Ansel Adams
(by Beverly Cherman, Little Brown $19.95 Score:) Don’t be surprised if your child asks for a camera after enjoying this book. Cherman has created a very approachable biography for children of this legendary American photographer whose view of the natural world brought majesty to an art form. Each chapter is peppered with Adam’s breathtaking work and stories about his life that shaped his art. If your child already has the photography bug, Cherman’s book will be an inspiration. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Theodore Roosevelt: Champion of the American Spirit
(by Betsy Harvey Kraft, Clarion $19 Score:) A lively and totally engrossing biography of Theodore Roosevelt, xx President of the Untied States. Kraft, a grand storyteller, uses letters, journals, memoirs and newspaper accounts to give young readers a rich introduction to the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, pioneered for preserving the wilderness, fought for reforms in industry and remains one of the larger than life leaders of his time. Handsomely designed with photos, drawings, and letters. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

First To Fly
(by Peter Busby/illus. By David Craig, Crown $19.95 Score:) Busby tells the story of how the Wright brothers invented the airplane in a very crisp and linear style. Though this looks like a picture book, it is designed for older readers. His account makes these historic figures come to life as young boys who were fascinated by a helicopter toy their father game them in 1878 and moves on through their trial and error years of building and testing their flying machine. The art layout is an inviting blend of Craig’s paintings, photographs and artifacts from the period. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Just Like Josh Gibson
(by Angela Johnson/ illus. By Beth Peck, Simon & Schuster $15.95 Score:) This is a younger story than Mighty Jackie, the Strike-out Queen. It’s also about an African-American girl who loves to play baseball. Growing up in the 40’s it doesn’t matter that she plays as well or better than most of the boys. That is, until the day when her cousin Danny hurt his arm and the All Star team needed a ninth player. Told as a memoir about Grandmama, there’s a bio of her hero, Josh Gibson, one of the giants of the Negro League who never got to play in the major league. 5 & up.

Age: Early School Years,Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist
((by Lesa Cline-Ransome/ illus. By James E. Ransome, Atheneum $16.95 Score:) At the turn of the 20th Century, Marshall Taylor was a champion cyclist but one who faced the bigotry directed to young African-Americans. While others plotted to defeat him by cheating, young Taylor rode with his eye on playing fair and succeeded. In time he not only wins in the United States, he triumphs in Europe as well. This is a handsome book that celebrates Taylor’s courage and determination. This is an inspiring biography that could well serve as a jumping off place for finding out more about this particular athlete or others who have overcome the ugliness of racism and bigotry. 7 & up.

Age: Early School Years,Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Fight On! Mary Church Terrells Battle for Integration
(by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, Clarion $17 Score:) Born the year that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the daughter of slaves, Mary Church Terrell was active in civil rights all her life. She was one of the first African American women to graduate from college, was the first to be appointed to the Board of Education in the nation’s capital, and was a founder of the NAACP. Nor did she give up the struggle in the 50’s to integrate the restaurants and theatres in D.C. Well into her 80’s she continued to march on picket lines and fight for the end of segregation. Right up until the end of her 90th year she continued to crusade for the ending job discrimination in Washington. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Remember the Lusitania!
(by Diana Preston, Walker Books $20.95 Score:) This is the story of three children aboard the Lusitania, on its final voyage. Since they are in different parts of the ship their stories paint a picture of contrasting styles in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class parts of the ship. But, when a German torpedo strikes the drama centers on their struggle to survive a disaster at sea. Although you may begin the book knowing how the big story ends, there is a good deal of suspense and drama in the telling. A dramatic event that brought the United States into WWI. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Secret of the Sphinx
(James C. Giblin/illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline, Scholastic $17.95 Score:) Handsome illustrations inform a masterfully crafted text that introduces readers to the many strange legends and theories that surround the ancient wonder, the Great Sphinx. Giblin manages to spin a captivating tale that leaves us with a continuing sense of mystery and awe for the massive statue—part lion and part man—that has guarded the pyramids of Egypt’s Giza Plateau for 4500 years. 9 & up.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2005.

Kamishibai Man
(by Allen Say, Houghton Mifflin $17 Score:) Based on his childhood in Japan, Say recalls the kamishibai man who used to come to the neighborhood (much like the Good Humor Man) to sell candies along with cliffhanger stories that grew each day. TV finished this old tradition, but here the kamishibai man returns to his old neighborhood and is received lovingly by his former children and a new generation. As always, the art is splendid, while the story may interest adults more than children. 7 & up.

Age: Early School Years,Later School Years. Award Year: 2006.

Egypt: In Spectacular Cross Section
(by Stephen Biesty, Scholastic $18.99 Score:) Stunning illustrations fill this oversized view of ancient Egypt. He shows us an 11-year-old boy and his father on a 30-day journey up the Nile to the Valley of the Kings. Miniatures to study in cutaway views and text that explains the details.

Age: Later School Years. Award Year: 2006.