13 Inspiring Illustrated Biographies That Introduce Kids to Diverse Heroes
by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
I enjoyed reading biographies from an early age — the idea that a person’s life was important enough for a book intrigued me, and I was thrilled and inspired whenever I found small similarities or points of connections between my own experiences and those of the larger-than-life figures on the pages. Readers of all ages can find much to consider, relate to, and celebrate in these transcendent stories of people who’ve had an impact on our lives and culture. These are some of my favorite illustrated biographies and memoirs for young book-lovers.
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Picture Books
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Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis
Buy from:There is something extra special for young readers when they are able to get a glimpse into the early lives of contemporary icons, and Asim’s story of the future civil rights activist and congressman's early attempts at preaching — literally to the chickens on the family farm — is touching and inspirational. As readers witness John Lewis developing the skills needed to captivate the notoriously inattentive birds, they'll see how the politician and National Book Award-winning author became the powerful orator he remains today.
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Turning Pages: My Life Story
Buy from:There is much to admire and enjoy in Sonia Sotomayor’s biography for young readers. Not only does it trace her life through her childhood and law career into becoming the first-ever Latina Supreme Court Justice, but it also traces her love of reading and shows how books were inextricable with her life trajectory. Books helped her cope with her father’s death and her childhood diabetes; they also inspired her to reach for her dreams in a world full of possibilities.
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Amazing
Buy from:This luminous picture book highlights the amazing and important contributions of many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who've impacted our world through their achievements. Young readers get to explore thirty-six motivating stories through gorgeous illustrations including the paths of Olympic ice dancing medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani, disabled hero Daniel Inouye, and astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
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I am I. M. Pei
Buy from:This installment of the Ordinary People Who Change The World series explores the story of world-renowned architect, I. M. Pei, and how he became one of the most famous architects of all time. With immersive illustrations, readers get to know his award-winning work, such as the famous pyramid at the Louvre and the John F. Kennedy Library. With lively dialogue and a 3D pop-up of the pyramid, young readers will be inspired to dream big after reading.
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Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille
Buy from:As a student, Louis Braille was frustrated by the lack of books for people with visual impairments, and began his mission to develop an accessible reading system by modifying a military coding technique. "Although many Braille biographies stress his disability, Bryant’s portrayal subtly emphasizes his creativity and celebrates him as an inventor, making this an excellent addition for STEM collections,” The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books points out in its starred review of the book.
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The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
Buy from:Mary Walker should be a household name, and this beautifully illustrated picture book gets us one step closer to just that. Born into slavery in 1848, Walker was freed at age 15 and went on to work numerous jobs and raise a family in the South. At the youthful age of 116, Walker achieved her goal of learning to read — knowledge she used for the last five years of her long and storied life. Her biography will spark conversations about persistence and everyday heroes.
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Middle Grade
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Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner
Buy from:Awarded as a Best STEM Book by the Children’s Book Council and National Science Teaching Association in 2020, Buzzing with Questions spotlights Charles Henry Turner — the first African American entomologist. Born with an insatiable curiosity about the world of insects, Turner sought answers and persevered amid racial prejudice in the scientific community, going on to make significant discoveries and contributions to the field.
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Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History
Buy from:Following the success of Rad American Women A-Z, Schatz and Stahl are back with the even more impressive Rad Women Worldwide. Among Venus and Serena Williams, Malala Yousafzai, and other familiar names are those of less well-known but history-making women like Nanny of the Maroons, Kalpana Chawla, Junko Tabei, and Queen Hatshepsut. These short, illustrated biographical portraits will inspire young people of all genders to do a little digging into these hidden figures of ancient and modern times, and perhaps be inspired to make a little history of their own.
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A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day
Buy from:This beautiful, critically acclaimed biography-in-verse focuses on Keats’s development of the character of Peter, the main character in his beloved picture book The Snowy Day. Illustrated in a style similar to Keats’s mixed-media collage, the book recounts Keats’s life and commitment to anti-Semitism as the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, and offers parallels between his personal experience and the significance of his revolutionary work including and promoting children of color in kids’ literature.
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Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box
Buy from:The most repeated stories of the suffrage movement center on familiar white suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul. In Lifting as We Climb, Evette Dionne unearths the histories of extraordinary Black women and women’s groups whose fight for freedom was not only tied to their gender but also to their race. Including women such as Mary Church Terrell, who founded the NAACP, and journalist Ida B. Wells, a leader in both the suffrage and anti-lynching movements, this much-needed historical correction tells the essential stories of women left out of our textbooks.
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Young Adult
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Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Buy from:For her activism, Lowery was jailed nine times before her 15th birthday, and was the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. This illustrated memoir of Lowery’s commitment to nonviolent resistance, even when faced with violence like what law enforcement exhibited on “Bloody Sunday,” is both sobering and inspiring.
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March Trilogy
Buy from:With the release of the third volume in this stirring and historic trilogy, Congressman John Lewis made history once again as the author of the first graphic novel ever to win a National Book Award. My own daughter tore through these firsthand accounts of young people’s involvement in the civil rights movement, and was inspired by the connections Lewis makes to present day events. Readers can watch Congressman Lewis, who continues to speak out on important issues today accept his award here.
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The Complete Persepolis
Buy from:This riveting graphic novel-memoir of Satrapi’s childhood in Tehran and coming of age in the midst of tremendous political upheaval is now considered a modern classic. With humor and poignancy, Satrapi skillfully threads the personal challenges and triumphs of her adolescence with the history and cultural life of Iran. Adapted to film in 2007, Persepolis has become a high school classroom staple. This edition includes both Persepolis and Persepolis 2. Reading guides with discussion questions and additional reading suggestions for each volume can be found here (Persepolis) and here (Persepolis 2).
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2016 and updated in 2020.