Defining Moments

Defining Moments is a collection featuring six people (Clara Barton, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ellen Ochoa, Rosa Parks, and Christopher Reeve) who have influenced American history. This is an excellent series to introduce biographies to elementary students or to introduce a unit of study on the topic the person’s life affected, such as civil rights, labor laws, women’s rights, or the impact one person can make on society. The authors write in a story format that permits the books to be read to younger students or to be read independently by students in grades 3-5. Despite the fact that each chapter is a two-page spread with 100 words or less in large text and has a variety of pictures, maps or illustrations, students will have enough age-appropriate information about the individual after reading the book. At the back of each book is a reference section for just the facts, a timeline of important events, a glossary, a bibliography, read more, learn more online, and about the author. My only complaint is that the monochrome portrait of the book’s subject on the cover will not attract students to browse the titles. Overall, this is an excellent series for an elementary school. Highly Recommended.

Defining Moments is a collection featuring six people (Clara Barton, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ellen Ochoa, Rosa Parks, and Christopher Reeve) who have influenced American history. This is an excellent series to introduce biographies to elementary students or to introduce a unit of study on the topic the person’s life affected, such as civil rights, labor laws, women’s rights, or the impact one person can make on society. The authors write in a story format that permits the books to be read to younger students or to be read independently by students in grades 3-5. Despite the fact that each chapter is a two-page spread with 100 words or less in large text and has a variety of pictures, maps or illustrations, students will have enough age-appropriate information about the individual after reading the book. At the back of each book is a reference section for just the facts, a timeline of important events, a glossary, a bibliography, read more, learn more online, and about the author. My only complaint is that the monochrome portrait of the book’s subject on the cover will not attract students to browse the titles. Overall, this is an excellent series for an elementary school. Highly Recommended.

Barton was a shy child who became a teacher and then a nurse during the Civil War. Later, she founded the American Red Cross. Parks’s refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger was the catalyst for the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott. Ochoa was an excellent student and flutist who became an engineer, inventor, and astronaut-the first Hispanic woman to travel in outer space. The books’ beginning chapters offer compelling accounts of the importance of the subjects’ work. The clearly written texts are enhanced by relevant photographs and illustrations on every spread. Children may require assistance with the Web sites; although they are well chosen, they are designed for adult use. Good purchases for libraries searching for biographies about heroic women.

The great achievements of Chavez and Reeve are highlighted in these introductory biographies. Each individual overcame obstacles and became a role model and hero for many people. Both books are straightforward and clear. The tone is hopeful and encouraging. A few relevant childhood details and background information are given. Each man is portrayed as an ordinary person whose passion drove his life. Crisp, full-color photos are included on every chapter spread, and the page layouts are attractive and uncluttered. Purchase where easy-to-read biographies are needed.

Books in the Defining Moments series offer simple, straightforward biographies of historical figures—among them, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Christopher Reeve—who overcame great obstacles to make a positive difference in society. Biographical information begins with details about childhood, then focuses, with an inspiring tone, on the subjects’ adult achievements. Barton, for instance, overcame crippling shyness and fears as a late-in-life daughter to brave cannon fire on Civil War battlefields and later, at age 59, established the American Red Cross. Well-selected photos on a colorful page layout provide a sometimes dramatic sense of the era in which Barton lived. A glossary, a brief and colorful time line, and a bibliography with recommended Web sites are appended.