I love to ask librarians what they wish they had in their libraries. One librarian told me that her teachers are always looking for timelines. I realized that my children have all been assigned to make timelines for various projects in elementary school. I’m sure teachers are looking for mentor texts to examine how timelines are constructed, what they can convey, and how they can be presented. So I’ve been noticing timelines lately!
Let the Children March, by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2018), has used the endpapers for its timeline. The children protesters, who are the subject of the book, are each holding a poster, as if it were a protest sign, but each poster has a different significant event for the timeline. I think it’s so brilliant to use the endpapers to add extra content to the book, and the information is connected beautifully through the art to the rest of the book.
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights, by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Alison Jay (Calkins Creek: 2018) devotes two pages of the back matter to a timeline. You’ll notice in the middle of the first column of the second page, “Belva Lockwood dies in Washington, D.C., at age eighty-six.” And yet the timeline continues! The timeline highlights Lockwood’s legacy–what happened to the fight for the vote and individual women who broke gender barriers to serve in government. Keeping the timeline going after the subject’s death is a great way to point to the importance of the life of a trailblazer.
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield (Henry Holt: 2017) doesn’t relegate the timeline to back matter but plops it smack-dab in the middle of the book as an important part of the text. I love how the graphics–using a ruler under all the text–manages to show just how new life is to Earth.
And sometimes a straightforward timeline is made irresistible by the sweet wreat of pink flowers surrounding it. Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen, by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Qin Leng (Balzer + Bray: 2018).
Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!
