From: toddandmaggie
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 22:34:46 -0500

I, too, loved the Childhoods of Famous Americans series as a kid. Interestingly, I clearly remember once asking our school librarian why these books were shelved with the fiction and not with the biographies. Although I was surprised to learn that these books were, in fact, mostly fiction, I continued reading them with the same pleasure I had before. I did, however, gain a newfound sense of respect for "real" biographies. To deserve a spot on the nonfiction shelf, I figured, a book had to be completely true--and it amazed me to think how hard it must be for a biographer to learn so much about another person's life.

Just this year, to my great surprise, my 9-year-old daughter began bringing the Childhoods of Famous Americans books home from her school library. To me, they seem dated now, but she likes them as much as I did. Personally, I don't see anything "wrong" with this sort of creative-fiction?sed-on?ct, as long as it's not represented as anything else. In the adult world, haven't Michael Shaara and, years later, his son Jeff done rather the same thing, and quite successfully, with their books (Killer Angels, Gods and Generals)?

Maggie Bokelman toddandmaggie at msn.com
Received on Wed 03 Apr 2002 09:34:46 PM CST