Why do you write
children’s books? It’s pretty clear Barbara Rosenstock does because she loves history and people. Two perfect interests for someone who writes picture book biographies. Whether
writing about historical figures from the past or modern figures from more
recent times, Rosenstock brings the stories of her characters to life for her young audience through her writing. She’s a multiple award
winning author. Her book, The Noisy Paint Box, with illustrator Mary GrandPré,
is a 2015 Caldecott Honor book.
Narrative Nonfiction vs. Historical Fiction
Narrative nonfiction uses a classic plot structure and
storytelling techniques - a beginning, middle
and end; a story arc, scenes, dialogue - all based on accurate, verifiable
evidence. It is possible to use creative storytelling to tell a true story.
Historical fiction uses the author’s imagination to
invent or reinvent characters, scenes and dialogue to tell a fictional story
based on real people, a true event or time period.
In Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louise Smith, Rosenstock brings to readers a little known
part of American race car history, the story of the first competitive female race car driver. Rev up your engines! This story is action packed and inspirational for
free spirited, daring girls who follow their dreams.
The Noisy Paint Box is the story of the Russian abstract artist Vasya Kandinsky. The events are true, but the dialogue
is imagined by the author. It paints a story with words that speak to our senses.
The Heartbeat of a Story
In addition to the bones of a story – a beginning, middle, and end – a picture
book biography must also have a heartbeat. The story is, after all, about a
person. And it’s important for the biographer to know how a young audience will
connect to their subject’s life, experiences and or achievements to the
larger human condition. The answer to this question is vital: Why does this
person’s contribution to the world matter? Rosenstock's books are great examples to show how she focused her writing to do just that. For example:
In 1814 the
British burned the Washington D.C. capitol and Thomas Jefferson’s books from
his personal library rebuilt the Library of Congress.
President Teddy Roosevelt
left Washington D. C. to go camping in Yosemite with California naturalist
John Muir. That trip inspired the campaign to protect and preserve the nation’s
wilderness through the establishment of our National Parks.
“Teedie and Johnnie didn’t
have much in common – but they shared a love of the outdoors. They both loved a
good story, too. And that was enough to change America.”- The Camping Trip That Changed America
In one interview, Rosenstock talks about the struggle to find the focus
of her story about Dorothea Lange. Although she felt Dorothea was an
interesting character, she couldn’t find the hook for kids. Then she listened
to an interview where Lange talked about ‘seeing’ and it clicked.
Rosenstock realized the focus should be about "...an unseen little girl who observes the world and using a camera, creates
art with her eyes and heart. Will there ever be another Dorothea Lange? No. But
are there children on the planet today whose unique way of seeing could someday
create art that helps others? Yes. Yes. Yes.” - Barbara Rosenstock
“Dorothea opens her grey-green eyes. They are special eyes. They see what others miss…” - Dorothea’s Eyes
See Barbara Rosenstock’ s YouTube Channel book trailers for
more about how she hooks readers so they long to learn more about the people she
writes about.
Structure
Picture book biographies are typically written as birth to death stories or are
focused on a key event in the subject’s life.
In Vincent Can’t Sleep, Rosenstock
used lyrical language and imagery, to tell the life story of Vincent Van Gogh and his insomnia to show how he created his art.
Back Matter
Back
matter differs from book to book and adds in-depth historically and or culturally relevant context to a story. It allows writers to include interesting information
important to a person’s life that doesn’t fit in the narrative arc of a 32
or 40 page book.
The extensive back matter in Streak: How Joe DiMaggioBecame America’s Hero, takes up all 4 pages on 2 spreads. It includes an
author’s note, statistics, source notes for quotations, newspaper headlines, a bibliography,
articles, websites, and additional sources and acknowledgments. The amount of
information provided is a testament to the exhaustive research Rosenstock
conducted to write this story.
Rosenstock found the
inspiration for her books when reading an obituary in the dentist office, on a
research trip for another book idea, and from one line in a book about the Bible. In her SCBWI artist
statement she wrote, “By writing and presenting on true
events, historical people and reverberations through history, I hope to give
children and their parents or teachers a sense of their importance to the
world’s story as well as to inspire the future. History is important. Our
individual stories make up history.”
Barbara Rosenstock's books
are a must read for anyone interested in writing a picture book biography.
Author's note: More about Barb
! She was born on
April Fools’ Day.
! As a child she felt
2 was a soft, baby number, 4 was insanely organized
and 6 was just
plain mean and nasty.
! She’s published with
Mary GrandPré, illustrator of the Harry Potter books.
! She likes animals, has
two poodles and hundreds of poodle figurines.
! Her favorite dessert
is vanilla bean ice cream with fresh strawberries
! She worked in advertising and education before becoming a
writer.
Happy reading research!
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