True Story Bookshop

Let’s encourage children's hobbies by giving them true stories about people who share their interests. Do you know kids who love sports, space, or singing? Animals, art, or activism? Food or fashion? I have book recommendations for them here at my True Story Bookshop.

Karlin Gray is the author of picture-book biographies ANNE and HER TOWER OF GIRAFFES (Kids Can Press, Sep. 6, 2022), SERENA: THE LITTLEST SISTER, and NADIA: THE GIRL WHO COULDN’T SIT STILL as well as AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOTH. Some of her favorite bookstores are Elm Street Books, Books of Wonder, Between the Covers, Warwicks, and Books Inc.

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Women’s History VIEW LIST (103 BOOKS)

Caroline's Comets: A True Story

Instructions Not Included: How a Team of Women Coded the Future

Fighting for Yes!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann

Splash!: Ethelda Bleibtrey Makes Waves of Change

The Singer and the Scientist

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion

Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth

The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague

Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution

The Flying Girl: How Aida de Acosta Learned to Soar

Agatha Christie: Volume 5

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees

The Queen and the First Christmas Tree: Queen Charlotte's Gift to England

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

VIEW ALL 103 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Makers VIEW LIST (36 BOOKS)

The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan: Inventor, Entrepreneur, Hero

Instructions Not Included: How a Team of Women Coded the Future

The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer

Gaudi: Architect of Imagination

Alan Turing: Volume 38

The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague

Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane

Gizmos, Gadgets, and Guitars: The Story of Leo Fender

Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code Volume 1

Little Libraries, Big Heroes

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon

Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines

Her Right Foot (American History Books for Kids, American History for Kids)

VIEW ALL 36 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies~Artists VIEW LIST (36 BOOKS)

The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean

Through the Window: Views of Marc Chagall's Life and Art

Covered in Color: Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Fabrics of Freedom

Gaudi: Architect of Imagination

Jackson Pollock Splashed Paint and Wasn't Sorry

Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made

Before They Were Artists: Famous Illustrators as Kids

Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America

Sister Corita's Words and Shapes

Dorothy & Herbert: An Ordinary Couple and Their Extraordinary Collection of Art

Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring

Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

VIEW ALL 36 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Poets VIEW LIST (8 BOOKS)

Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty

A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks: Volume 3

On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave

Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou

Enormous Smallness: A Story of e. e. cummings

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Musicians & Singers VIEW LIST (28 BOOKS)

The Singer and the Scientist

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion

Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge

Gizmos, Gadgets, and Guitars: The Story of Leo Fender

Nina: A Story of Nina Simone

Irving Berlin: The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing

Mister and Lady Day: Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her

Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma

Elvis Is King!

King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin

Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten (Early Elementary Story Books, Children's Music Books, Biography Book

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist

Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music

When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana

Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

VIEW ALL 28 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Athletes VIEW LIST (24 BOOKS)

Splash!: Ethelda Bleibtrey Makes Waves of Change

All Star: How Larry Doby Smashed the Color Barrier in Baseball

Rena Glickman, Queen of Judo

Charlie Takes His Shot: How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf

The Funniest Man in Baseball: The True Story of Max Patkin

Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes

She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story

Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball

Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters

Sakamoto's Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory

Bartali's Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy's Secret Hero

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

Follow Chester!: A College Football Team Fights Racism and Makes History

The Girl Who Ran: Bobbi Gibb, the First Women to Run the Boston Marathon

VIEW ALL 24 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Dancers VIEW LIST (6 BOOKS)

Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins

Jazz Age Josephine

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova

Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina

A Girl Named Rosita: The Story of Rita Moreno: Actor, Singer, Dancer, Trailblazer!

Bunheads

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Fashion VIEW LIST (8 BOOKS)

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

Just Being Audrey

The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put Man on the Moon

Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli

Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Fashion Designer Ann Cole Lowe

Along Came Coco: A Story about Coco Chanel

Polka Dot Parade: A Book about Bill Cunningham

Jonas Hanway's Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly Sensational Umbrella

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Animal Lovers VIEW LIST (18 BOOKS)

Helen Thayer's Arctic Adventure: A Woman and a Dog Walk to the North Pole

The Cat Man of Aleppo

Mister and Lady Day: Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her

Anne and Her Tower of Giraffes: The Adventurous Life of the First Giraffologist

She Heard the Birds: The Story of Florence Merriam Bailey

Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship

A Voice for the Spirit Bears: How One Boy Inspired Millions to Save a Rare Animal

The Old Man and the Penguin: A True Story of True Friendship

The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles

A Boy and a Jaguar

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau Book for Kids, Children's Ocean Book, Underwater Picture Book for Kids)

Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit

VIEW ALL 18 BOOKS

Picture-Book Biographies ~ Activists VIEW LIST (38 BOOKS)

Fighting for Yes!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann

Splash!: Ethelda Bleibtrey Makes Waves of Change

The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Revolution

The Singer and the Scientist

Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage: The Fight for Interracial Marriage

Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet

Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution

Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America

Nina: A Story of Nina Simone

The Cat Man of Aleppo

Sister Corita's Words and Shapes

VIEW ALL 38 BOOKS