73 95 100+ Biographies for Kids
This post was originally posted in 2014 with 73 biographies and there been TONS more biographies for kids published since then. As I added to our library, I updated this post again in 2018. I gave this post a THIRD revision in 2020 to add in even more amazing biographies for kids! Here’s the updated list, categorized for easy searching and saving.
Biographies for Kids: Scientists + Mathematicians to Admire
- The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbably Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman
2. Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne
3. The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter
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4. Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
5. Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone
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6. Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown
7. Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit up the World by Elizabeth Rusch
8. Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed our Lives by Gene Berretta
9. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
10.On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
11. Summer birds: the Butterflies of Maria Marion by Margarita Engle
12. Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D’Agnese
13. The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of James John Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
14. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
15. Caroline’s Comets: A True Story by Emily Arnold McCully
16. Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World about Kindness by Donna Janell Bowman
17. Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer by Robert Burleigh
18. The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by
19. Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by
20. When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Munoz Ryan 21. Mr Cornell’s Dream Boxes by Jeanette Winter 22. Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuoso by Andrea Pinkney 23. The Iridescence of Birds: Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLaughlan 24. A Splash of Red: the Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant 25. Duke Ellington: the Piano Prince and his Orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney 26. Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell 27. Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter 28. Becoming Bach by Tom Leonard 29. Viva Frieda by Yuyi Morales 30. Prairie Boy: Frank Lloyd Wright Turns the Heartland into a Home by Barb Rosenstock 31. Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle 29. Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything by Maira Kalman 30. To Dare Mighty Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Doreen Rappaport 31. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candice Fleming 32. Amelia lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candice Fleming 33. The Lincoln’s: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming 34. Rosa by Nikki Giovanni 35. What to do about Alice? by Barbara Kerley 36. Elizabeth Leads the Way by Tanya Lee Stone 37. Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley 38. Leif the Lucky by Ingri Daulaire 39. Columbus by Ingri Daulaire 40. Pocahontas by Ingri Daulaire 41. George Washington by Ingri Daulaire 42. Benjamin Franklin by Ingri Daulaire 43. Buffalo Bill by Ingri Daulaire 44. Abraham Lincoln by Ingri Daulaire 45. Bard of Avon:William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley 46. Leonardo Davinci by Diane Stanley 47. Good Queen Bess by Dianne Stanley 48. Peter the Great by Dianne Stanley 49. Cleopatra by Diane Stanley 50. Along Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendick 51. Joan of Arc: Warrior Saint by Jay Williams 52. Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library by Barb Rosenstock 53. Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta 54. Eleanor by Barbara Cooney 55. A Boy Named FDR by Kathleen Krull 56. Alexander the Great by John Gunther 57. George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster 58. The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster 59. The World of Christopher Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster 60. Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster 61. Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster 62. Louis and Clark: Explorer’s of the American West by Steven Kroll 63. Encounter by Jane Yolen 64. Picture Book of Daniel Boone by David Adler 65. The Secret Subway by Shana Corey 66. Abraham by Frank Keating 67. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford 68. Brave Clara Barton by Frank Murphy 69. Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt by Don Brown 70. The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans by Barbara E. Walsh 71. First Mothers by Beverly Gherman 72. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford 73. Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss 74. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson 79. The Boy on Fairfield street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Suess by Kathleen Krull 80. Louisa: the Life of Louisa May Alcott by Yona Zeldis McDonough 82. Noah Webster and his Words by Jeri Chase Ferris 81. Going Solo by Roald Dahl 83. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant 84. Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise 85. The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne by Lesa Cline-Ransome 86. Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books by Michelle Markel 88. Ali an American Champion by Barry Denenburg 89. Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick 91. The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game by Nancy Churnin 92. Charlie Takes His Shot: How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf by Nancy Churnin 94. Mr. Ferris and his Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis 95. Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty 96. The Story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki 97. The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World by Mary Losure 98. The Great and Only Barnum by Candice Fleming 99. Bon appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Childs by Jessie Hartland 100. Daredevil: the Daring Life of Betty Skelton by Meghan Macarthy 101. Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi 102. Here come the Girl Scouts by Shana Correy 103. The Man who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gernstein 104. Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet 105. Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire by Amy Guglielmo 107. Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 108. Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God 109.Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Dee Romito 110. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard My hope is that, as a result of this big ol’ list, you and your children will discover amazing people whose stories should be continued to be shared. Most of all, I want my kids to know that reading and continuing to read will keep expanding their world!Artists + Musicians to Learn About
Biographies for Kids: Heroes from History
Biographies about Writers
Biographies for Kids About Amazing Athletes
Too Cool for Categories: Everyday Folks Who Made a Extraordinary Impact
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Great list!
Additional picture book biographies that we’ve enjoyed:
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre & His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith
The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating
Pippo the Fool by Tracey Fern
This list is fantastic! I order the biographies for our library and we were missing several of these. You know it’s a good list when the library already has most of the books and they are regularly checked out!
This looks like an awesome list! However please note that Rosie Revere Engineer is NOT a biography. It’s a wonderful book about a little girl who wants to be an engineer, but it is NOT about Rosie the Riveter. There is an implication that the character’s great great aunt is the riveter but this is not a biography.
Thank you very much for this list, it’s super helpful!
Thank you so much! I love getting my kids biographies! Great looking list!
This is a goldmine! Thanks so much for compiling this list Alicia! My little bookworm will thank you for this.
xo emily
This is incredible! I am always on the hunt for book list and adding in some biographies would be such an excellent learning tool. Like you, life fascinates me and I love reading about them!
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My daughter's class does a book report a month. She has done mysteries, but this month she will be reading the story of olympic gymnast Shaun Johnson. Callie is a gymnast as well (a newcomer)and I love that she will be reading about one of her heroes. You have compiled a great list. Makes me truly miss teaching reading.
Love this list! I'm looking for books to steer my kids to. 😉
Oh how I nerdily love this list! My girls have been reading a lot of biographies about people in the Revolutionary War and they have been loving them! Hooray for raising future biography nerds!!
Love love love this post! Thank you!
What a fun list'. We haven't really done much biography reading at all. This list will be a great place to start!