There are so many inspiring picture book biographies for children! It’s interesting to see what motivates others to have courage, do something hard and follow their passion. The following books are about unique individuals who accomplished things that helped others and made the world a better place.
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Choose picture book biographies that are age and interest appropriate for your children
Read these books first yourself, then decide which ones are best suited for the age and interests of the children you read-aloud to. Be prepared for curious children who will ask questions as you read. These books are great conversation starters!
Mae Among The Stars by Roda Ahmed
This picture book biography is perfect for young listeners. It tells of a young Mae Jemison who dreamed of dancing in space. Others told her she couldn’t do it, but her mother encouraged her to follow her dream. In 1992 Mae became the first African American woman in space when she traveled on the shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-47. The author includes notes at the end of Mae’s many achievements.
Dinosaur Lady by Linda Skeers
Mary Anning lived near the ocean in England in the early 1800’s. She and her family would search the beach for shells, fossils and other things they could sell. One day she discovered some bones of a creature never seen before. Word traveled to a rich collector who offered to buy the skeleton. He donated it to a London Museum. Mary made many more discoveries of fossils and dinosaur bones, but because she was a woman she wasn’t given credit until many, many years later.
The Crayon Man by Natasha Biebow
Edwin Binney loved color! He also loved to invent new things. His wife and others told him children needed better and cheaper crayons. Edwin and his cousin Harold Smith worked hard trying lots of different materials until they came up with the right combination of ingredients to make what we know as Crayola Crayons today. At the end it tells how crayons are made today.
More picture book biographies
After you read some of these books to your grandchildren ask them for ideas of people they would like to learn more about. My grandson told me he wanted to learn about Thomas Edison. The library had several picture book biographies about Thomas Edison to choose from. Here is the one I chose to read-aloud to my grandkids: Young Thomas Edison by Michael Dooling.
Do you need more great books or fun read aloud ideas?
I have lots of books and great ideas to share with you here!
To help you get started I have a list of 15 great read-aloud picture books you can download for free.
