A couple weeks ago I took my girls to our local bookstore and we happened across a display for Brad Meltzer’s nonfiction children’s picture books. Having heard some good things about the books I decided to allow each girl to pick one of the titles from this series of real life stories of ordinary people who changed the world. That day we ended selecting two of the titles on display and brought home a copy of I Am Abraham Lincoln, as well as I Am Rosa Parks.
I’m going to be honest. My second grader loves math. She loves science. She really likes history and social science. But reading is not her favorite yet. As much as I LOVE reading I was struggling to find a way to engage my daughter to willingly, and without prompting, read an age appropriate book that challenged her.
When we arrived home that day she couldn’t wait to start reading I Am Rosa Parks and as soon as she was finished asked me to read it as well. Knowing how her mind worked I promptly read through the book so she could ask me the questions she had about the real struggles she had learned about Rosa Parks facing and overcoming in the book (as she did in real life). This book was so intriguing to her that it won out over playing games, watching TV, or just goofing off on a Saturday afternoon.
After doing a little research on why a well known and successful thriller author would start writing a line of nonfiction historical books about real life people who made profound impacts on the world I was able to appreciate these books even more. A few years back Brad Meltzer was searching for shirts for his daughter and all he could find had princesses on them. This series of books ended up being his solution to finding real life heros to introduce his daughte to, and I must say, I am extremely grateful that another more talented parent out there came up with these!
To see the complete listing of available titles take a look at Brad Meltzer’s website. There are currently 5 titles of the “I Am…” series listed on his website, but with the help of illustrator Christopher Eliopoulos, Meltzer has promised to continue providing more titles!
*I was in no way compensated for this review post and all opinions expressed are my own.*
