Brilliant Author Series: Cheryl Harness

August 6, 2009

I need to disclose that I love U.S. History. Eat it up. Devour it.

And I find there is no better way to learn about our nation (or anything, for that matter) than children’s books. I don’t need 500 page manuscripts spewing theories. I like good, informative, illustrated, fun picture books.

Perhaps, I have a short attention span…

Oh, and the adorables learn a great deal too.

Several months ago, Team Farmer was visiting Mount Vernon, George Washington’s illustrious home. I had to get to the gift shop because I knew there would be fabulous books that I hadn’t seen yet.

And there she was (not in person, mind you): Cheryl Harness with her brilliant children’s biography of George Washington.

And I met her again at the Smithsonian bookstores in D.C. with her series on our presidents.

And then I returned home and scoured Amazon and found her show-stopping chapter books, with a timeline on every page for readers to conceptualize what was also happening at the time. (Sorry I had to shorten the titles below – they wouldn’t fit! Here they are in full: The Remarkable Rough-Riding Life of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Empire America, The Tragic Tale of Narcissa Whitman and a Faithful History of the Oregon Trail, and The Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver and Science and Invention in America.)

And I’ve been reading ever since. Ms. Harness’ books are marvelous: well-written, wonderfully illustrated, rich in historical detail. In short, she has created works of art.