Author’s Purpose/Perspective/Bias – Page 2

Stay Angry, Little Girl Inspired by Madeleine L’Engle, Illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan

October 25, 2025August 6, 2024 by Kellee

Stay Angry, Little Girl
Inspired by: Madeleine L’Engle
Illustrator: Michelle Jing Chan
Published August 6th, 2024 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) / Macmillan

Summary: An empowering message inspired by a beloved quote from Madeleine L’Engle’s enduring classic A Wrinkle in Time.

“Stay angry, little Meg,” Mrs. Whatsit whispered. “You will need all your anger now.”

This picture book encourages girls everywhere to proudly share their ideas and emotions, even if those traits will be met with resistance. Because being brave, sensitive, stubborn, curious, loud, kind, and playful helps them build strength and stay true to themselves.

Michelle Jing Chan’s bright artwork welcomes girls of all backgrounds to use these important affirmations.

“[This book] gives girls a full-throated endorsement to be true to themselves… Empowering.” —Kirkus

About the Creator: Michelle Jing Chan is a queer Chinese American illustrator who grew up in Colorado and lives in the Pacific Northwest. Inspired by nature, cultural folklore, and fantasy, Michelle aspires to illustrate diverse, empowering stories her younger self would have loved. When she’s not drawing, she can be found attempting new recipes, reading, or watching spooky TV shows.

Review: This book takes everything that misogynists pin on little girls as negative and shows how they are powerful traits that make us better people. As a woman who was told as a young child that she was too big, physically, emotionally, and vocally, I give this book a standing ovation because there are so many girls who are told not to be angry or kind or curious or loud or stubborn or… or… or… This book truly illustrates that these traits can be the superpower within us to be a better person or to make the world a better place. What makes the book even more powerful is the illustrations because they take very scarce text and show the how and why all while including characters that will connect with every reader.

Tools for Navigation: Read this book aloud and have it lead to amazing conversations to help end misogynistic thoughts!

Also, free coloring sheets can be downloaded here (provided by the illustrator)!

Discussion Questions:

What is a trait that you have been told is negative about you? How is this trait something that makes you a better you?
Think of a trait that is often seen as negative. How can this trait be reframed to be positive?
What do you think the author’s purpose was in creating this book? The theme of the book?
How can someone being told that something about them is “bad” affect them over time?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Affirmations, Girl Power books, Any reminder to be true to yourself

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Nicole Banholzer PR for providing a copy for review!**

Cross-Curricular Educators’ Guide for Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale

July 16, 2024 by Kellee

Above the Trenches (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12): A WWI Flying Ace Tale
Author & Illustrator: Nathan Hale
Published: November 14th, 2023 by Abrams Fanfare

Summary: In Above the Trenches, author-illustrator Nathan Hale takes to the skies with the flying aces of World War I to reveal another Hazardous Tale in American history in the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series.

“Yippee! We’re going back to World War One!” said nobody ever—except maybe the Hangman.

When the Great War began in 1914, America had plans to stay out of it. But some young men were so eager to fight, they joined the French Foreign Legion. From deep in the mud and blood of the Western Front, these young volunteers looked to the sky and saw the future—the airplane.

The first American pilots to fight in World War One flew for the French military. France created a squadron of volunteer Americans called the Lafayette Escadrille (named after the great Marquis de Lafayette).

This book is about that volunteer How they got into the French military. How they learned to fly. How they fought—and died. And how these American pilots would go down in history with other legendary flying aces like the Red Baron and his Flying Circus.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all—if you dare!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the cross-curricular educators’ guide I created for Abrams for Above the Trenches:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

You can learn more about Above the Trenches on Abrams’s page.

Recommended For:

Discussion Guide for Totally Psychic by Brigid Martin

July 2, 2024 by Kellee

Totally Psychic
Author: Brigid Martin
Published: August 15, 2023 by Inkyard Press

Summary: This debut middle grade series stars a Cuban-American tween medium navigating friends, family and ghosts!

Paloma Ferrer is psychic. In fact, everyone in her family line has “the gift.” Now that Paloma has come into her powers, she dreams of a famous medium to celebrities, being just like her beloved grandma.

When Paloma’s parents move them from Miami to Los Angeles, she hatches a plan to get her career as a medium up and running:

Host seances at her new school and stream on social media
Build her profile and make a name for herself
Avoid detection from her tattletale of a little sister

But when a reading gone awry leaves Paloma in a sticky situation with a new friend, she’ll need more than a crystal ball to find her way out of this mess.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the discussion guide I created for Cake Creative Kitchen for Totally Psychic:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

Recommended For:

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story by Sarah-Soonling Blackburn

April 21, 2025June 27, 2024 by Ricki

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story
Author: Sarah-Soonling Blackburn
Published: March 26, 2024 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Summary: Until now, you’ve only heard one side of the story, but Chinese American history extends far beyond the railroads. Here’s the true story of America, from the Chinese American perspective.

If you’ve learned about the history of Chinese people in America, it was probably about their work on the railroads in the 1800s. But more likely, you may not have learned about it at all. This may make it feel like Chinese immigration is a newer part of this country, but some scholars believe the first immigrant arrived from China 499 CE–one thousand years before Columbus did!

When immigration picked up in the mid-1800s, efforts to ban immigrants from China began swiftly. But hope, strength, and community allowed the Chinese population in America to flourish. From the gold rush and railroads to entrepreneurs, animators, and movie stars, this is the true story of the Chinese American experience.

Review: I am so glad that this book exists, and I especially recommend the audiobook. It tells the Chinese American experience from the very beginning—more specifically, from the first moment that a Chinese person came to America and the racism that Chinese Americans have experienced for centuries. The chapters are dense and filled with incredibly important information. I read a chapter each night to help me digest and think about each one of the topics and time periods covered. I especially appreciated the questions at the end of the chapters. This book is important for readers of all ages.

Tools for Navigation: I wish more books like this one were taught in history classrooms. It’s imperative that young people don’t get a white-washed, sanitized version of US history. The Race to the Truth series (and this book, in particular) allow young people to read from many different perspectives to understand the truth about our country.

Discussion Questions:

Which information did you find most surprising? Most interesting?
How has racism evolved across the centuries for Chinese Americans?
How can you use what you learned to share truths with others?

Read This If You Love: History books, conversations about equity, nonfiction

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review**

Discussion Guide for The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado

October 25, 2025June 18, 2024 by Kellee

The Lilies
Author: Quinn Diacon-Furtado
Published: April 30th, 2024 by HarperTeen

Summary: One of Us Is Lying meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this don’t-dare-to-look-away dark academia thriller that explores how secrets can rot an institution–and the people who uphold it–from the inside out.

Everyone wants to be a Lily.

At Archwell Academy, it’s the ticket to a successful future. But like every secret society, there is something much darker beneath the surface … sometimes girls disappear.

When four Archwell students find themselves trapped in a time loop, they must relive their worst memories, untangling the Lilies’ moldering roots and unraveling the secrets at the core of their school … before they destroy their futures forever.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the discussion guide I created for Cake Creative:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

Recommended For:

Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep by Jeanne Walker Harvey, Illustrated by Melodie Stacey

June 11, 2024 by Kellee

Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep
Author: Jeanne Walker Harvey
Illustrator: Melodie Stacey
Published June 4th, 2024 by Cameron Kids

Summary: Else B. in the Sea is a poetic picture book biography about a daring and pioneering woman artist that combines themes of art and science from author Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrator Melodie Stacey.

Else Bostelmann donned a red swimsuit and a copper diving helmet and, with paints and brushes in hand, descended into the choppy turquoise sea off the coast of Bermuda. It was 1930, and few had ventured deep into the sea before. She discovered a fairyland six fathoms below the surface—fantastic coral castles, glittering sunbeams, swaying sea plumes, and slender purple sea fans. And fish! Flashy silverfish, puckering blue parrotfish, iridescent jellyfish.

Else painted under the sea! She painted what she saw with her own eyes, and, back on land, she painted the never-before-seen deep-sea creatures described by world-renowned scientist William Beebe on his momentous 1930s bathysphere expeditions for the New York Zoological Society’s Department of Tropical Research. It was a daring and glamorous adventure and a dream come true for Else B., who shared this new, unfathomable world with humankind.

About the Creators:

Jeanne Walker Harvey is the author of many picture books, including Boats on the Bay, as well as the well-received picture book biographies Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas (winner of the 2022 Northern California Book Awards – Children’s Literature Younger Readers and Jane Addams Children’s Book Award finalist), Dressing Up the Stars: The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head, and Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines (a NSTA Best STEM Book of the Year). She lives in Sonoma, California. For free downloadable activities and more, visit her website, jeanneharvey.com.

Melodie Stacey is a fine artist and illustrator whose work can be found in the picture book Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made. She lives in Brighton, UK.

Instagram
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @jeannewharvey
Melodie Stacey: @melodiestacey
Cameron Kids/ABRAMS Kids: @cameron_kids and @abramskids
Blue Slip Media: @blue_slip_media

Twitter/X
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @JeanneWHarvey
Melodie Stacey: @Melodiestacey
Cameron Kids/ABRAMS Kids: @abramskids
Blue Slip Media: @blueslipper & @barbfisch

Pinterest
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @JeanneWalkerHarvey

Review: I love learning about new people (to me) from history that expand my knowledge of the world. Else is such a cool character and to know she is a real person makes it even more intriguing and amazing. Else is definitely a person whose story should have already been told, and I am so glad that Harvey and Stacey are telling it now.

Like Harvey has done in all of her picture book biographies that I’ve read by her, she expertly mixes narrative and nonfiction to ensure the book not only teaches the reader about the person but also entertains and keeps attention along the way. This is so important to ensure that readers will gravitate towards hearing this story with a side effect of learning about an amazing person, in this case Else.

Stacey’s illustrations take Harvey’s words and make them sing off the page with illustrations that range from full page to small additions, keeping the eyes from ever wanting to stop exploring the art, just like Else explored the sea.

Tools for Navigation: There is so much to do in conjunction with this book in the classroom! After reading the book aloud, I would then make sure to read the author’s note and dive deeper into:

Deep sea creatures and what has changed in our knowledge of them since Else’s time.
How color changes when light is removed, including the underwater color spectrums.
Why women scientists were excluded normally during Else’s time and how including them affected how others viewed the expeditions that Else was part of.
How paint and salt water interact and trying to paint under water!
Other woman who took first steps that need to have their story told.
The science behind bioluminescence.
The math of the ocean.

Discussion Questions:

How do you think Else’s childhood and roadblocks early in her life affect her?
What does Else’s idea to practice painting the “ocean firsthand” and “descending as far as she could by herself” tell you about the type of person Else was? How about her ability to learn to paint underwater?
How has scuba gear changed over time?
Why did William Beebe have to kill animals to allow them to be studied/painted? What are your thoughts on this?
How did Else’s paintings of Beebe’s discoveries give “people a way to escape their worries”?
Why do you think Harvey wanted to tell Else’s story?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Picture book biographies, Science, Ocean creatures

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

The Dinosaur in the Garden by Deb Pilutti

May 28, 2024 by Kellee

The Dinosaur in the Garden
Author & Illustrator: Deb Pilutti
Published May 21st, 2024 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Summary: After waiting millions of years, a T Rex thinks a curious girl might just find the clues he left behind, making his story part of hers.

It’s been millions of years since this dinosaur has been so excited. There’s a girl—a curious girl—exploring the land right where he used to live!

Will she be the one to find the clues he left millions of years ago?

Could she be the one to bring his story back to life?!

This lyrical picture book captures the vastness of geologic time while also showing how close the traces of the distant past can be—as long as we are curious enough to look.

Praise: “The author of 2020’s clever and engaging Old Rock (Is Not Boring) tackles the theme of geologic time from another angle. . . [The book] ends with an enticing invitation to join in dinosaur research and study. . . An engaging suggestion that hints of the past are there for the finding, if we will but look.” —Kirkus

About the Author: Deb Pilutti wrote and illustrated Old Rock (is not boring), Ten Rules of Being a Superhero, Bear and Squirrel Are Friends, and The Secrets of Ninja School, and illustrated Idea Jar by Adam Lehrhaupt. Deb lives with her husband and their border collie, Wilson, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Follow her on Twitter @dpilutti.

Review: Deb Pilutti, like she did in Old Rock, does a great job giving voice to things that may not usually be heard. I think we often hear from dinosaurs living in their own time, but not often do we hear from a dinosaur from the past; this is how the creator takes her book to the next level–this isn’t just another dino book! She also is great at creating really entertaining picture books with a scientific element, and although the messages of the book are clear, she does this without turning the book into a didactic narrative. Another really fun read by Deb Pilutti!

Tools for Navigation: This is a wonderful interdisciplinary text! It will make a great read aloud and will lend itself to amazing visual literacy analysis, but it also is a jumping off point for a lesson about dinosaurs!

First, I would use the book to have students look at different characteristics of the dinosaurs introduced and why the characteristics are what they are.

Second, I would have the students see if all of the dinos included are from the same time period and make a timeline of when they lived.

Third, I would change the conversation to talking about fossils and paleontology, utilizing some of the author’s notes in the back. (Also, it would be fun to look at if there are any fossils that have been found in your area!)

Fourth, I would would use our unnamed protagonist to start a conversation about what each student wants to be when they grow up (and maybe have them find a book connected to that career).

Discussion Questions:

How does the creator show you in the images when the dinosaur is alive versus when it is not?
What other clues do you pick up in the images that aren’t in the words?
Which dinosaur in the book is your favorite?
How are the dinosaurs the same? Different?
How did the dinosaurs become extinct?
How did the fossil in her backyard influence our protagonist?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Dinosaurs, science

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Aubrey at Penguin Young Readers for providing a copy for review!**