The Life and Work
of Imogen Cunningham
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Viking Books for Young Readers
(Penguin Random House)
pub. 8.26.2025
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Elizabeth Partridge
Illustrator: Yuko Shimizu
Character: Imogen Cunningham
Overview:
"Imogen Cunningham loved to observe the world. She noticed the colors in the woods outside her house and how light and shadows moved between the trees. She tried to capture this beauty on paper with pencils, but something was missing. One day she read about a woman in Paris who earned a living as a photographer, and she knew she was meant to do the same. With the support of her loving father, she then began her journey to become one of the most important photographers in America."
Tantalizing taste:
"Imogen and her friends went out in the woods and read poetry
to one another. She draped them in gauzy fabrics and took photographs
as they acted out the poems.
Inside her darkroom, she developed the negatives and made prints,
then hung them up to dry.
There it was, right in the photographs, all the soft cadence of the
poetry, all the beauty, all the feelings she carried deep inside her.
Nothing was missing."
And something more: Elizabeth Partridge in the Author's Note explains: "Imogen Cunningham was my grandmother. To me, she was always very old, and always a photographer. Cameras and taking photographs and making beautiful prints were all woven so deeply in her, it was impossible to separate Imogen from her photography. Photography was not something she did; it was who she was.…
I learned to watch my grandmother in the garden with her plants, or when we were out together on the steep, busy streets. I wanted to see what she was noticing, see what caught her eye. 'I don't hunt for things,' she said. 'I just wait till something strikes me.' Ordinary moments that I overlooked would capture her attention: someone counting out change in the palm of their hand or the zigzagging shadow of outside stairs against a wooden building."
How S. Chandrasekhar Predicted
the Existence of Black Holes
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Margaret K. McElderry Books
(Simon & Schuster)
pub. 10.14.2025
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Shruthi Rao
Illustrator: Srinidhi Srinivasan
Character: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Overview:
"When scientists get things right, science leaps forward. When they get things wrong, they learn from their mistakes, and science continues to advance. But sometimes, even when scientists get it right, nobody pays attention. Then, for a while, science stands still.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was a brilliant scientist with eyes fixed toward the stars. As a young man, he developed the theory that would eventually lead to the discovery of black holes. But when he presented his findings to the world’s leading Western scientists, they scoffed at his ideas. Chandra knew he was right. But would anyone listen?
Learn the true story of a relentless scientist and his cosmic discovery that had to wait for science to change its mind."
Tantalizing taste:
"For Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, math
wasn't made up of problems, but of solutions.
Sitting by himself among his grandfather's
books in the South Indian city of Madra,
Chandra devoured books on advanced math.
He often biked to the beach to sit under the twinkling stars,
those big balls of gases made of a gazillion atoms swirling around,
gravity squishing those atoms together so hard that they combined
to give out heat and light."
And something more: A Closer Look at the back of the book explains: "Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Chandra, was an Indian-bor American astrophysicist... He was just nineteen when, on the voyage to England, Chandra made his groundbreaking discovery. Einstein's special theory of relativity explains how speed affects mass, time, and space, especially the speed of light. Chandra thought of applying this theory to stars, because particles inside stars travel at speeds close to that of light. That is when his calculations suggested that some dying stars behave differently."
And as Shruthi Rao writes in the final pages of the story:
"This discovery has led to a better understanding
of the universe,
of how it works,
and how it began!
An understanding that came decades late because
the world ignored a brilliant young scientist.
Finally, about fifty years after Chandra first talked about
stars disappearing, he won the Nobel Prize for his work.
More than the recognition, what mattered to him was that,
finally, the world saw the truth.
And once again,
science was leaping forward."
The True Story of One Woman,
the Declaration of Independence,
and America's Fight for Freedom
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Roaring Brook Press
(MacKids)
pub. 2.18.2025
40 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Karen Blumenthal and
Jen McCartney
Illustrator: Elizabeth Baddeley
Character: Mary Katharine Goddard
Overview:
"Who was Mary Katharine Goddard?
Born in 1738, she was homeschooled by her mother in reading and math. She took over her brother’s printing shop a few years later and became an expert in printing newspapers, essays, and posters.
When the American Revolution started, she published important news that helped the fight against the British – even if it meant that if she was caught, she’d be punished for treason. In 1776, Mary was asked to print the Declaration of Independence – she is the only woman whose name is on the Declaration."
Tantalizing taste:
"She wanted to put her mark on this document [The Declaration of Independence] even if it would be considered treason. She wasn't just M.K. She was Mary.
That was daring.
That was revolutionary.
That was…
M-A-R-Y POUND!*POUND!*POUND!
K-A-T-H-A-R-I-N-E
CRANK, WHOOSH! CRANK, WHOOSH!
G-O-D-D-A-R-D
And something more: Jen McCartney in the Author's Note explains: "When my mom, Karen Blumenthal passed away unexpectedly in 2020, my family and I knew there was so much more work that she'd wanted to share with the world. She had written a draft of this, her first picture book, and was excited about its possibilities. My mom and I had always talked about writing a picture book together, and so I dove into her draft and research to finish the project.
Mary's story explored many topics my mom was passionate about: feminism, defiance in the face of stacked odds, a free press, and characters in history who are so often forgotten. In
working on this book, I was also struck by the mother – daughter relationship between Mary and Sarah.… It was an honor to finish this project and finally get to collaborate with my mom."
