Two Great Picture Books

We've read two great picture books this week - both of which I just pulled off the shelf and had never heard of before.

The first one is called The Champion of Children: The Story of Janusz Korczak by Tomek Bogacki which was just published in 2009. The story is about a boy who grew up in Warsaw, Poland under tsarist Russia's domination. As he watched children suffering on the streets, he determined that he would grow up and help them. He did grow up to help children by starting an orphange for Jewish children. During WWII, the Nazis relocated Korczak and his orphan children. There is much more to this amazing story... you can read and find out more! (And, it was neat to put our new 'geography knowledge' to use since now we both know where Poland is located!)

The second one is called Mack Made Movies by Don Brown. This book is about Mack Sennett, an early movie-maker. He worked in Hollywood and 'discovered' such brilliant actors as Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields. The book tells some of the history of filmmaking, too, which is very interesting. For instance, movie makers located in California around Hollywood because they did their filming outdoors and needed plenty of sun and plenty of sunny days! And, I got to 'introduce' my daughter to Charlie Chaplin. The YouTube clip below is a piece by Chaplin involving a police chase in a maze of mirrors.