Books in On My Own Biography series

This biography for new readers tells Pablo Picasso's story by describing the evolution of his art--from his Blue Period to his Rose Period to cubism. As a child in Spain, Picasso drew pigeons, bullfights, and guitars. When he left home, he painted people who were poor and lonely like he was. During his Rose Period in Paris, he painted happy pictures. Young readers can follow the most significant events of Picasso's life told in an engaging story format, as they're represented in his art.

As the young daughter of a powerful Powhatan leader, Pocahontas befriended the English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia. Although she helped them survive their difficult first years, and she may have saved settler John Smith's life, they took Pocahontas captive. After her release, Pocahontas married an English settler and journeyed to England. Although she was just twenty-one years old when she died, Pocahontas changed American history through her compassion and friendship.

High in the sky, Bessie Coleman could soar like a bird. She was free―at least until she landed. As a black woman in the 1920s, she wasn't allowed to learn how to fly. Forced to travel to France to learn, she became the first African American woman to earn her pilot's license. Whether she was wing-walking, giving a speech, parachuting, or flying, Coleman inspired people with her bravery and resolve.

Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up listening to her Pa's fascinating tales about living on the prairies, in the woods, and on the plains. When she was 65 years old, Laura began to write down her most treasured memories and tales from her youth. Children of all ages have come to love and treasure the books that resulted. Enter the fascinating world of the little girl who once lived in a little house on the prairie.

From the time he was a young boy on a farm in Alabama until he received his fourth Olympic gold medal in Berlin in 1936, all Jesse Owens wanted to do was run. Overcoming sickness, poverty, and racial discrimination, Jesse worked hard, shattered many track and field records, and earned countless medals and trophies. But perhaps his greatest and most important accomplishment came when he stood up to the hatred of Adolf Hitler and proved that the belief in the superiority of German athletes was false. This beautifully illustrated and simply told biography tells the inspirational story of a man with strength of spirit and heart.