Literary Biography

Melvil Dewey loved order (Organize mother’s jelly jars), efficiency (Why spell his name Melville when Melvil has fewer letters and sounds the same?), and keeping records (Height! Weight! Earnings!). Melvil also loved books and numbers and decimals. When he realized every library organized their books differently (Size! Title! Color!), he wondered if he could invent a system all libraries could use to ORGANIZE them EFFICIENTLY.

As soon as artist Robert McCloskey saw the ducks in Boston Public Garden, he knew he had to write about them. But how? Studying stuffed birds didn’t help. Would inviting some into his apartment work? What? Was he quack-ers? For months ducklings slept on his sofa and swam in his bathtub, making incredible messes. Quack! Quack! His roommate was not amused and his neighbors complained, but Robert did not give up. As the ducklings grew, he got down on his hands and knees and followed them with pad and pencil.

Gary Paulsen takes listeners along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that owned him, good, bad, and beloved, and how they got him through terrifying storms that he survived by sheer luck. His spare prose conjures up shark surprises and killer waves as well as moonlight on the sea, and makes listeners feel what it’s like to sail under the stars or to lie at anchor in a tropical lagoon where dolphins leap, bathed in silver.

Theodor Fontane begann seine Karriere als Apotheker. Doch das Schreiben lag ihm im Blut und so wurde er Journalist und später Schriftsteller. Er war gezwungen, für den preußischen König zu arbeiten, gegen den er sich einst aufgelehnt hatte. Doch in seinen Werken kritisierte er die Gesellschaft, in der er lebte und die Kriege, die er hautnah erlebte...

Gary Soto writes that when he was five "what I knew best was at ground level." In this lively collection of short essays, Soto takes his listener to a ground-level perspective, recreating in vivid detail the sights, sounds, smells, and textures he knew growing up in his Fresno, California, neighborhood. The "things" of his boyhood tie it all together: his Buddha "splotched with gold", the taps of his shoes, and the "engines of sparks that lived beneath my soles", his worn tennies smelling of "summer grass, asphalt, the moist sock breathing the defeat of baseball". The child’s world is made up of small things - small, very important things.

"Si je vous parle aujourd'hui, c'est qu'il y a une nouveauté. [...] Je ne veux plus voler, je ne veux plus mentir. Je veux mener une vie de morte, ouvertement, sans honte. C'est ce qu'on me demande, je suppose. Je suis une personne 'en plus', mais je suis là. Si j'étais véritablement indésirable, on me l'aurait signifié, je me serais liquéfiée, dissoute. Si je suis encore là, c'est qu'il y a un sens à ce non-être. À moi de le trouver. Voilà mon travail nouveau, voilà ma tâche." (Macha Méril)

Charles was stuck putting labels on bottles! He kept dreaming of going back to school. Everyone told him to forget his dreams. But instead of letting go of his dreams, Charles held on to them and turned his dreams into something that changed the world.

Born as Theodor Geisel in 1904, Dr. Seuss was attracted to writing humorous stories from a young age, even as a contributor to Dartmouth's humor magazine. During the first 30 years of his life, he wrote humorous short stories, articles, and even comic strips for a variety of publications. Occasionally, he used his middle name, Seuss, to publish. But it was not until the late 1930s and early 1940s that "Dr. Seuss" truly found his niche in children's publications.

This inspiring biography tells the story of New York City's first Puerto Rican librarian, a woman who championed bilingual literature. When she came to America in 1921, Pura Belpré carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy.

Cuando llegó a Estados Unidos, en 1921, Pura traía los cuentos folclóricos de su querido Puerto Rico. Al encontrar un nuevo hogar en la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York como asistente bilingüe, convirtió sus historias populares en libros y esparció semillas de historias por todo el país.

This glorious biography of Maya Angelou’s life - from her traumatic childhood through her work as a freedom fighter and her triumphant rise as a poet - is a powerful tribute to a phenomenal woman.

مجموعة من قصص الفيديو بجودة عالية وأسلوب ممتع، يتعرف من خلالها الأطفال على شخصية مشهورة تركت أثرها في التاريخ الإنساني، والظروف التي عاشتها وأثرت في نبوغها وعبقريتها، بالإضافة إلى أهم إنجازاتها وابتكاراتها والجوائز العلمية التي حصلت عليها، وأي مجالات أخرى برعت فيها بعيداً عن مجالها الأساسي.

People have been telling their love stories for thousands of years. It is the greatest common human experience. And yet, love stories coach us to believe that love is selective, somehow, that it can be boxed in and easily defined. This is a collection of eleven remarkable essays that widen the...

All his life, William Stanley searched for a wild place of his own. Growing up in the straightened-out city blocks of his childhood and finding some respite in summer trips to a cabin in the woods, he yearned for space, fragrant soil, tall trees, and the silence that surrounds them. In Hawaii, he learned of acres of land depleted from toxic agricultural practices, and he became determined to restore that land and create one of the most comprehensive palm gardens in the world.

Books are one of humankind's greatest forms of expression, and now Book, in a witty, idiosyncratic voice, tells us the inside story. A wonderfully eccentric character with strong opinions and a poetic turn of phrase, Book tells of a journey from papyrus scrolls to medieval manuscripts to printed paper and beyond - pondering, along the way, many bookish things, including the evolution of the alphabet, the library (known to Egyptians as "the healing place of the soul"), and even book burning.

Get ready to chase your dreams after listening to this thrilling children's biography of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. A terrific source for a book report, Lin-Manuel Miranda: Lights Up tells the inspiring life story of the role model's transformation from a young boy with Broadway dreams to one of today's most respected artists.

Starting with Lucy Terry of the early 18th century and finishing with poet laureate Rita Dove, this inspiring anthology edited by Catherine Clinton captures the enormous talent and passion of black poets. Powerful and diverse, I, Too, Sing America is a forum for voices baring their souls, speaking their minds, tracing their roots, and proclaiming their dreams.

"Directing the Page" offers listeners an intimate exploration into the intertwined realms of filmmaking and literature as explored through the experiences of its author.

The Story of Dr. Seuss explores the fascinating life behind one of our favorite authors through rhyme. We know and love his books, including The Cat in The Hat, The Grinch, and Green Eggs and Ham, and now we can get to really know the man himself. In this short and fun biography, you will learn about Ted’s early years, family life, path to success, building and flourishing in his writing career and beyond!

This fictionalized first-person biography-in-verse of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra follows the early years of the child who grew up to pen Don Quixote, the first modern novel. The son of a gambling, vagabond barber-surgeon, Miguel looks to his own imagination for an escape from his family's troubles and finds comfort in his colorful daydreams. At a time when access to books was limited and imaginative books were considered evil, Miguel is inspired by storytellers and wandering actors who perform during festivals. He longs to tell stories of his own.