Books in Dell Yearling Biography series

Ben Franklin was an amazing American because he was:* a printer and businessman who created Poor Richard's Almanac* the inventor of the lightning rod and the Franklin stove* a community leader who started the first public library in America* a statesman who helped to gain our country's freedom from the BritishThese are only a few ways in which Ben was amazing. This book tells you much more about him.

As a young girl, Sacajawea was separated from her family when she was captured by a band of Minnetaree warriors and taken to be their slave. Several years later, she was bought by a French fur trader to be his wife. Then, in 1804, when she was only sixteen years old, Sacajawea met Lewis and Clark.Carrying her infant son on her back, Sacajawea helped guide the famous team of explorers through the uncharted terrain of the western United States. Her courageous efforts made an important contribution to America's history.

Today many children dream of playing professional baseball. Perhaps you are one of them. If you have good athletic skills and you work hard, your dream may be realized. But this wasn't always true for athletes in the first part of this century. More was required. A player had to be white. Black players--no matter how well they could hit, catch, or throw--were not signed up by the major leagues.One brave black player named Jackie Robinson worked to change the "rules," so that all races could have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams on the baseball diamond--or anywhere. This is Jackie Robinson's story.

When Laura Ingalls Wilder was a little girl in the late 1800's, her family moved nine times in three years. The Wilders faced great hardships on the prairie. The crops they planted were destroyed by grasshoppers. Brutal snowstorms brought them close to starvation. But for Laura, who was born with her father's pioneer spirit, home wasn't a house--it was being with Ma, Pa, Mary, and baby Carrie. At the age of 65 she put pen to paper and wrote about memories. Through hard work and the help of her daughter, Rose, she became a successful author. The wonderful books she left behind tell the story of a rich life in the face of good times and bad.

When Walt Disney was a child, he loved to draw. It's no wonder he grew up to create such memorable and loveable characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.Walt Disney spent a lifetime entertaining and delighting millions of children and adults alike--on film, on television, and in his magical kingdoms of Disneyland and Disney world. This is his story.

"You get up now!" The bus driver told the young black boy to move to the back of the bus.But fourteen-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. did not move."Come on now, M.L.," said his teacher. "We have to move. It's the law."Martin Luther King, Jr. moved to the back of the bus that day in 1943, but he never forgot how it made him feel. When he became a man, he fought to change that law and all others that denied black people their rights.Martin Luther King, Jr. began "Marching to Freedom," and many people--both black and white--followed him.This is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s story...his triumphs, his struggles, and above all, his dream of freedom and a better llife for all people!