Here are 100 books that Shark Lady fans have personally recommended if you like
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I have always been fascinated by how the world works. What gives gravity so much power? Why is it easier to lift things with levers and pulleys? Why do we have electricity inside of our own bodies?! The world is amazing. My job editing nonfiction books for kids puts me on the front lines of some of the smartest science writing out there. While I had no hand in the making of the following five picture books about physics, they are still some of my favorites because of the way they peel back the mysterious layers of the world to show us the science hidden in our daily lives.
A book that encompasses both the study of science and the role of women in the world, this beautiful picture book explores the life of Wu Chien Shiung, a Chinese American scientist who worked in particle and nuclear physics during a time when women werenât encouraged to have scientific careers.
When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, girls did not attend school; no one considered them as smart as boys. But her parents felt differently. Naming their daughter "Courageous Hero," they encouraged her love of learning and science. This engaging biography follows Wu Chien Shiung as she battles sexism at home and racism in the United States to become what Newsweek magazine called the "Queen of Physics" for her work on how atoms split. Along the way, she earned the admiration of famous scientists like Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer and became the first woman hiredâŠ
Iâve always loved math and science. When I decided to become a writer, I knew I wanted to share this love with children through my writing. Did I know I would one day have five published picture book biographies of women in STEM and three more on the way? Absolutely not. I feel fortunate Iâve had the opportunity to tell the stories of many unsung women scientists and mathematicians. To this end, I keep an ever-growing, ever-changing list of possible subjects for future biographies.
What do you think of when you picture an aerospace engineer? Itâs probably some white guy in a white shirt. A native woman certainly doesnât fit that stereotype, but that didnât matter to Mary Gold Ross. Itâs so rare to see books biographies about people who are Native working in STEM, yet representation matters.
Discover the story of how a math-loving girl blazed a trail for herself and others in this American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Picture Book, Classified: Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, a biography for children ages 7 â 11
Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work.
No one really knows who invented baseball. Games involving balls hit with sticks, runners, and bases are as old as time. By the middle of the 1800s, everybody in America was playing baseball. And I mean everybodyâgirls, boys, women, and men from all walks of life and heritage. While researching baseball history for The House That Ruth Built, I read stacks of baseball books about baseball legendsâfor the most part, White players like Babe Ruth or Black players like Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier. I was surprised and delighted when I came across books about baseball players who represented the rest of everybodyâhence this list.
Mamie Peanut Johnson loved baseball, and she was a good player. Really good. A pitcher.
Regardless of how good she was, because she was Black, Mamie was barred from playing on the All-American Girlsâ Pro Baseball League. That might have stopped other players, but not Mamie! She didnât let adversity, or the color of her skin, or gender stop her.
Instead, when a chance to pitch for the Negro Leaguesâ Indianapolis Clowns, a menâs professional team, came her way, Mamie stepped right up, thus becoming the first female pitcher to play professional baseball.
Mamie "Peanut" Johnson had one dream: to play professional baseball. She was a talented player, but she wasn't welcome in the segregated All-American Girls Pro Baseball League due to the color of her skin. However, a greater opportunity came her way in 1953 when Johnson signed to play ball for the Negro Leagues' Indianapolis Clowns, becoming the first female pitcher to play on a men's professional team. During the three years she pitched for the Clowns, her record was an impressive 33-8. But more importantly, she broke ground for other female athletes and for women everywhere.
Did you know that leatherback turtles can weigh up to 2,000 pounds? Or that the Florida softshell turtle can breathe through its snout and its skin? Turtles have been around for millions of years, and weâre still learning more about them!
With simple language and vivid photographs, Totally Turtles! isâŠ
Ever since I was a kid, I felt a strong desire to do the unexpected: A 9-year-old girl watching the World Wrestling Federation on TV and then recreating the action with her neighbors, a 5â2â volleyball player itching to play the front row, that same petite player wanting to join the army after high school. That last one didnât end up panning out but Iâve always wanted to break out of whatever box I felt society put me in as a female. I love to write stories about women who broke barriers and made it possible for me, and the next generation, to continue to challenge expectations.
My first introduction to Selena Quintanilla was back in 1997 when Jennifer Lopez played her in the movie, Selena. So, when I saw Silvia LĂłpezâs book I quickly picked it up. This book is as stunning as it is informative. The text is lengthier than many picture book biographies but it is so well done that the reader is eager to be immersed in this amazing life story. Not only did Selena break barriers within Tejano music, as it was traditionally performed by men, but she also crossed over into mainstream American music which helped open doors for future Latinx entertainers. One of Selenaâs favorite sayings was, âAlways believe that the impossible is possible,â and thatâs definitely a message all kids need to hear.
"There's a lot of text in the book, but it's smartly framed within two-page spreads, and very little of it feels extraneous. ...A worthy picture-book primer on the Queen of Tejano music."-Kirkus Reviews
This is a moving and impassioned picture book about the iconic Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla, that will embolden young readers to find their passion and make the impossible, possible!
Selena Quintanilla's music career began at the age of nine when she started singing in her family's band. She went from using a hairbrush as a microphone to traveling from town to town to play gigs.âŠ
I've always been deeply fascinated with the sea and its creatures. While researching my book, I was amazed to discover just how extraordinarily intelligent and sensitive octopuses are. This led to an enduring obsession with these fascinating animals and inspired a resolution: as much as I love octopus salad, I canât bring myself to eat an animal capable of opening child-proof jars.
This book was the first non-fiction book I read on octopuses back in 2016 (yes, itâs octopuses, not octopi!), and it started an obsession.
The book made me realize just how fascinating and brilliantly intelligent octopuses are. They can recognize you, much like a dog recognizes its owner. If they like you, theyâll let you pet them; if not, they might squirt water at youâthese are just two of many fascinating facts told by Sy Montgomery, an exceptional non-fiction writer, in a lyrical voice. This book made me laugh, cry, and marvel in wonder. And it helped inspire my book!
'Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald's H Is for Hawk did for raptors' New Statesman 'Charming and moving...with extraordinary scientific research' Guardian 'An engaging work of natural science... There is clearly something about the octopus's weird beauty that fires the imaginations of explorers, scientists, writers' Daily Mail
In 2011 Sy Montgomery wrote a feature for Orion magazine entitled 'Deep Intellect' about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death. It went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. SinceâŠ
Writing for children presents an exciting challenge: how can you deliver big ideas, innovative storytelling, and dazzling language using just a few simple words that even the youngest readers can understand? Iâm especially drawn to nonfiction because it offers a chance to explore and explain our world. I find it rewarding to help unlock the mystery and wonder of science, nature, history, and other topicsâall with the power of words. The books on this list are some of my favorites for telling real-life stories with writing thatâs beautiful, spare, and inspiring.
âThe riverâs rhythm runs through my veins. Runs through my peopleâs veins.â This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book about the Indigenous-led movement to protect water as a sacred resource deserves all the accolades it has received. In a clear and powerful voice, Lindstromâs young narrator reflects on the critical importance of water to her community, its spiritual significance, and the need to come together and stand up against an oil pipeline that threatens it.
I love how the book uses abstract language and imagery to tell a sweeping story of environmental justice and resistance that starts with one communityâs fight to save its waterways and zooms out to include the whole world. At a time when environmental stories can be scary, sad, and overwhelming, Lindstromâs poetic text encourages us to âTake courage!â
Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal #1 New York Times Bestseller
Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earthâs water from harm and corruptionâa bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Water is the first medicine. It affects and connects us all . . .
When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth And poison her peopleâs water, one young water protector Takes a stand to defend Earthâs most sacred resource.
I write picture-book biographies and my latest book focuses on the first giraffologist, Dr. Anne Innis Dagg. While researching this book, I learned about so many people who have dedicated their lives to studying and protecting animals. Almost always, their love of wildlife began in childhood. So why not inspire young animal lovers today with true stories about people who share their passion for wildlife?
Youâve probably read Winnie the Pooh, either as a child or to a child. But I bet you donât know about the real bear who inspired one of the most famous characters in childrenâs literature. Told as an origin story within a bedtime story, this bestselling and award-winning illustrated biography ends with wonderful photos of all the characters: the real Winnie (a girl!), the vet who rescued her, the soldiers who cared for her, the boy who famously befriended her, and the author who immortalized the beloved bear. Best of all, Finding Winnie is a success at proving one of the bookâs themesâsometimes the very best stories are true stories.
A #1 New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the Caldecott Medal about the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.
Harry Colebourn's real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey--from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England...
Writing for children is the most gloriously tricky thing in the world, and I love doing it. With fiction, am I telling a story worth telling to someone whoâs new to the planet and new to our way of life? With non-fiction, am I distilling complexity into a shape they can grasp quickly? Am I showing them how wonderful and strange our world is, and can I make âem laugh while learning? Iâve written 18 books for kids, many commissioned by Think Equal for their global SEL program and used in the national curricula of 20 countries.
At two pages per scientist (one of which is an annotated portrait), this is a superb introduction to the theme.
The book covers a wide time period â from the brilliant, long-dead Hypatia (c.350 CE) to brilliant, modern-day scientist, Maryam Mirzakhani (1977â). It includes sciences your kids might be familiar with, like medicine and marine biology, to ones they might not be, like industrial engineering and crystallography.
Ignotofskyâs a dab hand at condensing a lifeâs work plus an introduction to a scientific discipline into the space of a page. I love how her choice of a limited colour palette works in her subjectsâ favour, reinforcing similarities and themes across the portraits. This is a gorgeous book that repays repeated reading.
The perfect introduction for learning about women throughout history who dared to do the extraordinary! Inspire our new generation of women to explore, discover, persist, succeed, and fight like a girl! A great gift for girls 9-12! Women have been doing amazing, daring, and dangerous things for years, but they're rarely mentioned in our history books as adventurers, daredevils, or rebels. This new compilation of brief biographies features women throughout history who have risked their lives for adventure-many of whom you may not know, but all of whom you'll WANT to know, such as: Annie Edson Taylor, the first personâŠ
I write picture-book biographies and my latest book focuses on the first giraffologist, Dr. Anne Innis Dagg. While researching this book, I learned about so many people who have dedicated their lives to studying and protecting animals. Almost always, their love of wildlife began in childhood. So why not inspire young animal lovers today with true stories about people who share their passion for wildlife?
There is so much to love about this biography on scientist Joan Procterâfrom a girl having a tea party with lizards... to her journey of becoming a scientist and curator... to her alliance with real-life dragons! And every spread of this book slithers with stunning reptiles thanks to illustrator Felicita Sala. In the back matter, readers learn that the zoologist died at the young age of 34 due to complications from a chronic illness. But because of this inspirational biography, Procterâs storyâand love of reptilesâwill live on and on in the minds of young readers.
Back in the days of long skirts and afternoon teas, young Joan Procter entertained the most unusual party guests: slithery and scaly ones, who turned over teacups and crawled past the crumpets... While other girls played with dolls, Joan preferred the company of reptiles. She carried her favorite lizard with her everywhere - she even brought a crocodile to school!
When Joan grew older, she became the Curator of Reptiles at the Natural History Museum. She went on to design the Reptile House at the London Zoo, including a home for the rumored-to-be-vicious komodo dragons. There, just like when sheâŠ
I am a former science teacher and science writer with a PhD in neuroscience. I have published thirty books for young readers, many with scientific themes. In elementary school, I was amazed by seeing pond water under a microscope. In high school, I sat in biology class feeling like my brain might explode from realizing how incredible it is that trillions of tiny cells work together to make up our bodies. I want to help my young readers find the same joy in connecting with science that I did, and to have that same feeling that their brains might explodeâin a good wayâfrom learning new, astonishing information.
Ernest Everett Just said, âThe egg cell is also a universe.â Reading those words gives me chills. This book showcases the same wonders that amazed me when I first began studying biology, and which I later tried to show my own students as a biology teacher. At the same time, this is the story of a scientist who persevered despite racism and discrimination. While the text and illustrations will appeal even to very young readers, the back matter gives more in-depth information about Justâs research, perfect for older kids.
"A must-purchase picture book biography of a figure sure to inspire awe and admiration among readers."âSchool Library Journal (starred review)
Extraordinary illustrations and lyrical text present pioneering African American scientist Ernest Everett Just.
Ernest Everett Just was not like other scientists of his time. He saw the whole, where others saw only parts. He noticed details others failed to see. He persisted in his research despite the discrimination and limitations imposed on him as an African American. His keen observations of sea creatures revealed new insights about egg cells and the origins of life.
Through stunning illustrations and lyrical prose,âŠ