I love the Who Is/ Who Was... series for our 4th/5th grade students because the information provided in the books is easy to digest and set up in a visually pleasing format with illustrations and larger text that is chunked in sections with explanatory chapter titles. This is a great resource available for educators that provide activities and ideas linked to CCSS:
Local connection: Jeff Kinney
Jeff did not grow up in Massachusetts, but he has lived here since 1995. He and his wife live in Plainville, MA where they are raising their two sons. Students love this connection because he is a local author who also owns a bookstore An Unlikely Story which is an amazing place to visit and hope you may run into Jeff who is often there.
Who is Jeff Kinney by Patrick Kinney
The best part about this biography is that it was written by Jeff's brother, Patrick. So, the information is accurate seeing as Patrick had first hand access to all of it. From a critical view, you could argue that having a family member write one of these books would filter information through a lens incapable of showing an negative aspects of Jeff's life. However, after reading this book, I think that it was set up fairly giving a knowledgeable look. My favorite aspect of this book is the hope it gives to students in dreaming big and never giving up-- even when you face obstacles. This is such a crucial life lesson for our students to hear-- especially from people they look up to. Patrick recalls how even as a kid, his brother was thought of as very talented-- on top of being a big prankster! He wanted to be a comic strip author, but he faced a lot of rejections and challenges. Despite this, he persevered and pushed himself to think outside the box by trying a new medium of writing from the perspective of a child as if he were writing a journal with doodles and illustrations galore. It was a hit and he now has twelve published books using the same premise in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
