Biographies

Forty years before the boy was born, a horde of bloodthirsty barbarians thundered out of the west and conquered his native land. He would grow up to become a great leader, a man with the courage and wisdom to unite his warring people and lead them in battle against the greatest warrior of the age. The time was the twelfth century; the barbarian horde was the armies of the First Crusade; the great warrior was Richard the Lionheart; and the leader was Saladin. This is more than the other side to the story of the Crusades. It is the tale of an extraordinary man, remarkable for his generous and chivalrous ways, a warrior who longed for peace.

SALADIN: NOBLE PRINCE OF ISLAM

Written and illustrated by Diane Stanley
HarperCollins

The daughter of England’s famous King Henry VIII, Elizabeth grew up in a time of turmoil and religious strife. Though Henry went to extremes—and married six times—to make sure he had a son to rule after him, it was Elizabeth who would steer England through the stormy years ahead and bring her country into a glorious era of peace. She lived in a time of great men, yet historians call it the “Elizabethan Age” after this remarkable queen who loved her people so dearly and ruled them so well.

ALA Notable Book; Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Honor Book for Non-Fiction; IRA Teacher's Choices; Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Award, Ten Best Books; Parents' Magazine Best Kids Books; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Booklist Editor's Choice; Upper Midwest Booksellers' Association, Booksellers' Choice; Notable Children's Books in the Field of Social Studies; The Library of Congress Recommended Books For Children; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Alabama Emphasis on Reading Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, the Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award; starred reviews, Booklist, Horn Book.

MICHELANGELO

Written and illustrated by Diane Stanley
HarperCollins

He was humorless, lonely, and quarrelsome, perfectionistic and pious—and in an age of great artists, he was probably the greatest of them all. He created masterpieces in all three of the great arts: sculpture, painting, and architecture. Taken into the household of the great Lorenzo de’ Medici as a boy, he went on to serve—and argue with—four different popes during a tumultuous career that lasted more than sixty years.

Orbis Pictus Honor Book, NCTE; School Library Journal Best Books; Booklist Editor’s Choice; Booklist Top Ten Youth Art Books; Booklinks Lasting Connections; Association of Booksellers for Children, Booksellers’ Choices; Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies; Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children; Voice of Youth Advocates, Nonfiction

THE LAST PRINCESS

By Fay Stanley
Illustrated by Diane Stanley
HarperCollins

Honor Book; featured on the CBS Early Show; nominee for the Utah State Book Award; starred Reviews, Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal.

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This bittersweet story of Princess Ka’iulani, Hawaii's last heir to the throne, is a fascinating (and little known) piece of American history. It begins like the happiest of fairy tales and ends in tragedy. Though the young princess tried courageously to prevent her country from being annexed by the United States, even traveling to Washington to beg justice from President Grover Cleveland, in the end she lost her country and her throne.

Crowned Tsar of Russia at ten, Peter got everything he wanted. When he wanted to play soldier, he was given his own army of children. Later he would want more extraordinary things—and he would get them, too. Most of all he wanted a modern Russia, and so he traveled to Europe (in disguise), the first Tsar to do so. He went there to learn, and when he returned he began changing everything from the wearing of beards and long robes to marriage customs. Peter was a peculiar man, demanding, humble, ambitious, cruel, brilliant—and great.

ALA Notable Book; Booklist Editor's Choice; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Bookselling This Week Pick of the List; Golden Kite Award Honor Book for Nonfiction, SCBW; Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and the South Carolina Children's Book Award.

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Her country had been at war for a hundred years. When she was thirteen she began to hear the voices of saints. At seventeen she rode into battle and was proclaimed the savior of France. By nineteen she was dead—burned at the stake as a heretic. Today she is revered as a saint. This dramatic story of an illiterate peasant child who changed the history of nations is richly illustrated in the illuminated manuscript style.

He was original “Renaissance man,” a revolutionary artist, the father of modern science, and a remarkable inventor who dreamed of being the first man to fly. He designed everything from a submarine, a tank, and a helicopter to an air-conditioning system and a self-closing toilet lid. In one of history’s more bizarre twists of fate, his illegitimate birth prevented him from following his father in the family profession as a notary—and so he became an artist instead! The pictures in the book incorporate Leonardo’s actual drawings and paintings within the framework of the fascinating life of this great genius.

Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, NCTE; Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Honor Book for Non-Fiction; ALA Notable Book; Publisher’s Weekly Best Books; School Library Journal Best Books; Booklist Editor's Choice; BCCB Blue Ribbon Titles; Parenting Magazine Best Books; Boston Globe Best Books; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, the Maine Student Book Award, the Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award, the New Mexico Land of Enchantment Book Award; starred Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, BCCB.

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LEONARDO DA VINCI

Written and illustrated by Diane Stanley
William Morrow & Company, 1996

This is the dramatic story of the famous last Queen of Egypt. Though not the renowned beauty of legend, Cleopatra was brilliant, courageous, and bold. She won the hearts of two of the towering figures of her age, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and risked everything in her pursuit of world power. Set against the lavish backdrop of the Egyptian court at Alexandria and the dramatic final days of the Roman republic, Cleopatra’s world is brought richly to life in this beautifully illustrated book.

This award-winning picture book biography expands the few documented facts on Shakespeare's life and wraps them in colorful information from the Elizabethan Era, the moment when theater was reborn in the Western world. Well researched, this recounting is rich with fascinating details on Elizabethan theater. Shakespeare’s world is brought to life in the full-color illustrations.

BARD OF AVON

Booklist Top Of The List, Youth Non-Fiction; ALA Notable Book; Horn Book Fanfare Books; Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Award, Ten Best Books; School Library Journal Best Books; New York Times The Best of the Children's Picture Books; Booklist Editor's Choice; Publisher’s Weekly 50 Best Books; Horn Book 25 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year; Nominee for the Orbis Pictus Award, NCTE; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Maine Student Book Award, the Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award; starred reviews, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly.

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: THE STORY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

By Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema
Illustrated by Diane Stanley
William Morrow & Company

Time Magazine Recommended Children's Books for Christmas; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Parenting Magazine Best Books; Association of Booksellers for Children Best Books; Southern California Children's Booksellers Association, Children's Booksellers' Choices; National Christian Schools Association, Children's Crown Award nominee; starred reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus.

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He was only twelve when his father was arrested for debt and Charles was sent to work in a blacking factory. Though he would later go on to earn wealth and fame as a best-selling author and international literary superstar, he never forgot the ragged child he once was. Unlike other authors of the time, he wrote most touchingly about the lives of the poor— and through him the world came to have sympathy for their suffering, and things began to change.

This legendary king began his life as an outcast, banished by his father from their tiny Zulu clan. When his father died and Shaka returned to his people, he taught his soldiers a new way to fight. Soon he had turned his little band of Zulus into the greatest warriors in Africa. Through courage, determination, and sheer military genius, Shaka conquered a mighty empire and founded the Zulu Nation.

A New York Times Best Illustrated Book; a New York Times Notable Book; Booklist Editor's Choice; Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies; featured in a Smithsonian Museum Film Display; featured in the PBS series Long Ago and Far Away; The Library of Congress, Recommended Books For Children; ALA World Book Partners in Excellence Reading Program; nominee for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

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Covered wagons and moving villages are not what Liz and Lenny had in mind when they arrived at Grandma’s house. But they don’t have your average grandmother. With the help of her magic hat, Grandma takes the twins—and her talking dog, Moose—all the way back to 1843 to join their great-great-great-great grandmother Elizabeth as she travels along the Oregon Trail. From scaling mountains and fording rivers to cooking slam-johns and sowbellies over buffalo chips, the twins discover that living history can be pretty exciting!

Liz, Lenny, Grandma and Moose are back for another time-traveling adventure. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, there’s only one thing for them to do—join the Boston Tea Party! With the help of Grandma’s magic hat, the twins journey back to Boston in 1773. From powdered wigs and petticoats to Indian pudding and chamber pots, the twins get a first-hand look at life in colonial America. But best of all, they actually join the “Mohawks” as they dump tea into Boston Harbor and help begin the American Revolution.

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Twins Liz and Lenny, along with their time-traveling grandmother and her talking dog, Moose, visit Plymouth Plantation. They discover that life among the Pilgrims was hard, and strange, but sometimes lots of fun. And they arrive just in time to sit down with the Pilgrims and the Native Americans for a three-day harvest festival—though it was not a real Thanksgiving. They return home just in time for a modern Thanksgiving with mom and dad and a nice, roast turkey with “puddings in the belly.”

Here is the true story of a boy who left home in 1856 on a whaling ship, bound for Arctic waters. He had just turned fourteen and was about to experience more adventure and greater danger than most people see in a lifetime. He expected the hardships of bad weather, worse food, and the perils and gore of whale hunting. But when the captain turned out to be cruel and violent, Daniel deserted the ship on the desolate coast of Siberia—with winter coming on. Daniel’s remarkable rescue through the unstinting efforts of his loving father back in New Bedford rounds out this exciting story with a happy ending.

Parenting Magazine Best Books; International Reading Association, Teachers' Choice; Notable Children's Trade books in the Field of Social Studies; nominee for Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award; starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly.

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THE TRUE ADVENTURE OF DANIEL HALL

Written and Illustrated by Diane Stanley
Puffin Books

American Library Association Notable Book; IRA, Notable Books for a Global Society; Publishers Weekly, Best Children's Books; Booklist, Best Books; Booklinks, Best Books of the Year; Parents' Choice, Recommended Award; Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children; Nominee for the Maine Student Book Award; Starred Reviews, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly.

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ALA Notable Book; National Council for the Social Studies, Carter G. Woodson Award; Booklist Editor's Choice; IRA-CBC Children's Choices; Parents' Magazine Best Kids Books; Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies; Hawaii State Library, Top Choice in the Picture Book Category; nominee for the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, the Virginia Young Readers Program, and Oklahoma’s Sequoyah Children's Book Award; starred reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist.

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ALA Notable Book; Publisher’s Weekly Best Books; Booklist Top of the List, Editor's Choice; BCCB Blue Ribbon Titles; Parenting Magazine Best Books; IRA Teachers’ Choice; Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies; Association of Booksellers for Children, Children’s Booksellers’ Choice; finalist, Riverbank Review Children’s Books of Distinction Award; nominee for the Maine Student Book Award and the South Carolina Book Award; starred reviews, Horn Book, School Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly.

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ALA Notable Book; Booklist Editor's Choice; Publisher’s Weekly Best Books; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; Parenting Magazine Best Books; People Magazine Recommended Books for Young Readers; USA Today Recommended Books for Christmas; Chicago Tribune The Year's Best Books for Young Readers; Library of Congress Children's Literature center, Recommended Books; nominee for the Pennsylvania Young Reader Award and the Garden State Children's Book Award; starred Reviews, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly.

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