There are so many great Americans to read about, and this list is far from definitive. I chose these 20 people based on the quality of books that are available about their lives and achievements. These aren’t just books that share facts; they will immerse the reader into the amazing lives and choices that these men and women made.
Susan B. Anthony - Susan B. Anthony: Fighter for Freedom and Equality by Suzanne Slade
Elizabeth Blackwell - Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone
Ruby Bridges - The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Frederick Douglass - Who Was Frederick Douglass? by April Jones Prince
Thomas Edison - Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives by Gene Barretta
Thomas Jefferson - Thomas Jefferson Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything by Maira Kalman
Helen Keller - Helen’s Big World by Doreen Rappaport
John Fitzgerald Kennedy - Jack’s Path of Courage by Doreen Rappaport
Martin Luther King, Jr. - My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris
Abraham Lincoln - Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winters
Rosa Parks - Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Sally Ride - Who Was Sally Ride? by Megan Stine
Jackie Robinson - Teammates by Peter Golenbock
Eleanor Roosevelt - Eleanor, Quiet No More by Doreen Rappaport
Wilma Rudolph - Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull
Sonia Sotomayor - Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter
Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone
Harriet Tubman - Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
George Washington - A Picture Book of George Washington by David A. Adler
The Wright Brothers - Who Were the Wright Brothers? by James Buckley Jr.
Who would you add to the list? Share the title of your favorite great American biography on the Scholastic Parents Facebook page.
