Perkin's Perfect Purple

How a Boy Created Color with Chemistry

Disney Hyperion

(pub. 10.6.2020) 

56 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Tami Lewis Brown

       and Debbie Loren Dunn
       and illustrator: Francesca Sanna

C haracter: William Henry Perkin

O verview:

 

"Many years ago, the color purple was available only to a privileged few. Making purple was tricky. The dye was concocted from a certain snail, and later, from plants, bugs, and rocks. Then it had to be soaked in minerals and . . . urine! The process was very complicated and expensive (not to mention smelly!).

Until 1856, when a boy named William Henry Perkin invented a new way. While testing a hypothesis about a cure for malaria, he found that his experiment resulted in something else -- something vivid and rare for the times: synthetic PURPLE. Perkin, a pioneer of the modern scientific method, made numerous advances possible, including canned food and chemotherapy. But it was his creation of purple that started it all."

T antalizing taste:    

"This is how it happened.

William's father was a successful carpenter.

His brother, a proud architect.

Young William dreamed of being an artist, a musician, a photographer, or a botanist ...

William was interested in everything!

When he was twelve, a friend showed him experiments with crystals, and he knew this was far more exciting than any other subject.

He began to collect glassware and equipment, and set up a lab in his house, in Shadwell, East London.

There he mixed and measured, experimented and examined."

And something more:  The Authors' Note explains "the color of our world is not the only thing William changed. The dyes that followed from Perkin's discovery allowed medical researchers to stain invisible bacteria and microbes, leading to cures for tuberculosis, cholera, and even anthrax. Methods he and others developed for changing the molecular structure of organic compounds, a process known as 'Perkin's Synthesis,' yielded synthetic smells and tastes that never existed before. Our world looks, smells, tastes, and feels different because of William Perkin."

Elizabeth Started All the Trouble

Disney Hyperion
(published 2.23.2016)
40 pages 


A True Tale
with A Cherry On Top 

 A uthor: Doreen Rappaport

and Illustrator: Matt Faulkner

C haracter: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
                    and other American women
                    who fought for women's rights

O verview from the jacket flap: 

    "She couldn't go to college
     She couldn't become a politician.
     She couldn't even vote.
     But Elizabeth Cady Stanton didn't let that stop her.
     She called on women across the nation to stand together and demand to be treated as equal to men - and that included the right to vote. It took nearly seventy-five years and generations of women fighting for their rights through words, through action and through pure determination ... for things to slowly begin to change
     With the help of these trailblazers' own words, Doreen Rappaport's engaging text, brought to life by Matt Faulkner's vibrant illustrations, shows readers just how far this revolution has come, and inspires them to keep it going!"
    
T antalizing taste: 
     
    "On January 10, 1917, the suffragists started picketing in front of the White House. In rain. In snow. In blistering heat, they stood silently with their signs.
     Angry mobs attacked them. The police did nothing to protect them, nor did they arrest any of their attackers. In the next eleven months, more than two hundred women were arrested for picketing. Almost one hundred women served time in prison. Alice Paul was sentenced to seven months and thrown into solitary confinement for two weeks with nothing to eat but bread and water. Lucy Burns and forty other women were beaten.
     Other suffragists took their places in front of the White House.
     Newspapers wrote about the brutal treatment of the women. Support for their cause grew. A judge finally ruled that the arrests were unconstitutional and ordered the women freed.
     A year after the women started picketing, President Wilson declared his support for an amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote.
     On August 26, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote, became law."

and something more: The Author's Note reminds us "what seems hard to believe today, with girls and young women asserting leadership in so many different fields, that there was a time when women had no real legal rights... In 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed that women have the right to vote- along with many other rights - most people considered her ideas preposterous and controversial. Women who agreed with her were mocked and slandered... They were not just fighting for their own rights; they were fighting to change history for all people. The decision to 'include' all Americans as real citizens is still unfolding in this country Remember thee women when you need courage!"
    I thought the choice of narrative of this book to include all the women, and supportive men, was a powerful way to tell the story of the suffragists. And Matt Faulkner's evocative illustrations truly bring the sacrifice, determination and courage of these women to life.

Helen's Big World

The Life of Helen Keller

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday hosted today by

The Miss Rumphius Effect

and joins It's Monday! What are you reading?
at Teacher Mentor Texts

Disney Hyperion Books

(pub. 10.16.12)  48 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Doreen Rappaport

     and Illustrator:  Matt Tavares

C haracter: Helen Keller

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "Blind, deaf, and unable to speak from toddlerhood, young Helen Keller lived in a dark, silent world. Despite her handicaps, Helen wanted to experience every part of life; with her passion for discovery and the help of an unrivaled teacher, Annie Sullivan, Helen found that knowledge would soon lead to freedom... And with knowledge and freedom came wisdom... And with her wisdom, Helen knew that she could change the world by speaking out against the injustices she witnessed...
       With her signature style of prose laced with stirring quotes, Doreen Rappaport brings to life Helen Keller's poignant narrative. Acclaimed illustrator Matt Tavares captures the dynamism and verve of Helen Keller's life and legacy, making Helen's Big World an unforgettable portrait of a woman whose vision for progress changed America - and the world - forever."

        

T antalizing taste: 

           "But some people questioned how Helen could describe things that she could not see or hear. They did not understand that she could smell lilacs and roses and feel the golden rays of the sun on her face and the soft, springy earth under her feet."

          

and something more:  In the Illustrator's Note, Matt Tavares explains the challenges of illustrating Helen's Big World: "[At first] I was overwhelmed by the challenge of trying to visually capture the story of a person who could not see or hear. It seemed impossible... I realized that maybe I was thinking about Helen Keller the wrong way. I was defining her by her deafness and blindness, but there was so much more to her story. Helen Keller never saw the ocean or heard the sound of crashing waves. But she could feel the exhilaration of jumping in the water. She could ride in a sailboat, and feel the fluttering in her stomach as the sea rose and fell. She could taste the salty ocean spray, and feel the cold water as it splashed on her face. I ... tried to make sure my pictures focused on all the things she could do ..." 
            Two of Matt Tavare's illustrations (one of which is the cover) echo Doreen Rappaport's text by showing Helen Keller, in profile as a young woman and then as an older woman, reveling in the smell of a rose "and feel [of] the golden rays of the sun on her face."  

Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Chapter Book of the Day


Disney Hyperion (pub. 2.2.2010)
96 pages 


A True Tale with A Cherry On Top
 

A uthor: SARAH STEWART TAYLOR

              and Illustrator/cartoonist:  BEN TOWLE

C haracter: Amelia Earhart, pilot and aviation pioneer


O verview from book flap:
     "Amelia Earhart developed a love of flying at a very young age  What began as a simple joy became something much deeper - a commitment to open doors for all women... In Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean, Taylor and Towle focus on Amelia's triumphant crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, offering us a glimpse of her relentless ambition and her tireless will to promote women's rights..."

T antalizing taste:
    
December 1920  Daugherty Field Long Beach, California
     "Dad, I'd... I'd like to go up.  What do you think?"
     "Are you sure? It's dangerous, Amelia.  These planes are always crashing, you know."
     "Just to try it.  Please, Dad."
     "All right.  I'll see how much it costs.  Ahoy! You there!... My daughter would like to go for a ride.  How much?
     "Your daughter?
     "My daughter.
     "You sure, mister?"
     "Yes."
     "Ten dollars for ten minutes.
     "Be here tomorrow at nine.


The next morning [illustrations of Amelia going up in airplane with pilot.]
     [Man on the ground to Amelia's father] "Girl's got moxie.  Ya don't mind me sayin.'
     [Amelia's father]: "That's my Amelia."


and something more:  I diverged from reviewing picture book biographies to include this graphic novel to fit within the scope of today's Nonfiction Monday host, Chapter Book of the Day.  And, I was intrigued to read it because it's one of several cartoon biographies presented by The Center for Cartoon Studies.  Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean celebrates Women's History Month.  The introduction to the graphic novel is written by Eileen Collins, a former NASA astronaut and the first female pilot of a Space Shuttle in 1991 (and later the first woman commander in 1999). Eileen Collins describes the impact Amelia Earhart had on her career, and quotes her: "'The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity ... You can do anything you decide to do.  You can act to change and control your life." 
     Eileen Collins recounts that she was given one of Amelia Earhart's scarves by Carol Osborne, an aviation historian.  NASA arranged to have the scarf "carefully folded and vacuum-packed in clear plastic along with the other special items my crew members had arranged to have on board. I took a great deal of comfort and pride knowing that one of Amelia Earhart's possessions was part of my first space mission.  Shortly after I returned to Earth, I made sure to get the scarf, along with a whole lot of gratitude, back to Carol Osborne.  It is now among Amelia's treasured goods."
     And just as Amelia Earhart was a role model for Eileen Collins, Eileen Collins is now returning the favor by being a role model for today's girls with a dream.