You can discuss and explore biographies any time of the year. This post shares Biography Picture Books that you can use for this purpose. All of the picture books on this list lend themselves to this topic really well. Take a peek below to learn more about these Biography Picture Books!
6 Biography Picture Books
Below is a list of some of our favorite Biography Picture Books to share with elementary students. Check them out!
1. Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan
The book, Salt in His Shoes, tells the story of Michael Jordan as a young boy. He grew up playing basketball with his brothers, however, he was the shortest boy on the court. The taller boys often teased him. After losing a game one day, Michael asked his mother what he needed to do to grow taller. His mom suggested putting salt in his shoes, being patient, and praying everyday. Michael did this for several months while practicing basketball.
Months later, he wasn’t any taller and was starting to feel discouraged. Michael’s dad talked to him and explained that he didn’t need to be tall to be a good player. He needed determination, hard work, and practice. This gave Michael the confidence to go back to the basketball court with his brothers. He was able to score the winning point for his team and went on to become a basketball star.
Check out these Salt in His Shoes teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
2. Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle
The book Drum Dream Girl takes place on an island where music is a big part of daily life. On this island, it is believed that only boys should be allowed to play the drums. The main character in this story is a little girl, who loves the sound of drums and dreams of playing them someday. She spends her time listening to men play the drums and imagining herself playing them, too. One day, she plays the drums for her sisters and they are very impressed. However, her father hears and was very upset to see his daughter playing the drums. Sadly, the girl must keep dreaming about the drums. Her father eventually decides to take her to a music teacher who can decide if she should be able to play. The music teacher is so impressed with the girl and helps her become an even better drummer. When she is good enough, the drum dream girl plays her drums at a cafe. Everyone begins singing and dancing while she plays. This helps the people on the island believe that girls should be able to play the drums and dream just like the boys do.
Check out these Drum Dream Girl teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
3. Bunheads by Misty Copeland
It is Misty’s first day of ballet class and the dancers learn they will be performing Coppelia. All of the other dancers are excited but Mitsy has never heard of it. Too shy to ask, Mitsy sits down to listen to Miss Bradley tell the story. She immediately falls in love with the story of a doll that comes to life. After listening to the story, the dancers start to practice.
Miss Braldey notices Mitsy and calls her to the front of the room. She is surprised to hear that Mitsy had never taken a ballet class before. Miss Bradley tells Mitsy she is very talented. Mitsy and another dancer, Cat, start practicing together. They inspire one another and the two girls become better dancers together. Both girls are excited when they are both chosen to play a main part. Mitsy is so excited for the big performance and feels ready. At the end of the show, she is so proud of all she and the other dancers accomplished together.
Check out these Bunheads teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
4. The Girl Who Thought in Pictures by Julia Finley Mosca
The story The Girl Who Thought in Pictures follows the life of Temple Grandin. The story starts off with Temple being born, and the doctors thinking that she needed to be sent away because she was different. Temple liked to watch things spin, did not like loud noises or crowds, anything that was itchy, or big squeezy hugs. She also did not talk until she was three. Temple got diagnosed with Autism. Her mom said that Temple was “different, not less.” When Temple goes to school, the children there would tease her relentlessly. One day, Temple’s mom thinks that it would be better for Temple to stay on her aunt’s ranch. There, Temple finally feels comfortable and explores ways to help animals. Temple goes to college and gets three degrees! Now she travels the world giving speeches and spreading hope. She spreads the message that the world needs brains of all kinds.
Check out these The Girl Who Thought in Pictures teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
5. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Margaret Wise Brown
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read is a story embedded in growth mindset, historical references, and that of resiliency.
Mary Walker grew up in slavery in the 1860s, learning the rules of the south quickly as an African-American. She had no time to read: she worked, and worked, and worked. When the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, Mary and her family stayed in the south and worked with her mother.
She then had children, and with three hungry mouths, there was still no time to learn to read. They grew up, and Mary outlived her family at the incredible age of 114. It was then, sitting in her Retirement Home, that she decided to learn to read. She studied and studied, and was finally able to read the signs all over the city. The squiggles came to life. She then preached with her church about how you are never too old to learn something new.
Check out these The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
6. Shark Lady by Jess Keating
Jess Keating’s book, The Shark Lady, is about the life of Eugenie Clark, the woman who is considered to be the ocean’s most fearless scientist.
As a young girl, Eugenie loved everything about the ocean but the sharks were her favorite. At the beach, she loved diving in the water and watching all the fish. She had always thought of sharks as beautiful while others viewed them as ugly and scary.
Eugenie spent her childhood learning as much as she could about sharks. When she grew up, Eugenie decided to study zoology in college. Many people didn’t think women were smart or brave enough to go into science, but that didn’t stop Eugenie. She went on to make many discoveries about fish and sharks.
As she learned more about her favorite animal, Eugenie wanted people to see sharks the way she did: beautiful and smart. She decided to conduct an experiment where she would train sharks. She learned that not only could sharks be trained, they could remember what they learned for two months.
Eugenie Clark was a brave scientist that changed the way people preserve sharks, and women in the field of science. Check out these Shark Lady teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
Or Get All of the Activity Packets for 600+ Picture Books!
Starts with a Story is a collection of hundreds of book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Each book companion includes:
- reading comprehension questions with sample student responses
- 30 writing prompts targeting 10 different types of writing
- SEL lesson ideas based on character and events from each story
- printable student activities
- editable teaching slides with book-based clipart
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Get All of the Biography Teaching Resources
One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!
If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:
- seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
- printable reading logs to track students’ reading
- monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more
It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
In closing, we hope you found this list of Biography Picture Books helpful!
