Esbaum, Jill  Little Kids First Big Book of Who
Gr. K–3    128 pp.    National Geographic

First Big Books series. This colorful, oversize book features concise but engaging bios of some of the world's most well-known artists, inventors, scientists, explorers, and human-rights leaders. Information about each individual is presented in accessible language geared at young readers, who will delight in the interesting boxed facts and many bright photographs and illustrations. "Parent tips" to "expand your child's experience" are appended. Reading list. Glos., ind.
Subjects: Collective Biographies

Hearst, Michael  Extraordinary People: A Semi-Comprehensive Guide to Some of the World's Most Fascinating Individuals
Gr. 4–6, middle school     110 pp.    Chronicle

Illustrated by Aaron Scamihorn. Balancing education and humor, short biographies of fifty scientists, artists, athletes, daredevils, criminals, and more — including men and women of many races and nationalities — are arranged alphabetically. Entries include full-color illustrated portraits and a combination of funny poems, quizzes, trivia, and definitions. The attractive colors, large trim size, and dynamic layouts make this an entertaining compendium more suited to browsing than research.
Subjects: Collective Biographies

Hollihan, Kerrie Logan  In the Fields and the Trenches: The Famous and the Forgotten on the Battlefields of World War I
Middle school, high school     186 pp.    Chicago

Hollihan relates twelve succinct accounts of men and women who served in varied capacities during World War I, including several well-known people: J. R. R. Tolkien, Irène Curie (daughter of Marie), Ernest Hemingway, Harry Truman, Buster Keaton, and Theodore Roosevelt's children. The well-documented accounts provide unique, informative details likely new to many history lovers. Archival photographs enhance the readable text. Timeline. Bib., ind.
Subjects: Collective Biographies; History, Modern—World War I; Soldiers

Weatherford, Carole Boston  You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
Gr. 4–6, middle school     82 pp.     Atheneum

Illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. Thirty-two second-person poems and dramatic scratchboard illustrations bring to life the experiences of the pilots, bombardiers, maintenance workers, and navigators trained to fly and maintain combat aircraft at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute during World War II. Informative, evocative poems follow the Airmen from the early vision to the flyers' experiences at home and abroad, as they fought another war — against prejudice. Reading list, timeline, websites.
Subjects: Poetry; African Americans; History, Modern—World War II; Vehicles—Airplanes; Pilots; Tuskegee Airmen; United States Army; Race relations; Prejudices

Willen, Janet and Gann, Marjorie  Speak a Word for Freedom: Women Against Slavery
Middle school, high school   206 pp.    Tundra

Considering slavery worldwide, from the eighteenth century to the present, this book features fourteen famous and little-known women who fought against it. Ellen Craft (an American slave who disguised herself as a man while traveling north in 1849), Harriet Tubman, Timea Nagy (who escaped sex slavery in 1998 Canada), and others are honored in the well-researched narrative. Bib., ind.
Subjects: Social Issues; Women—Social reformers; Slave trade; Slavery; Women—Abolitionists; Abolitionists; Women—Biographies; Biographies; Activism; Social reformers; Women—Slaves; Collective Biographies

From the March 2017 issue of Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book.

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