Books in My Name Is America series

The Spaniard, Pablo Picasso, is considered one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists. He spent most of his life in France, where he and his friend Georges Braque pioneered in the style called cubism. However, Picasso painted and sculpted in many different styles. Among his most famous works is Guernica, which he painted in 1937 as a statement of protest against fascists and the Spanish Civil War. Older boys and girls will find hours of reading pleasure in the very accessible biographies in the My Name Is ... series. The narratives are substantial, averaging roughly 7,500 words each, as they recount their subjects’ accomplishments in the context of their times and historical backgrounds. Each book’s narrative is supplemented with handsome full-color illustrations, including some of full-page size. Titles in this series make ideal additions both to school and home libraries, and can serve as supplementary reading for classroom discussion and essay projects. A two-page time line at the back of each book summarizes the subject’s life, as well as important cultural and historical events that occurred during his lifetime.

Leonardo was one of the greatest figures of the Italian Renaissance. Born in 1452 in the town of Vinci, he first made his reputation as an artist in Florence. But he was also a pioneer in modern science, a student of human anatomy, and an inventor of devices that were used in his day as military weapons. He is perhaps best known today for his painting of the Mona Lisa, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris, and for his fresco of The Last Supper, located in Milan. Older boys and girls will find hours of reading pleasure in the very accessible biographies in the My Name Is ... series. The narratives are substantial, averaging roughly 7,500 words each, as they recount their subjects’ accomplishments in the context of their times and historical backgrounds. Each book’s narrative is supplemented with handsome full-color illustrations, including some of full-page size. Titles in this series make ideal additions both to school and home libraries, and can serve as supplementary reading for classroom discussion and essay projects. A two-page time line at the back of each book summarizes the subject’s life, as well as important cultural and historical events that occurred during his lifetime.

Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep's incredible JOURNAL OF WONG MING-CHUNG is now in paperback with a stunning repackaging! In 1852, during the height of the California Gold Rush, ten-year-old Wong makes the dangerous trip to America to live with his uncle, exchanging the famine and war of his native country for brutal bullies and grueling labor in America, Wong joins his uncle and countless others in the effort to strike it rich on the great "Golden Mountain." Unfortunately, he, and most of the rest of the dreamers, soon discover that there's no such thing as a Golden Mountain, only dirt, mud, and occasionally tiny flecks of gold dust--flecks that are to be turned over to the owners of the mines, in return for barely livable wages. However, someone as clever and resourceful as Wong will have to find other ingenious ways of making money if they're going to make it in America. But can they overcome the bitter, racist white Americans to find success?

Here’s the story of one of the world’s greatest scientists. His parents thought he was rather slow in childhood, but perhaps he was merely keeping his thoughts to himself. Born in Germany in 1879, he published his famous theory of special relativity in 1905, which revolutionized science. Later as a refugee from Nazi persecution, he fled to America and spent many satisfying years at Princeton University. Older boys and girls will find hours of reading pleasure in the very accessible biographies in the My Name Is ... series. The narratives are substantial, averaging roughly 7,500 words each, as they recount their subjects’ accomplishments in the context of their times and historical backgrounds. Each book’s narrative is supplemented with handsome full-color illustrations, including some of full-page size. Titles in this series make ideal additions both to school and home libraries, and can serve as supplementary reading for classroom discussion and essay projects. A two-page time line at the back of each book summarizes the subject’s life, as well as important cultural and historical events that occurred during his lifetime.

Vincent van Gogh was born in the Netherlands, but spent most of his life as an artist in Paris and the southern French town of Arles. His art, with its unusually vibrant colors and fantastic shapes, found very little acceptance during his lifetime, and he was supported in large part by his more practical brother, Theo, an art dealer. Vincent suffered from periods of clinical depression, which culminated with his suicide in 1890, when he was only 47 years old. His recognition as one of the great artists of his time came only after his death. Older boys and girls will find hours of reading pleasure in the very accessible biographies in the My Name Is ... series. The narratives are substantial, averaging roughly 7,500 words each, as they recount their subjects’ accomplishments in the context of their times and historical backgrounds. Each book’s narrative is supplemented with handsome full-color illustrations, including some of full-page size. Titles in this series make ideal additions both to school and home libraries, and can serve as supplementary reading for classroom discussion and essay projects. A two-page time line at the back of each book summarizes the subject’s life, as well as important cultural and historical events that occurred during his lifetime.