congress to make a statement about the importance of the ADA.
As someone who did not learn much about the historic win of disability activists that helped created the foundation of the Americans with Disabilities Act until college — I am humbled and grateful to know that young readers will have a chance to learn about this work and the young people like Jennifer who have taken part of this movement and continue to do so.
Created by Rita Lorraine Hubbard & Illustrated by Oge Mora
Reading age : 4–8 years, Grade level : Preschool — 3
Here’s another inspiring book that will fill your wholesome quota for the week: a children’s book based on the true story of the woman once known as the nation’s oldest student! Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Oge Mora (Thank you, Omu!, Saturday) and author Rita Lorraine Hubbard (Hammering for Freedom) brought us the delightful tale of Mary Walker who learned to read at 116 years old!
Born a slave, this book works with the details of Mary Walker’s life: the start of her life being denied the ability to learn how to learn and write — what she envisioned what freedom would include for her one day. The circumstances that kept her form learning as she lived through the Reconstruction period in American history — having to work at a young age to support her family — and the difficulties of surviving and finding work throughout her life. Young readers will get a bit of a history lesson in learning about how people lived in the days before, who was afforded an education and be inspired by how you’re never too young, or in Mary Walker’s case — too old to learn!
Mary was a person born in a time where her humanity wasn’t even acknowledged — she outlived the system that enslaved her, persisted with her hopes to one day be free in the way she once defined it as a child: “to be able to go where she wants and rest and learn to read.” The creative team behind the book focused on details of Mary’s life, researched with care with artwork that fills the pages with emotion and purpose to make this biographical work one perfect for those looking for a triumph story of a woman who truly, lived.
Drum Girl Dream
Created by Margarita Engle & Illustrated by Rafael López
Reading age : 4–8 years, Grade level : Gr 1–4
Another book for those who love stories about girls: inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl is an inspiring (true!) story for young dreamers everywhere. Rafael López (Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, The Day You Begin) illustrates this tale of a brave 10 year old girl who challenged the law of the land to be able to get her heart’s desire. Margarita Engle (The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist, The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist) joins him as writer penning this heartfelt story of the little girl whose steadfast efforts helped not only change music but help make dreams once thought unattainable — accessible!
Out of all the books on this list, the artwork for this book is probably my favorite: the artwork leans more towards the imaginative. Black and brown skinned people dance, work, scold and sing on the pages and the imagery includes fantastic objects: a tower of drums leading a little one to the moon, a mermaid quietly drumming under the sea, a drum in a bird cage with wings out of reach. It all does well to empathize how hopeful young Millo was and how childlike one almost needs to be when looking for progress, in wanting to change the status quo. She was constantly shot down on her request to be trained or taught so she keep it in secret. At that time on the island, in 1930’s Cuba — tradition stood still. Girls were not allowed to play the drums. Other instruments, yes. But not drums.
Once her father recognized her talent and her longing, she allowed her a teacher. Later, she’s given a chance to perform and this leads to the breaking of Cuba’s tradition taboo against female drummers. Thanks to a note at the end of the book, we learn that Millo went on to work as a successful jazz drummer performing alongside leading jazz musicians of the time. At age fifteen, she made her way to America where she played her drums at Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s birthday celebration. Millo and her sister formed a all girls band and that may have also helped usher in a bigger entry point for female musicians in Cuba, as well. Author Engle’s wordplay is simple yet graceful — moving to a certain rhythm. You could sing this book to the young reader in your life and vice versus.
How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion
Created by Ashima Shiraishi, Illustrated by Yao Xiao
Reading age : 4–8 years, Grade level : Gr 1–4
The honor of the youngest person on this list of book based on real life people belongs to Ashima Shiraishi, now 20 years old. She’s best known for her feats as one of the most talented rock climbers in the world, first starting in Central Park when she was only six years old. Climbing was something she stuck to as a hobby and as a sport. Incredibly by the time she was 14, she became the first female climber and the youngest person to climb V15 — the second-hardest grade level in climbing — on Horizon at Mount Hiei, Japan. Now an adult, having grown up in the spotlight and the camera lens of the media she welcomed the chance to tell her life’s story by way of a children’s book with Illustrator Yao Xiao (Everything Is Beautiful, And I’m Not Afraid).
So I must admit that I know next to nothing about professional rock climbing so when I first saw videos of the younger Shiraishi, it did take a minute to get a feel of the significance of her achievements. What you can take away from her successes is that she’s world class — she was out-climbing people decades older than her as a teenager. Seen as a prodigy and placed on the skill level as a veteran, videos of her from YouTube show this tiny, tiny girl swinging and scaling walls indoors and outdoors withe ease. This book leans into not just her life story but the pull of climbing and how it has manifested into how she approaches problems — and how she sets out to solve them.
Shiraishi’s words on the page introduce herself: “I am Ashima. What I do is climb. What I do is solve problems, which is to say, I make them mine.” The book’s message speaks to perseverance. To discipline. To passion. The biggest and most visual message of the book clings to her life’s outlook on obstacles — problems — and how to make them puzzles, physical walls to figure out to climbs and conquer. To deal with metaphors, almost no one scales a mountain on the first try so don’t fret. Dealing with highs and lows comes with the territory. Young readers can see how she has chosen to re-frame her ‘mountains’ and break them down to familiar comforts and eventually win.
I adore the collective efforts of this creative team: of two Asian women coming together to create and put together this story with a young Asian girl front and center. Shiraishi being intimately involved in the story of her life and Xiao, an illustrator who knew nothing about rock climbing stepping up to the plate to do so. I read that the two worked closely together — author offering gentle corrections to the artwork so everything was accurate. Xiao’s art really captures the heart of Shiraishi’s childhood and her drive that pushes her forward. The lines are clean, the colors vibrant and the pages of how the young girl makes the mountain hers full of shapes and pieces of everyday life that tie it all together. This book is certainly one to reread as I always find some new detail in the art I didn't see before. Younger readers will be inspired of another amazing story of a girl doing amazing things — leaving them to indeed know that the sky is the limit and no one can keep them grounded — at least for long.
And that’s the list! I’d love to hear what books you and your little ones are reading that spotlight extraordinary, real life people! Let me know in the comments what are worthy books you’d recommend!
Carrie McClain is a Californian native who navigates the world as writer, editor, and media scholar who firmly believes that we can and we should critique the media we consume. She once aided Cindi Mayweather in avoiding capture. See more of her on Twitter and on https://carriemcclain.carrd.co/
