This is an annotated bibliography of world leaders. The intended audience is junior high English teacher or teacher of social studies/history. Many times historic events and ideas can be given more immediacy when they are attached to actual people; thus, my hope is a bibliography like this will arm teachers with a collection of books to get their students more interested in history and politics.

            In creating this bibliography, I initially wrote down a list of 25 current and historic world leaders who I thought would be interesting to include and then searched their names both in the Horn Book Guide and the Minuteman Library Network for books. I found out quickly that there are many mediocre “series books” about world leaders and unfortunately  I quickly had to strike some recent political figures such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Mikhail Gorbachev from potentialy being in the bibliography because all of the books about them fell into the pedestrian series book category. Initially, I also hoped to include an equal number of male and female world leaders in the book, but had to temper this ambition somewhat because not only have their been a limited number of female leaders of nations to choose from but the quality of books about them is not always the best. Many of the highest quality books in the bibliography are written about well known figures like George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Queen Elizabeth I. In fact, I could have possibly created a solid bibliography of books just about those three figures. However, I preferred to include current and past world leaders who students may not be as familiar with as well. To do this, I had to include some books that where very good, but not great in quality on the list. For example, I put in a biography of Benazir Bhutto who was the first female Prime Minster of Pakistan and the first women to lead a modern Muslim nation which I though was a good and received a solid 3 in the Horn Book Guide. I felt that a good book about a historic figure like Bhutto who students may not be very familiar with would be more interesting to include in the list than a higher rated book that was about another DWG. [1] Below, is the aforementioned bibliography broken down into two sections: Male Leaders and Female Leaders.

Male Leaders

George Washington: An Illustrated Biography by David A. Adler. 2004. Holiday. Biography. 8^th Grade. HBG Rating 2. HBG

This is a well researched and organized book. Budding history buff’s will enjoy the separate sections at the end that outline information about Washington’s generals[2], his cabinet, famous quotes, important battles, and extensive section of source notes for the book. Reproductions of newspaper articles and letters from Washington’s life add to the text.  

Jack: The Early Years of John F. Kennedy by Ilene Cooper. 2003. Dutton. Biography. 6^th Grade. HBG Rating 2. HGB

This biography focuses on Kennedy’s childhood beginning with JFK’s getting Scarlet Fever as a baby and ending with his graduating high school. The book points out occasions when Kennedy’s family connections and privilege benefitted him. There are plenty of pictures of Kennedy as a youth which bring the text to life. His presidency and assassination are only quickly touched upon in an afterward.

Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered by Barry Denenberg. Illustrated by Christopher Bing. 2008. Feiwel (Holtzbrinck Publishers) Biography. 6/7^th Grade. HBG Rating 1. CLC

This is an exceptionally designed book. It is 12 by 18 inches and the format is made to look like an aged news paper from the 1860s. The biography is written in the format of articles about different aspects of Lincoln’s life such as his boyhood, early political career, presidency during the Civil War and assassination. There are also articles about his assassins. Students should be explicitly told that these are not actual newspapers articles from Lincoln’s time, but merely designed to look that way.

Mao Tse-Tung and His China by Albert Marrin. 1989. Penguin Group. Biography. 8^th Grade. HGB Rating 2.

This is a thorough look at Mao’s life from his early youth when his rebellious nature had caused his parents to force him into marriage at age 14, his rise to power, to his historic meeting with President Nixon. Political slogans and poems from Mao’s time are intersperse with the texts as are photographs.

Obama: The Historic Journey by Jill Abramsom. 2009. Callaway. Biography. 6^th Grade. HBG Rating 3. MLNS

This is a biography of Obama’s entire life, but focuses on the Presidential Campaign. The strongest aspects of this book are the excellent photographs of the Presidential Campaign and Obama’s early childhood. There are also well designed pages that show the Electoral Collage map when Obama won, a break down of the differences between Obama and McCain, and that address side issues like controversial Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Sarah Palin. [3]

Sequoyah’s Gift: A Portrait of the Cherokee Leader by Janet Klausner. 1993. Harper Collins. Biography. 6^th Grade. HBG Rating 2. HBG

The focus of this biography of the Cherokee Leader Sequoyah is his creation of a system of writing for the Cherokee language. Photographs of dictionaries and charts with actual examples of the system of language developed and the Cherokee Advocate Newspaper  bring the book to life. An afterward, describes how the Cheokee written language is still used today and gives suggestions of places to visit to learn more about Sequoyah.

The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin. 2002. Clarion. Biography. 8^th Grade.

HBG Rating 2.  HBG

This book is best served to be read by a budding historian who wants a more detached look at Hitler’s life and the atrocities he committed while in power; having said that, in a way the early chapters with vignettes about a young Hitler who is too scared to talk to a girl he likes and cries during his mother’s battle with breast cancer could be jarring to read because it may be difficult to juxtapose his monstrous actions as an adult with the fairly normal boy described. (note: This won the Robert F. Sibert Medal for informational books)

Theodore Roosevelt: Larger Than Life by Matt Donnelly. 2003. Linnet Books. Biography. 7/8^th grade. HBG Rating 2.  HBG

The book explains how Roosevelt’s family life led to his many great ambitions and gives political context about how Roosevelt rose into political power via an image of a straight shooter amid scandals in New York/US Government. The book also gives voice to those who disagreed with Roosevelt’s policies. Pictures and political cartoons are used throughout to add to the text and thorough notes, bibliography, and more information page is given at the end.

Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist by John B Severance. 1996 Clarion Books. Biography. 6^th Grade. HBG Rating 2. HBG

The two best aspects of this Churchill Biography are the large amount and well selected photographs of Churchill which bring his various character traits to life and the frequent use of his own words in the text. There is even a section at the end called Winston’s Wit which has some of the most memorable quotes from a man who was famous for his witticism.

Female Leaders

Angela Merkel by Clifford W Mills. 2008. Infobase Publishing. Biography. 6^th Grade.  HBG Rating 4.  WL

This biography of the first female (and current) German Chancellor at times suffers from over an idealization of Merkel; that being said, it explains how growing up in East Berlin during the Cold War helped create Merkel’s interest in politics and more mundane current political issues she deals with like negotiating natural gas deals with Russian in a well organized layout. As Merkel is currently in power, a list of websites that discuss German Politics will be helpful to a student who wishes to continue to follow Merkel’s political career.

Benazir Bhutto by Katherine M Doherty and Craig A. Doherty. 1990. Franklin Watts. Biography. Grade 7/8. HBG Rating 3. HBG

The first section of this book gives a brief history of Pakistan followed by a chapter on Benazir Bhutto’s famous father which will be helpful to readers unfamiliar with Pakistan. Particularly interesting to American Readers might be a chapter on her time at Radcliffe in the late 60s/early70s where she became involved in the Women’s Movement and Anti-Vietnam war protests. Furthermore, the political courage she showed battling General Zia’s rule and her eventual victory to become the first female leader of a Muslim Nation will most likely be an inspirational one that most American students know little about. (Note: because of when this book was written, it does not contain information about her last few years of life and her assassination last year. Thus, it might serve any student interested in Bhutto to have newspaper/magazine articles available to fill that information)

Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth 1 of England by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema. 2001. Harper Collins. Biography. Grade 6. HBG Rating 1.  HBG

This book manages to take very complex historical concepts/events such as royal succession, The Reformation movement, and The Spanish Amada’s attack of England and explain them in clear and concise language without overly simplifying them. Particular attention is given to Elizabeth’s political acumen. The detailed illustrations give a context to the text and there is a bibliography for further research.

Hatshepsut: His Majesty, Herself by Catharine Andronik. Illustrated by Joseph Daniel Fiedler. 2001. Atheneum. Biography.  6^th Grade. HBG Rating 2. HBG

This is the story of Hatshepsut the first and longest running female Pharaoh of Egypt who ascended to the position after the death of her father and brothers. Particular attention is paid to the gender politics of her reign such as Hatshepsut wearing men’s clothes, a fake beard, and refereeing to herself as he after she became Pharaoh. The author explains that the book is based on limited evidence about Hatshepsut’s life because her nephew destroyed much of the records of her life and leadership.

Margaret Thatcher: First Women Prime Minister Of Great Britain by Leila Merrell Foster. 1989. Children’s Press Inc. Biography. 6/7^th Grade. HBG Rating NA.  MLNS

A straight forward biography of Thatcher’s life. The use of interesting quotes from people describing Thatcher during different points of her life and quotes from Thatcher herself liven up the text. The aspects of the British Political system which most likely be unfamiliar to young American readers are explained throughout. A Timeline and comprehensive index page allow for quick navigation to find information about certain points in Thatcher’s life.

Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles by Kathryn Lasky. 2000. Scholastic Inc. Diary. Grade 6^th. HBG Rating 3. MLNS

This is an interesting, funny, and dangerous book. It is written as a diary of a teenage Marie Antoinette as she prepares to marry Louis XVI. It is based on factual events and is entertaining in the way Marie describes the peculiar details and customs of being part of the royal court and being prepared for marriage. However, its danger comes because it is not a real diary and the thoughts Marie has are pure fictional speculation; if this was to be used in a class, that should be explicitly noted to students.

Key:

HBG=Horn Book Guide

CLC= Children’s Lit Class

MLNS= Minuteman Library Network Search

WL= Watertown Librarian