Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: biography

Showing posts with label biography. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Happy BOOK BIRTHDAY to... What Kind of Queen? A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria By Kyle Casey Chu and Andrew W. Shaffer, Illustrator Cindy Lozito!

Time to blow up the balloons, hang the streamers, and pull out the party hats! We've got a BOOK BIRTHDAY on our hands, and it's time to scream and shout all about it! Coming in hot via via Abrams Books for Young Readers... 🌈 a joyous picture book biography of José Sarria, a pioneering activist, drag queen, and the first openly gay candidate to run for public office in the United States!

🎈 Happy BOOK BIRTHDAY wishes to What Kind of Queen? A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria By Kyle Casey Chu and Andrew W. Shaffer, Illustrator Cindy Lozito 🎂

🌟 Have you ever read a Picture Book Biography? Who is someone you've found fascinating or would love to learn more about?

🥳 If you're like me, you love learning new things, and when it's bite sized/fun sized and visually appealing, that makes it special on a whole other level! The #picturebookbiography allows readers of ALL AGES the chance to explore times, places, and the lives of people they may never have and in a way that's not overwhelming. Think more appetizer with the chance to dive into the main course on your own! So for me, this style of #edutainment is a total win. Here we get the highlights of a life lived with passion and a true sense of self that celebrates the you that is YOU not who the world may want to see... and really, being your authentic self is the only way to truly be!

👉 CLICK FOR MORE and spread the love!

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ABOUT THE BOOK...

Once upon a time, there lived a boy named José who dreamed of becoming royalty—and of a queendom where everyone would be treated fairly and with respect.

A child of immigrants from Colombia, José Sarria was born in San Francisco in 1922. With the support of his family, he grew up to discover what it means to be a queen.

He fought against evil by serving in WWII, helping to liberate a Nazi concentration camp; he inspired others to be their authentic selves by performing at San Francisco's Black Cat Café, a haven for artists and activists; and he cared for his community through his LGBTQ+ advocacy work, including the establishment of the Imperial Court System, a global charitable organization that still thrives today.

Sarria led by example, joyfully giving back to his community while challenging the status quo. With a fairy-tale feel and radiant illustrations, this picture book biography celebrates his legacy of seeing the world not as it is but as it could be

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR...

Kyle Casey Chu, also known as Panda Dulce, is a San Francisco–born-and-raised writer and a founding queen of Drag Story Hour. Her first novel, The Queen Bees of Tybee County (2025), was named an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Children's Literature Honor title. Andrew W. Shaffer is a San Francisco–based historian of LGBTQ community and culture. His background includes graduate work at the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he helped to build the city’s first permanent LGBTQ archives.

Cindy Lozito is a mixed Latina illustrator, cartoonist, and muralist based in Philadelphia, originally from Queens, New York. Her murals and artwork have appeared at the World Trade Center and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. When she is not illustrating, you can find Lozito giving her terrier mix belly rubs, singing in her local choir, or drinking too much cold brew.

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Special thanks to Mitch at Abrams for the for heads up on this title. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the illustrator, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title celebrates its BOOK BIRTHDAY today, so snag your copy online or at your favorite brick and mortar!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

Monday, September 22, 2025

SPOTLIGHT ON... the stars of WICKED FOR GOOD!

Hitting bookstore shelves THIS TUESDAY via Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, we've got two GLITTER-TASTIC true stories that even the youngest of fans can DANCE THROUGH LIFE with! So whether you're prepping for the release of WICKED FOR GOOD, or looking for inspiration to follow your own dreams, you need to tune to it these two new releases heading your way...

SPOTLIGHT ON ARIANA GRANDE

SPOTLIGHT ON CYNTHIA ERIVO

Hunter M. Green and Elizabeth Dennis

Illustrated by

Ruth Barnes

9781665990592

9781665990622

From a little girl with a BIG voice and dreams to match, to a powerhouse performer who danced and sang to her own beat, these charming releases in the SPOTLIGHT ON series are sure to please and inspire both kiddos and fans alike!

Did you know Cynthia's first on stage performance was singing Silent Night in her school Christmas pageant, or that she changed her study plans from music to drama? Did you know Arianna dreamed of playing Glinda all her life and is an advocate for mental health? There's so many things we think we know about big stars, and yet there's always something more, and, in this case, that something more may just help you find your own way to SHINE! So go ahead, DEVY GRAVITY, dance through life, be that girl, or don't. Just be you... the best possible you.... because that's the best way to show the world the remarkableness that is yours and yours alone.

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Special thanks to Alex at Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the copies for review (THANKS!). For more information on these titles, the series, the authors, the illustrator, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. These two celebrate their book birthday tomorrow, so be on the lookout for them on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing!

Until next time, remember... if it looks good, READY IT!

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

We Live, We Learn, We Remember... DOUBLE Review!

Hello again!

Welcome back to another exciting day here on Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Some of you are frequent visitors (I'm hugging you right now!), some not so frequent (high fives all around!), and others still simply stumbled across my site looking for something in the world wide web 🌐 ... mad props to all of you reading this from the bottom of my heart! We live, we learn, we remember...a curious post title, but most appropriate for today's feature because we have two Historical works on deck, however one takes its place on fiction, the other is specifically non. So, if you're ready to add to your must read piles, read on my friend, read on...

The War Pianist

Mandy Robotham

9780008564308

Avon Books

Presented to you in the order in which I read them, this first title is the work of Fiction. We go behind the lines and into the life of Marnie Fern.

She's no soldier, but she's about to have a big impact on the war effort, as will the people she's in contact with both near and far. Speaking of far, the Pianist part of the title is referring to a talented radio operator, as in a person that would take the risk to help transmit messages across the wires in order to move the war forward, aid the resistance, and find peace amongst the rubble their lives were turned into. In this case, Marnie after she takes up the mantle of someone that came before her, someone she cared for deeply, trusted implicitly, and misses like no other. That well worn connection serves her well in her darkest hours, as does the new relationship she has with Willem.

It's not what you think; it's a relationship built around secrets, ultimate trust, and genuine need, that serves the greater good. Through everything they encounter, they never lose heart... and eventually their efforts show results, but it's not without heartache, and loss along the way. You truly feel for them both, as well as their cohorts, as this story unfolds. There was so much danger, so many times that turning a blind eye would have been easier, moments when giving in was certainly the simpler option, but the strength of character they showed, the morals they stuck to, and the backbone they shared with those that needed their fair share, made them people you'd want to know.

Speaking of people you'd want to know, that brings us to our second book...

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The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz

Sara Leibovits & Eti Elboim

9780008600280

One More Chapter

This title is the Nonfiction book. This tale shares in story format the recollections of Sara Leibovits, as well as the impact the events had on her life, both during the imprisonment and after. We also get an insider's view of the far reaching impact these atrocities had on the life of her daughter, Eti Elboim, a second generation survivor... and beyond.

It's not that they choose to live in the past, unwilling to move forward, but rather they choose to remember and share all that transpired as a means of never forgetting those that were lost, nor the hatred that generated enough momentum to try and destroy a people. This work is yet another triumph over those times, proof that the people at the target center of all that rage are still here, making memories, building lives, creating futures that someone tried to tell them they were not entitled to. No one has that right. No one should ever have that right.

Stepping between these pages was often difficult, but experiencing the events in person seems impossible... surviving them, even more so... and yet, she did, as did others, and as remarkable as that seems, it's still a crime against humanity that should have never occurred. The best way to prevent it from happening again... awareness, remembrance, open minds, and open hearts.

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Special thanks to both the publishers listed, and their fabulous publicists for the copies for review. (THANKS!) For more information on these titles, the authors, or the publishers, feel free to click through the links provided above. Both titles are now available, so make a plan to visit your local brick and mortar or click on over to your favorite online retailer!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Happy BOOK BIRTHDAY Week to... TAYLOR SWIFT: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY by Wendy Loggia - REVIEW!

Hey there Swifties and non-Swifties.

Today, we're gonna take this not-so-great week and SHAKE IT OFF as we set our bookish focus on a NEW TITLE available now via Golden Books/Random House Children's Books. It's a LOVE STORY...no, wait, LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! 😉 *checks info* Correction, it's a Biography that fills in all that BLANK SPACE for that BEJEWELED musical artist that draws fans from knee high, TWENTY TWO, and beyond! ARE YOU READY FOR YOU? 😏 Well then, YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN just a smidgen so I can get the details out, and then you can get your GORGEOUS self to the bookstore of your choosing to snag a copy of this week's celebrant...

TAYLOR SWIFT: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY

Wendy Loggia

Illustrated by

Elisa Chavarri

9780593566718

Golden Books

This is the story you may or may not know, but will certainly love, of how one young lady with the talent and a dream, followed her hours and heart to make things happen... and is still doing so today!

Say her name; there's not many that can honestly say they've never heard of her. Taylor Swift is an icon in her own right, but not everyone knows how she got where she is today, and that inspirational story is just the boost of confidence little ones need to take that next step on their own path in life. Whether they want a music career, film, medical, or blue collar, is not the "bigness" of the goal, or how important it may be viewed as, but that there is a goal, a dream they want with all their hearts, and they're not afraid to go out there and get it. Life isn't easy, life likes to throw monkey wrenches in the best oiled of works, but if we hold on to our truths, and keep that end goal in sight, there's nothing we can't achieve.

I loved the inspiring story shared, and when paired with the lovely, and colorful illustrations, it really brought Taylor's story to life. If you're a die hard fan, they may be things you already know, but if you're not as hardcare or from the youngest set just starting out in the fandom, prepare for your eyes and your heart to be opened.

This title is available now wherever books are sold!

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Special thanks to Sarah at Random House Children's Books for the ecopy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the illustrator, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

Friday, September 2, 2022

TCBR AWARENESS TOUR: Dressing Up the Stars by Jeanne Walker Harvey - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

HI there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're bringing you the latest AWARENESS TOUR making its way through the blogosphere with The Children's Book Review. It features a Children's Nonfiction Picture Book that takes us into the life and times of a Hollywood Costume Designer icon. Don't know much about the subject? That's okay, neither did I....however, when I started reading this one, I was struck with a case of deja vu. But how? I'd never read anything about someone in this field before, let alone about the person its about...and yet, that tingling awareness wouldn't go away...at least, until I solved the mystery, and solve it I did! Ladies and gents, let's get between the pages of today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Dressing Up the Stars:

The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head

Jeanne Walker Harvey

Illustrated by

Diana Toledano

9781534451056

Beach Lane Books

About the book...

Discover the true story of how a shy miner’s daughter became one of the most legendary costume designers in Hollywood in this inspiring nonfiction picture book biography.

As a child in the small mining town of Searchlight, Nevada, Edith Head had few friends and spent most of her time dressing up her toys and pets and even wild animals using fabric scraps. She always knew she wanted to move somewhere full of people and excitement. She set her sights on Hollywood and talked her way into a job sketching costumes for a movie studio.

Did she know how to draw or sew costumes? No. But that didn’t stop her!

Edith taught herself and tirelessly worked her way up until she was dressing some of the biggest stars of the day, from Audrey Hepburn to Grace Kelly to Ginger Rogers. She became the first woman to head a major Hollywood movie studio costume department and went on to win eight Academy Awards for best costume design—and she defined the style of an era.

Amazon | Bookshop.org | Barnes and Noble

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Okay, so back to the REALIZATION that I had. I was reading right along, and kept thinking...this girl, this woman looks SO FAMILIAR...and then I stopped. It couldn't be, and yet it CLEARLY was. Anyone remember the movie The Incredibles? Remember the character Edna Mode? Yeah. See the pictures above? TELL ME that Edna wasn't based on our icon here. I mean, you can't! They are both incredibly stylish, take nothing from no one, and that signature look can't simply be a coincidence. My curiosity assuaged, I was then able to focus on the story at hand.

Edith Head's tale takes us from humble upbringing filled with childhood dreams and imaginings, along a life path filled with pitfalls and second guesses, and straight on til mornings spent in Hollywood. She wasn't the best at her craft when she first started, but time, and determination, combined with her creativity, were the key ingredients to giving her wings. Once her pencil took flight, you'd think everything would have fallen into place...and yet, that certainly wasn't the case here. Edith practiced, toiled away at, and otherwise made her own path to movie world glory. It wasn't easy, but most things worth having rarely are. It wasn't promised, which simply made her desire for it that much stronger. It was never a certainty, but it was certain in her mind that THIS was her heart's desire. THIS was what she was born to do...and do it she did, right into Hollywood legend status.

So come for the interest, enjoy the gorgeous imagery page after page, and stay for the fascinating look behind the life and times of a star you may have never even realized you already "knew". Whether it be the woman or her works, she left her impression on Hollywood, and lived her dreams to the fullest...something we should all be lucky enough to do.

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About the author....

Jeanne Walker Harvey studied literature and psychology at Stanford University and has worn many job hats, ranging from being a roller coaster ride operator to an attorney, a middle school language arts teacher, and a long-time docent for school groups at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She is the author of several books for young readers, including the picture book biographies Dressing up the Stars: The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head, Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas, and Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines. Jeanne lives in Northern California.

Visit her online at www.jeanneharvey.com.

About the illustrator...

Diana Toledano is an illustrator, writer, and educator. She is also a Pisces who loves children’s books, patterns, and dancing her heart out. Originally from Spain, Diana (pronounced the Spanish way: dee-ah-na) grew up in Madrid where she studied art history and illustration. Now she lives in San Francisco with her husband and two fluffy cats. Her mixed media art seeks to capture the magic of the ordinary. Diana’s product designs, picture books, board books, and chapter books have been published and sold all over the world. Diana also teaches workshops for kids and adults. She enjoys doing school visits and speaking at conferences.

Learn more at Diana-Toledano.com.

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Enter for a chance to win a set of five copies of Dressing Up the Stars: The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head!

Five (5) winners receive:

A set of five copies of Dressing Up the Stars: The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head

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Special thanks to Bianca at The Children's Book Review for the chance to bring this tour to you and as well as the book for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour for more bookish fun!

TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, August 15, 2022

The Children’s Book Review