A Boy Named FDR: How Franklin D. Roosevelt Grew Up to Change America
By Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Franklin D. Roosevelt was born into one of the wealthiest families in America, yet this rich kid grew up to do more for ordinary Americans than any other president. This picture book biography shows how, from childhood on, FDR was compassionate, cheerful, determined, and enormously likable. 6-9 years
Make Your Mark, Franklin Roosevelt
By Judith St. George
Young Franklin Roosevelt grew up knowing the finer things in life— sailing, horseback riding, and foxhunts on his family’s large estate. Growing up wealthy meant he could live a gentleman’s life, like his beloved papa. Yet gentlemen weren’t supposed to go into politics, right? But why not? As young Franklin learns from a famous uncle and a famous mentor, there is more to the world than he thought. And about politics? Well, maybe there is more to that, too. 7-10 years
Nice Work Franklin!
By Suzanne Tripp Jurman, Illustrated by Larry Day
As one of the most inspirational and determined presidents, Franklin Roosevelt overcame his disability to lead the country out of the Great Depression.
Franklin idolized his cousin Teddy Roosevelt. He wore glasses like Teddy, he spoke like Teddy and he held the same public offices as Teddy. But then one day his life changed — he developed polio and could no longer walk. Franklin had Teddy’s determination and after physical therapy and hard work he ran for governor of New York and won. Then the Great Depression spread across the country: Banks closed and thousands of people lost their jobs. So, Franklin ran for president, won the office and helped lead America out of the depression. 5-9 years
Who Was Franklin Roosevelt?
By Margaret Frith, Illustrated by John O’Brien
Although polio left him in a wheelchair, Franklin Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression and served as president during World War II. Elected four times, he spent thirteen years in the White House leading America through tremendously difficult times. 8-12 years
Diana’s White House Garden
By Elisa Carone, Illustrated by Jen Hill
World War II is in full force across the seas. It’s 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt is in office, and Diana’s father, Harry Hopkins, is his chief adviser. Diana wants to be part of the war effort. After some well-intentioned missteps, the president requests her help with his newest plan for country’s survival: Victory Gardens! This is the true story of how Diana Hopkins started her own Victory Garden on the White House lawn under the tutelage of Eleanor Roosevelt. With dedication and patience, she showed the nation that the war effort starts first on the home front. 5-8 years
First Dog Fala
By Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, Illustrated by Michael G. Montgomery
Meet the Scottish terrier who won the hearts of a United States president and the American people in 1940. Fala came to live with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House. The little dog played in the grass outside the Oval Office, attended important meetings with the president’s advisers, and even dined with the president. But as America was drawn into World War II, life at the White House changed. Fala accompanied the president across the country and around the world and waited with him for the return of American servicemen and an end to a terrible war. This picture book offers young readers a glimpse into American history and the life of an American president through the story of a loyal dog. 4-8 years
Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World
By Douglas Wood, Illustrated by Barry Moser
At the height of World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill held an extraordinary month-long visit. They planned the success of the Allied powers and strategized a continuing peace for the end of the war. During the Christmas holiday, they cemented a unique bond as they decided how to confront a menace that threatened all of civilization. 6-9 years
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
By Russell Freedman
Well-known author for children, Russell Freedman, traces 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. Young Adult
Franklin Delano Roosevelt For Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities
By Richard Panchyk
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s enduring legacy upon the history, culture, politics, and economics of the United States is introduced to children in this activity book. Kids will learn how FDR, a member of one of the founding families of America, led the nation through the darkest days of the Great Depression and World War II as president. Kids will explore Roosevelt’s entire era through such hands-on activities as staging a fireside chat, designing a WPA-style mural, sending a double encoded message, hosting a swing dance party, and participating in a political debate. 9 and up
Two Men and a Car: Franklin Roosevelt, Al Capone and a Cadillac V-8
By Michael Garland
It is December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt leads a nation in crisis. He must make a speech to a joint session of Congress that will build support for America’s entry to World War II, but to do that he needs an armored vehicle in which to make the short trip from the White House to the Capitol Building.
According to legend, the car Roosevelt rode in that day, borrowed from the FBI’s impound lot, was an armored Cadillac V-8 built for gangster Al Capone in the late 1920s to shield himself from enemies. Is the legend true, or is it an American tall tale. Either way, it’s an ideal vehicle to compare and contrast the lives of two American men who grew up within miles of one another: one a great president, the other an infamous villain. 9-12 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and/or leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
By Jonah Winter, Illustrated by Kimberly Bulchen Root
East Texas, the 1930s — the Great Depression: Award-winning author Jonah Winter’s father grew up with seven siblings in a tiny house on the edge of town. Winter shares his father’s story in a lyrical text that is a celebration of family and making do with what you have. 5-9 years
Ruby’s Hope: The Story of How the Famous “Migrant Mother” Photograph Became the Face of the Great Depression
By Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Sara Dvojack
Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era “Migrant Mother” photograph is an icon of American history. Behind this renowned portrait is the story of a family struggling against all odds to survive.
Dust storms and dismal farming conditions force young Ruby’s family to leave their home in Oklahoma and travel to California to find work. As they move from camp to camp, Ruby sometimes finds it hard to hold on to hope. But on one fateful day, Dorothea Lange arrives with her camera and takes six photographs of the young family. When one of the photographs appears in the newspaper, it opens the country’s eyes to the reality of the migrant workers’ plight and inspires an outpouring of much needed support.
Children of the Great Depression
By Russell Freedman
Russell Freedman illuminates the lives of the American children affected by the economic and social changes of the Great Depression. Middle-class urban youth, migrant farm laborers, boxcar kids, children whose families found themselves struggling for survival…all Depression-era young people faced challenges like unemployed and demoralized parents, inadequate food and shelter, schools they couldn’t attend because they had to go to work, schools that simply closed their doors. Even so, life had its bright spots — like favorite games and radio shows — and many young people remained upbeat and optimistic about the future.
Drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters and other firsthand accounts, and illustrated with classic archival photographs, this book by one of the most celebrated authors of nonfiction for children places the Great Depression in context and shows young readers its human face. 10-12 years
What Was the Great Depression?
By Janet B. Pascal, Illustrated by Dede Putra
On October 29, 1929, life in the United States took a turn for the worst. The stock market — system that controls money in America — plunged to a record law. But this event was only the beginning of many bad years to come. By the early 1930s, one out of three people was not working. People lost their jobs, their houses, or both and ended up in shantytowns called “Hoovervilles” named for the president at the time of the crash. By 1933, many banks had gone under. Though the United States has seen other times of struggle, the Great Depression remains one of the hardest and most widespread tragedies in American history. 8-12 years
Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression
By Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Sarah Green
Before she raised her lens to take her most iconic photo, Dorothea Lange took photos of the downtrodden, from bankers in once-fine suits waiting in breadlines, to former slaves, to the homeless sleeping on sidewalks. A case of polio had left her with a limp and sympathetic to those less fortunate. Traveling across the United States, documenting with her camera and her fieldbook those most affected by the stock market crash, she found the face of the Great Depression. 5-8 years
Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
By Jerry Stanley
Illustrated with photographs from the Dust Bowl era. This true story takes place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Ostracized as “dumb Okies,” the children of Dust Bowl migrant laborers go without school — until Superintendent Leo Hart and 50 Okie kids build their own school in a nearby field. 8-12 years
Potato: A Tale From the Great Depression
By Kate Lied, Illustrated by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Kate Lied tells the story of her grandparents during the Great Depression. After her grandfather Clarence loses his job and the bank takes his house, he and his family move to Idaho to harvest potatoes. They live in a tent and earn enough money to keep the family together through hard times. 6-10 years
The Great Depression: Hardship and Hope in the 1930s
By Cheryl Mullenbach
Have you ever wondered what it was like to live during the Great Depression? Perhaps you think of the stock market crash of 1929, unemployed workers standing in breadlines, and dust storms swirling around the Great Plains. But the 1930s was also a time when neighbors helped neighbors, librarians delivered books by horseback, an army of young men rebuilt the nation’s forests, roads and parks, and Shirley Temple, the curly-haired child star asked moviegoers to “stand up and cheer” in the darkest days. Twenty-one hands on activities included. 9 and up
Out of the Dust
By Karen Hesse
“Dust piles up like snow across the prairie…
A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo’s life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her father can’t talk about it. And the one thing that might make her feel better, playing the piano, is impossible with her wounded hands.
To make matters worse, dust storms are devastating the family farm and all the farms nearby. While others flee from the dust bowl, Billie Jo is left to find peace in the bleak landscape of Oklahoma and in the surprising landscape of her own heart. 8-12 years
Dust for Dinner
By Ann Turner, Illustrated by Robert Barrett
Jake and Maggy live on a farm where they love to sing and dance to mama’s radio. Then terrible dust storms come and ruin the land. The family has no choice but to auction off the farm and make the long hard journey west to California away from the dust storms, where the land is still green. Along the way, Papa tries to find work and Jake and Maggy try to help. But what if Papa can’t find work? What if California isn’t better after all. 4-8 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and/or leaving a comment below! Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
Oskar, a refugee seeking sanctuary from the horrors of Kristallnacht arrives by ship in New York City. He has only a photograph and an address for an aunt he has never met. It is both the seventh day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, 1938. As Oskar walks the length of Manhattan, from the Battery to his new home in the north of the city, he experiences the city’s many holiday sights. He meets its various residents. Each offers Oskar a small act of kindness, welcoming him to the city and helping him on his way to a new life. 4-8 years
Gracie’s Night: A Hanukkah Story
By Lynn Taylor Gordon, Illustrated by Laurie Brown
There’s lots of love in Gracie’s and Papa’s lives, but not much money. Gracie finds a resourceful way to buy Papa some well-deserved Hanukkah gifts. But an encounter on a bitterly cold night opens her eyes and alters her plans. When we are brave enough to reach out instead of looking away, each of us can bring someone a miracle. 4-8 years
A Hanukkah with Mazel
By Joel Edward Stein, Illustrated by Elisa Vavouri
Misha, a poor artist, has no one to celebrate Hanukkah with until he discovers a hungry cat in his barn. The lucky little cat, whom Misha names Mazel, inspires him to turn each night of Hanukkah into something special. He doesn’t have money for Hanukkah candles, but he can use his artistic skills to bring light to his home as Mazel brings good luck to his life. 3-8 years
Latke, the Lucky Dog
By Ellen Fisher, Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Rescued from an animal shelter on the first night of Hanukkah, Latke the puppy joins the family just in time for the celebrations. Although he has trouble learning the house rules, he is one lucky dog. 5-7 years
The Trees of the Dancing Goats
By Patricia Polacco
Trisha loves the eight days of Hanukkah. Her mother stays home from work, her Babushka makes delicious potato latkes, and her Grampa carves wonderful animals out of wood as gifts for Trisha and her brother. In the middle of her family’s preparations for the festival of lights, Trisha visits her closest neighbors, expecting to find them decorating their house for Christmas. Instead they are all bedridden with scarlet fever. Trisha’s family is one of the few who has been spared from the epidemic. Grampa has an inspiration: they will cut down trees, decorate them, and secretly deliver them to the neighbors. “But what can we decorate then with?” Babushka asks. Although it is a sacrifice, Trisha realizes that Grampa’s carved animals are the perfect answer. 5-8 years
Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat: A Chanukah Story
By Naomi Howland
Sadie and her four little brothers are very poor and always hungry. On the first night of Chanukah, Sadie performs a generous act, and in turn receives a frying pan that cooks up sizzling hot, golden latkes on command. Sadie tells her brothers never to use the magic pan, but when she goes out one afternoon, the mischievous boys can’t resist. They remember the words to start the pan cooking, but what were the words to make it stop? 4-7 years
The Story of Hanukkah
by David A. Adler, Illustrated by Jill Weber
No celebration of Hanukkah would be complete without recounting the events of more than two thousand years ago that the holiday commemorates. In a simple yet dramatic text and vibrant paintings, the story of the courageous Maccabees and the miracle that took place in the Temple in Jerusalem is retold. 5-8 years
All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah
By Emily Jenkins, Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Emily Jenkins and Paul O. Zelinsky bring the beloved All-of-a-Kind Family to life in a new format. Fans along with those just meeting the five girls (“all of a kind,” as their parents say,) will join them back in 1912, on the Lower East Side of New York City, and watch as preparations for Hanukkah are made. When Gertie, the youngest, is not allowed to help prepare latkes, she throws a tantrum. Banished to the girls’ bedroom, she can still hear the sounds and smell the smells of a family getting ready to celebrate. But then Papa comes home and she is allowed out — and given the best job of all: lighting the first candle on the menorah. 3-7 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
During the Great Depression, Americans needed cheering up. They found Seabiscuit, the little racehorse with the big heart.
Seabiscuit, born in 1933, was the grandson of Man o’ War, one of the greatest racehorses. His original owners expected that he would be a winning Thoroughbred too. But he was small for a racehorse, had a bit of a bad temper, and preferred sleeping to running. He lost his first seventeen races, eventually winning some, but was inconsistent. Then, Charles and Marcela Howardbought him and hired the right trainer, Tom Smith.
Tom Smith
Tom Smith treated him gently. He let him sleep when he wanted to, fed him better quality hay, and talked to him in a quiet voice. Tom even moved, Pumpkin, a yellow horse, Pocatell, a spotted dog, and, Jo Jo, a spider monkey into Seabiscuit’s stall. The animals seemed to calm him. Then Tom found just the right jockey, Red Pollard.
Red Pollard
Seabiscuit liked Red right away. With Red aboard, he won big races. Soon, he was featured in popular magazines and movie newsreels. Americans loved him. He was like them, overcoming obstacles to succeed. When he won a race, Americans felt they were winning too.
Seabiscuit’s greatest challenge came in 1938, when he faced the tall, sleek Thoroughbred racehorse War Admiral. In 1937, War Admiral won horse racing’s highest honor, the Triple Crown. Seabiscuit, a four-year-old that year could not compete against War Admiral in the Triple Crown events, only for three-year-olds. But Americans wanted to see the two horses race.
They met on November 1, 1938. Red Pollard was injured and could not ride that day. He advised, George Woolf, his replacement how best to ride Seabiscuit. His advice worked. After running head to head for a good part of the race, Seabiscuit sped away from War Admiral to win in an exciting finish.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
Watch them in action in this exceptional video from PBS’s American Experience:
