Genre 4: Nonfiction & Biography

Drawing From Memory

by Allen Say

Bibliography

Say, Allen. 2011. Drawing From Memory. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780545176866

Plot Summary

This book tells the story of author and illustrator Allen Say’s childhood in Japan. Even as a young boy, and without familial encouragement, all Say wanted to do was draw. He found a surrogate family in his Sensei, the cartoonist Noro Shinpei, and several of Shinpei’s apprentices. The story tells of the role his Sensei played in Say’s development as an artist, and the encounters he had, with both historical events and people, such as his father, mother, and grandmother.

Critical Analysis

Say tells the story of his childhood in scrapbook style through conventional text, photographs, and some of his own early sketches. Graphic novel elements are used as well. The pictures help bring to life Say’s telling of his early childhood, and help the reader better envision the important events that helped shape this man’s life.

Say expertly blends the elements of text, photographs, and different types of drawings. Readers drawn to different writing—memoir, historical narrative, graphic novels—will find something interesting to pull them to the book and keep reading once they get there. An extensive author’s note provides further knowledge about the life of this talented writer and artist.

Review Excerpt(s)

• ALA Notable Children’s Books 2012
• BOOKLIST starred review: “…a powerful title that is both culturally and personally resonant.”
• PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Say's account is complex, poignant, and unfailingly honest.

Connections

• Use when comparing cultures from different countries.
• Have students illustrate their own autobiography, including what they want to do when they grow up.

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade

by Melissa Sweet

Bibliography

Sweet, Melissa. 2011. Balloons Over Broadway; The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547199450

Plot Summary

This book tells the story of Tony Sarg, the creator of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It begins by recounting Sarg’s first experiment with making things move with strings, when he rigged a string from his bed to the chicken coop to open the coop door to feed the chickens in the morning. As Tony’s marionette skills progress, the story follows Tony from London to New York City, where the Tony Sarg Marionettes performed on Broadway. Following his run on Broadway, Sarg began designing window puppet shows in the famous Macy’s department store in Herald Square, and eventually planned and executed what we now know as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Critical Analysis

Sweet’s tale of Tony Sarg, and his love of puppets, and making children happy, is interesting and thoughtful. Sweet details the progression of Sarg, from a puppeteer in a marionette show in London, to the creator of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Readers will be able to relate to the trials and errors Sweet describes in detailing the difficulties Sarg had throughout this process. Careful text selection provides a window into Sarg’s planning and his trying to figure out just how to make the puppets in the parade visible from the ground.

Sweet’s illustrations are breathtaking. She uses a combination of collage using found objects such as spools of thread, fabric, and a variety of paper, as well as beautiful watercolor paintings to depict the wonderful world of Tony Sarg and his puppets. Clever use of space is evident in the endpapers where excerpts from a 1929 book about Sarg's marionettes as well as an original parade advertisement the New York Times in 1933.

A detailed author’s note provides further insight into Sarg’s world as well as information about Sweet’s illustration.

Review Excerpt(s)

• ALA Notable Children’s Books 2012
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal 2012
• KIRKUS REVIEWS starred review: “This clever marriage of information and illustration soars high.”
• BOOKLIST starred review: “…as exciting as the parade itself…”

Connections

• Use in an introductory unit on collage to help describe the artistic process.
• Use in a fun way to introduce the scientific process and how it can be used outside the science classroom.

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl

by Albert Marrin

Bibliography

Marrin, Albert. 2009. Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl. New York, NY: Penguin. ISBN 9780525420774

Plot Summary

This book tells the unique and often heartbreaking story of the families living in the Great Plains region of the United States, beginning with early explorers such as Daniel Boone, and continuing through the Great Depression and World War II. In addition to the personal stories of the families, the book also recounts the environmental history of the region, explaining the role different plants and animals have played in the ecology of the region over time, as well as the impact humans have had on the environment. Finally, the book finishes with a chapter discussing the potential future of other “dust bowl” regions throughout the globe.

Critical Analysis

Beginning with a captivating cover, Marrin creates a highly readable book made up of a combination of text, photographs, maps, and publications from various eras. The book is subdivided into chronological chapters covering the history of the region, although it doesn’t read like a history textbook. It’s more an engrossing visual landscape.

The stories of the families, and especially the quotes from people who lived in the region, bring the Great Plains to life as no history textbook could ever do. The author inserts interesting and unusual facts about the daily adaptations people made in response to living in such a harsh environment, such as their homemade medicines and superstitious rituals meant to bring on rain.

Although some of the vocabulary is difficult, the author is diligent in explaining uncommon or possibly unfamiliar words and phrases, and also includes a glossary in the back for reference. Readers will find themselves mesmerized by all the photography, but especially those of Dorothea Lange.

Review Excerpt(s)

• ALA Notable Children’s Books 2010
• PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Easily comprehensible, the lengthy narrative leaves nothing undefined.”
• BOOKLIST starred review: “…this exceptional overview brings close the terrifying, bleak realities of the Dust Bowl.”

Connections

• Use as an example of Human-Environment-Interaction. Have students conjecture what might have happened if the population of the Great Plains region hadn’t brought in foreign plant and animal species, such as wheat and cattle.
• Use as an example of an ecosystem, or ecological region. Discuss and describe the unique and unifying characteristics of the region, and compare and contrast these characteristics to other unique regions.