Orbis Pictus Award

Year

Orbis Pictus Award

Bolden, Tonya. (2007). M.L.K. : journey of a King. (Photo editor, Bob Adelman). New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers. 921 K535bo 

Through period photographs and text introduces readers to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Montgomery, Sy. (2006). Quest for the tree kangaroo : an expedition to the cloud forest of New Guinea. (Photographs by Nic Bishop). Boston : Houghton Mifflin. 599.2 M788q

Follow a group of explorers and scientists as they travel to Papua New Guinea to find a type of kangaroo that lives in trees.

2006

Freedman, Russell. (2005). Children of the Great Depression. New York : Clarion Books. 305.23 F853c

Life was hard for children during the Great Depression . Many families couldn't afford new clothes, shoes, sometimes electricity or heat. Some children had to work while others had no home at all. Even so, life had some bright spots like favorite games and radio shows. Illustrated with photographs by notable artists.

2005

Blumberg, Rhoda. (2004). York's adventures with Lewis and Clark : an African-American's part in the great expedition. New York : HarperCollins Publishers. 921 Y615b

Relates the adventures of York, a slave and "body servant" to William Clark, who journeyed west with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806.

2004

Murphy, Jim. (2003). An American plague : the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York : Clarion Books. 614.5 M978a

It's 1793, and there's an invisible killer roaming the streets of Philadelphia. The city's residents are fleeing in fear. This killer has a name--yellow fever--but everything else about it is a mystery. Its cause is unknown and there is no cure. This powerful dramatic account by award-winning author Jim Murphy traces the devastating course of the epidemic. An American Plague offers a fascinating glimpse into the conditions in American cities at the time of our nation's birth while drawing thought-provoking parallels to modern-day epidemics.

2003

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. (2002). When Marian sang : the true recital of Marian Anderson. (Illustrated by Brian Selznick). New York : Scholastic Press. 921 A5485r

An introduction to the life of Marian Anderson, extraordinary singer and civil rights activist, who was the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, whose life and career encouraged social change.

2002

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (2001). Black potatoes : the story of the great Irish famine, 1845-1850. Boston : Houghton Mifflin. 941.5 B292b

Black Potatoes is the story of the men, women, and children who struggled through the Great Irish Famine, a five-year period when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled from Ireland.

2001

Stanley, Jerry. (2000). Hurry freedom : African Americans in Gold Rush California. New York : Crown Publishers. 979.4 S788h

Recounts the history of African Americans in California during the Gold Rush while focusing on the life and work of Mifflin Gibbs.

2000

Bridges, Ruby. (1999). Through my eyes. (Articles and interviews compiled and edited by Margo Lundell). New York : Scholastic Press. 379.2 B851t

Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

1999

Armstrong, Jennifer. (1998). Shipwreck at the bottom of the world : the extraordinary true story of Shackleton and the Endurance. New York : Crown. 919.8 A736s

Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.

1998

Pringle, Laurence P. (1997). An extraordinary life : the story of a monarch butterfly. (Paintings by Bob Marstall). New York : Orchard Books. 595.78 P957e

Introduces the life cycle, feeding habits, migration, predators, and mating of the monarch butterfly through the observation of one particular monarch named Danaus.

1997

Stanley, Diane. (1996). Leonardo da Vinci. New York : Morrow Junior Books. 921 D2592s

A biography of the Italian Renaissance artist and inventor who, at about age thirty, began writing his famous notebooks which contain the outpourings of his amazing mind.

1996

Murphy, Jim. (1995). The great fire. New York : Scholastic Inc. 977.3 M978g

An account of the Chicago fire of 1871.

1995

Swanson, Diane. (1994). Safari beneath the sea : the wonder world of the North Pacific Coast. (Photographs by the Royal British Columbia Museum). San Francisco : Sierra Club Books for Children. 574.9 S972s

Examines the strange plant and animal life of the north Pacific ocean.

1994

Murphy, Jim. (1993). Across America on an emigrant train. New York : Clarion Books. 828 M978a

Combines an account of Robert Louis Stevenson's experiences as he traveled from New York to California by train in 1879 and a description of the building and operation of railroads in nineteenth-century America.

1993

Stanley, Jerry. (1992). Children of the Dust Bowl : the true story of the school at Weedpatch Camp. (Illustrated with photographs). New York : Crown. 371.96 S788c

Describes the plight of the migrant workers who traveled from the Dust Bowl to California during the Depression and were forced to live in a federal labor camp and discusses the school that was built for their children.

1992

Burleigh, Robert. (1991). Flight : the journey of Charles Lindbergh. (Illustrated by Mike Wimmer). New York : Philomel Books. 629.13 B961f

Describes how Charles Lindbergh achieved the remarkable feat of flying nonstop and solo from New York to Paris in 1927.

1991

Freedman, Russell. (1990). Franklin Delano Roosevelt. New York : Clarion Books. 921 R7811f

Photographs and text trace the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his birth in 1882 through his youth, early political career, and presidency, to his death in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1945.

1990

Fritz, Jean. (1989). The great little Madison. New York : Putnam. 921 M1826f

Traces the life and contributions of the sickly child with the small voice who grew up to become the fourth president of the United States.