Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I believe I mentioned at some point that Russell Freedman died in 2018; he was a Newbery author several times over with his excellent nonfiction for elementary to middle graders, and he is certainly missed in the literary world. Five years before Freedman died, however, a nonfiction newcomer arrived on the Newbery scene. I found Steve Sheinkin’s Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon completely fascinating, and I’ve been (very slowly) working through his titles ever since. I finally resorted to audio (because my life, not to mention my powers of concentration) to finish King George: What Was His Problem?: The Whole Hilarious Story of the American Revolution, and it was–is anyone surprised?–thoroughly enjoyable. (It’s possible that title is an old one and the [2nd] subtitle is actually ‘Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn’t Tell You About the American Revolution’ now, but does it really matter?) It isn’t what you’d necessarily call a comprehensive, history, true–it’s less than 200 pages without the bibliography, and there are occasional illustrations–but it takes its readers through the Revolutionary War from beginning to end nevertheless, and it does it with Sheinkin’s particular brand of humor. The amount of research he had to have done to collect the information involved boggles the mind, but using quotes like “There goes the fellow that won’t pay my master for dressing his hair!” certainly brings out the human (and comic) side of history. If you’re trying to convince someone in your life that history is fascinating, not boring, King George is a solid place to start.

As far as a modern successor to the children’s nonfiction throne, then, Sheinkin is a no-brainer. He balances thorough research and an exhaustive grasp of historical context with accessible writing and subjects/points of view that offer fresh reading experiences for kids. (Also for adults whose busy schedules make smaller bites of history at a time more doable.) If you haven’t read anything by him yet, now is the perfect time to start!