Raymond Briggs (born Wimbledon, England, 1934; died Brighton, England, August 9, 2022) wrote and illustrated at least 29 books for children. He twice received the Kate Greenaway Medal, once in 1966 for The Mother Goose Treasury and once in 1973 for Father Christmas. One of his most famous works is the wordless book The Snowman.
A(lan) A(lexander) Milne (born London, England, 1882; died Hartfield, England, January 31, 1956) was an author. He is best remembered for his Winnie the Pooh stories. Idea: Have a Winnie the Pooh day. Children could bring in their stuffed creatures, and they could share some of his writing. Children can read some of his works at: Project Gutenberg. However, the Winnie the Pooh books are not there. Children could learn more at: Milne.
Peter Roget (born London, England, 1779; died West Malvern, England, September 12, 1869) composed Roget’s Thesaurus. His book premiered in 1852. The word thesaurus comes from Latin and Greek roots meaning treasury. Children could view an online thesaurus at: http://thesaurus.com/. Idea: Children could learn how to use a thesaurus. Each could create a page of a thesaurus regarding a certain word. Consider using colors and action verbs. Children could also read The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet.
Alan Schroeder (born Alameda, California, 1961) has written at least 20 books for children. His books include Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman and Satchmo’s Blues.
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (born Salisbury, New Hampshire, 1782; died Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 24, 1852) was a politician and a speaker. Younger children might want to read Daniel Webster: Liberty and Union, Now and Forever by Bonnie Carmen Harvey. Older children might want to read The Devil and Daniel Webster, by Stephen Vincent Benet. Webster was a United States senator, member of the House of Representatives (representing two states at different times), and secretary of state (under Millard Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler). He ran for president, and he argued cases before the Supreme Court – busy man!
Thomas A. Watson (born Salem, Massachusetts, 1854; died Pass-a-Grill Beach, Florida, December 13, 1934) was Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant and the recipient of the world’s first telephone call on March 10, 1876. Then Watson became the recipient of the first transcontinental phone call on January 25, 1915. Watson was in San Francisco, California, when Bell called him from New York, New York. President Woodrow Wilson and the mayors of both cities were also part of the call. Watson was also in inventor in his own right, and he developed an extensive naval shipyard.
