Tracey Fern

Author/illustrator team Tracey Fern and Emily Arnold McCully tell the story of record-breaking 19th-century navigator Eleanor Creesy in this excellent picture book biography. Born Eleanor Prentiss in Marblehead, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of a sea captain, who taught her both to sail and to navigate—unusual skills for a young woman to learn in those times. Eventually marrying a sea captain, she became his navigator, and when the Gold Rush in California led to a desire to reach show more that land quickly, she and her husband set out to break the record in sailing there. And so they set out from New York in the clipper The Flying Cloud, with Eleanor using new scientific methods to navigate down the eastern coast of the Americas, around the treacherous Cape Horn, and up to their destination, beating the world record by thirty days...

Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud is the sixth picture book I have read from author Tracey Fern, whose work mostly consists of biographies for young people, and the seventeenth from illustrator Emily Arnold McCully, who has produced some interesting picture book biographies of her own, and who won the 1993 Caldecott Medal for her Mirette On the High Wire. In any case, I found this one both informative and engaging, and enjoyed learning about a figure of whom I had previously been unaware. The narrative is engrossing, the story is exciting, and the artwork is appealing. I appreciated the author's note at the end, and was generally quite impressed with this one. The only criticism I would make of the book would be the choice to name the subject "Eleanor Prentiss" in the title, rather than "Eleanor Creesy." The latter was her married name, and the name by which she was known throughout her adult life, when she set her records and was in the public eye. I'm not sure why Fern made this choice—some kind of statement? a desire to separate Eleanor from her husband, Josiah Creesy, who was also part of the record-breaking team?—but I think it does a disservice, as most searches for "Eleanor Prentiss" will return fewer results than for "Eleanor Creesy." Leaving that aside, this is a book I would recommend to picture book audiences who enjoy biography, stories of adventure and seafaring, and tales of girls and women accomplishing great things. show less

Author Tracey E. Fern and illustrator Steven Salerno tell the story of mustang advocate Velma Bronn Johnston in this engaging picture book biography. Born in 1912 near Reno, Nevada, Velma grew up loving horses—especially the wild mustangs that roamed her state. Struck down with polio at a young age, she would lie in bed dreaming of these equines and their life of freedom on the range. Growing up and getting married, she eventually opened a riding stable with her husband. But when show more confronted with the massive round-up and slaughter of the wild horses she loved, she sprang into action as an activist, arguing for the protection of these marvelous creatures, first in her own home state, and then nationally. She involved young people in her lobbying, creating a network of school children known as the "pencil brigade," who wrote to their congressmen urging action on this issue. Eventually she was successful, and the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971, making it a crime to kill most wild horses on federal land...

Wild Horse Annie: Friend of the Mustangs is the fifth book I have read from Fern, whose published work is all in the area of children's biography, and the second from Salerno. I found it immensely engrossing, and often quite poignant, and I appreciated the expressive way the book's subject was depicted, in both text and artwork. Wild Horse Annie—a name Johnston embraced, even though it was given to her by her opponents—endured great suffering as a child, something that marked her physically, but also seems to have to have made her very tough. The way she persevered throughout her life, both through physical pain and in the face of personal and political ridicule, is admirable, and is clearly depicted in this book. The model of civic engagement she encouraged is something to celebrate, and I liked that this was highlighted here. Johnston had to work for decades to achieve her goals, she had to enlist allies by convincing them of the justice of her cause, and she and those allies had to work within the system, slowly pushing their desired change forward. At a time when so many activists seem to expect instant change, when they show disdain for others rather than a willingness to convince them, and when they feel that they are entitled to behave in destructive ways outside the bounds of what is legally or ethically acceptable, I think books like this, which encourage civic education, are more important than ever. Recommended to picture book audiences who enjoy biography, to young horse and animal lovers, and to anyone seeking children's books which model constructive civic engagement. show less

Inspired by the real-life story of Texas pioneer and rancher Mary Ann Goonight, Tracey E. Fern tells the fictional story of Molly, a rancher's wife who has a soft spot for orphaned animals. A buffalo lover from the first, Molly is dismayed when hunters almost wipe out the species, and agrees to take in two young buffalo calves when a cowboy brings them to her. This is the start of her own herd, which she slowly assembles from young survivors of the buffalo massacres. Eventually, after the show more establishment of the national parks, Molly sends some of her buffalo to help supply the herd being established in Yellowstone National Park.

An engaging enough tale, told in alliterative prose and accompanied by lovely artwork from Caldecott Honoree Lauren Castillo, Buffalo Music would have been all the better, in my opinion, if it had been a straight picture-book biography of the real woman who inspired this fictionalized retelling. Given that the original subject was such an interesting character, why not write a non-fiction book about her? Leaving that disappointment aside, I found the narrative here engaging, and did appreciate Tracey Fern's afterword, in which she gave more information about Mary Ann Goodnight, and suggested further reading ideas. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about efforts to save the buffalo, in the face of its imminent extinction because of over-hunting. Perhaps as a companion book to Joseph Bruchac's Buffalo Song, a picture-book about the efforts of Flathead Indians to preserve this marvelous species. show less

Fascinated by mummies (and by all things Egyptian) since he was a little boy, Howard Carter set out to make discoveries of his own, taking a job as an artist with the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1891, when he was seventeen years old. Teaching himself everything he needed to know to become an expert excavator, he was eventually the archaeologist who uncovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun, in 1922...

The second picture-book biography I have read from author Tracey Fern, following upon her Pippo show more the Fool, and the third picture-book overall, Howard and the Mummy: Howard Carter and the Search for King Tut's Tomb presents an engaging tale of discovery and hard work. The author emphasizes throughout how much Carter had to struggle, essentially educating himself in the field, and she also delves into her subject's prickly personality, which made him unpopular, despite his fame. She discusses how the excavation of King Tut's tomb was the most thorough and scientific archaeological dig ever conducted, up to that point, which is an interesting point, highlighting the importance, not just of Carter's discovery, but of his methology. The accompanying artwork from illustrator Boris Kulikov, who worked with Fern on a number of other picture-book biographies, is appealing, making excellent use of sepia tones and light to create a sense of mystery and excitement. A brief afterword gives more information, and a list of sources is included as well.

All in all, this is a book I would recommend to young biography and history lovers, and to all children fascinated by Ancient Egypt. It could be paired very nicely with James Rumsford's Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs—another picture-book biography about a pioneering Egyptologist. show less