THE CHILDREN'S BOOK ACADEMY
  • Home
    • THOH KidLit Creative Retreat
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
    • Mastering Graphic Novels
    • 2022 Kidlit Palooza >
      • 2022 Palooza Program
      • 2022 Palooza Faculty
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • NEW!! Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship

Biographies - Jane Goodall - The Watcher by Jeanette Winters - Mira Reisberg

12/7/2015

3 Comments

 
Picture
With the advent of Common Core, there's been a new and refreshing openness to biographies. Contemporary biographies usually focus on a specific incident in the subject's life and employ plot devices of three attempts and failures before achieving their goal. Older biographies tended to be much drier with a straightforward "and then and then" march from childhood to death with the subject's accomplishments thrown in the middle somewhere.

Jeanette Winters has written and illustrated many contemporary biographies and in today's example, you'll see why she's so good at them. This one was published by Schwartz and Wade, who do beautiful books.

It is not often a person sticks to a dream from childhood to adult, however, Jane Goodall, always the observer, knew this was the life for her. The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps,  takes the reader on Jane’s amazing life journey from watching chickens as a five year old to watching chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania The story, told with simple, quiet, engaging text, and quotes from Jane’s autobiography, Africa in My Blood and My Life with the Chimpanzees, is a perfect fit with the soothing-colored acrylics. Both the words and the illustrations open up as Jane realizes Africa is her home and watching is her life, “This is where I belong. This is what I came into this world to do”.

The story starts with a few spreads detailing her childhood as a curious child who loved to learn by watching things, and like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, Jeanette visually paces the pages with borders containing her life until she goes to Africa, where the pages become 3/4 full then totally full with no borders as the text awakens with the sounds and sights of the rain forest. The charming, simple scenes, like the amusing, sleeping chimps to the playful antics at the waterfall, bring the reader into Jane’s caring world.

Another super smart thing that Jeanette Winters does in this story, is that she doesn't just focus on the chimps in general, but one in particular, David Greybeard, who becomes her special friend or companion, something that children can relate to. While Jane's life was not an easy one and she had a difficult job to do in bringing awareness to the plight of the chimpanzees, the author/illustrator does a great job in making the information accessible, aesthetic and inspiring. I'm going to share a few spreads from the book but I'm not going to give the wonderful ending away as I think this is a great mentor text for anyone open to writing beautiful and important biographies and I'm hoping that you'll help support the creator :)


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Mira Reisberg has helped MANY authors and illustrators get published. She has worn just about every hat in the industry including art director, editor, illustrator/author, and literary agent. Mira holds a PhD in Education and Cultural Studies with a focus on children's literature. Most of all she loves nurturing her own and others creativity.
3 Comments
Tutuapp link
6/7/2022 02:56:04 am

Medium bodied-reds feel a little more substantial in your mouth, and they typically have an alcohol content between 12.5 and 13.5 percent.

Reply
Vidmate link
6/7/2022 02:59:09 am

Medium reds are merlot, cabernet, cabernet Franc, and sangiovese. These types of wines go well with a variety of meats, cheeses, and carbohydrates.

Reply
https://wellingtonlandscapingmasters.co.nz/ link
9/22/2022 03:43:58 am

Jane Goodall is quite possibly one of the most well known women in the world. She's an advocate for animals, female empowerment and wildlife conservation. She also happens to be a scientist and researcher that watched chimps in zoos as they transitioned from babies to adults. In her biography titled The Watcher by Jeanette Winters you'll learn about Jane Goodall's journey from a normal teenager to becoming a famous scientist and humanitarian who has helped thousands of animals.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our  awesome new bloggers!!

    Here's our lineup:
    1st Mondays begin with editor/art director, & CBA Director Mira Reisberg PhD who is handing her Mondays over to awesome former now traditionally pubbed students to widen their audience.

    2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books.
     

    3rd Mondays will feature
    Bryan Patrick Avery, published writer, man of mystery, and professional magician among other things.

    4th Mondays will feature STEM, STEAM & SEL obsessed author Kourtney LaFavre sharing delightfully dorky, quirky, and fun info.

    And 5th Mondays will feature Libyan American author Koloud Tarapolsi sharing wonderful diverse books.

    Enter your email address to follow this blog:

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Picture
Discover
Why Us?
Courses
Blogfish
Book Shoppe
About Us
Meet the Academy Faculty
Community
Contact Us

Privacy Policy
Join Us
Social Media
Join our Community and receive a fabulous free gift, yummy newsletters, scholarship info, contests, and more!

Like us on Facebook 
Join our interactive FB Group  
Find us on Twitter 
Follow us on ​Instagram  
Look for us on Pinterest
​
Watch us on YouTube
© 2012-2021  All content on this website is copyrighted. Sorry, all courses are non-refundable.
  • Home
    • THOH KidLit Creative Retreat
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
    • Mastering Graphic Novels
    • 2022 Kidlit Palooza >
      • 2022 Palooza Program
      • 2022 Palooza Faculty
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • NEW!! Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • TECH
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty, Lives & GT Judges
    • Testimonials
    • Books by Students
    • Our Bookshop
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship