Marie Antoinette. The Titanic. Neil Armstrong. 9/11. Ellis Island. Walt Disney. The Vietnam War.
If you can think of a pivotal event, an important place or a trailblazing person, chances are the Who Was book series for kids has covered it. Aimed at ages 8 through 12, the series manages to tackle extremely complicated and sometimes disturbing material in an age-appropriate way. The books don’t shy away from facts, nor do they overload young readers with details they won’t be able to process.
“We definitely listen to what is happening in classrooms and what the teachers are saying [about a topic], and we take cues from that,” says Francesco Sedita, Publisher of Penguin Young Readers. “We’re framing it for both the readers and the parents.”
The aim is to get kid readers excited about history, but in a way that manages to be both lively and conversational.
So how do they choose who or what to cover?
Jeff KinneyGetty Images“There’s no hard and fast rule. We take a lot of time to consider who makes sense,” says Sedita. “We look for people who have done something first in their category or career, and we look for subject matter that’s been addressed in their classrooms.”
This year, Who Was announces its first History Bee, a nationwide competition open for students in grades 3-5. Based entirely on topics and people covered in the series, the Bee will last all year.
“It will start on the classroom level, then schoolwide, then the champions can take a proctored exam, and then in May, 10 finalists will come to New York for a bee hosted by [Diary of a Wimpy Kid author] Jeff Kinney and his brother Patrick.”
The Who Was? History Bee is free to enter. For more information, visit whowasbookseries.com/history-bee/.
