A Picture Book of Jackie Robinson (Picture Book Biography) [Paperback]

David A. Adler (Author), Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Picture Book Biography

The first African American to play in the major leagues.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-A brief look at the life of baseball great Jackie Robinson. The subject's childhood, sporting accomplishments, and later endeavors are touched upon, as are the bigotry and prejudice he faced as the first African American to play in the major leagues. The information is similar to that found in Carol Greene's Jackie Robinson (Childrens, 1990), though Adler's writing is smoother. Casilla's full-and double-page watercolors provide attractive backgrounds for the text. A sound introduction to a significant figure.
Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Abraham Adler (born April 10, 1947) is the author of nearly 200 books for children and young adults, most notably the Cam Jansen mystery series, the "Picture Book of..." series, and several acclaimed works about the Holocaust for young readers. Adler was born in New York City, New York. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year. Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career. Adler has three children and one grandson. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Robert Casilla was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to parents from Puerto Rico. Like many children, Robert always loved to draw. As the new kid in his second grade class, he recalls doing a drawing of two birds with colored chalk on construction paper. His teacher noticed the drawing and then told the class, "We have an artist in the class!" Robert is thankful to her and all the teachers that motivated and helped him realize he had talent as an artist. Although he grew up in New Jersey, he did get to attend school in Puerto Rico as a fourth grader.

His formal training in art took place at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he earned a BFA degree.

Since 1984, Robert has worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines, book publishers, postage stamps, educational publishers and others.

He has illustrated over 25 children's books, many of which are picture book biographies of people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and John F. Kennedy. He has also illustrated many multicultural children's books such as Jalapeno Bagels, The Little Painter of Sabana Grande, The Legend of Mexicatl and First Day in Grapes which won the Pura Belpré Honor Award.

Robert visits many schools to talk about the visual journey a story takes him through to come up with the illustrations for his books. He also teaches art to young gifted artist one day a week.

Robert lives and works from his home in New Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife and two children, 3 cats and his feisty shih tzu dog.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 29 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (P) (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823413047
• ISBN-13: 978-0823413041
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 9.5 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Robinson, Jackie
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( A ) > Adler, David A.
  • #30 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > Sports & Recreation

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.