Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World and Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World

Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World

Cynthia Chin-Lee - Megan Halsey - Sean Addy - Charlesbridge – 2006

Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World

Cynthia Chin-Lee - Megan Halsey - Sean Addy - Charlesbridge – 2005

We have all see books that have an A-Z layout of a common theme but I found these two to be especially insightful because they touch on men and women who are incredibly important in history but maybe aren’t household names.  In addition, the men and women are from different eras, cultures and races with personal, societal and political struggles. 

With this all-encompassing template, I would place the two books at the upper elementary level in the language and cognitive lexiles.  I say this because some of the words and ideas about a person are culturally bound and student may not have encountered them previously.  Also, many of the people contained in the book changed the world in enormous ways with big ideas.  One example of this is Helen Keller.  Students may have a difficult time grasping how she influenced the world for disabled people and shaped the modern view of how we welcome the disabled into our society instead of pushing them away.  After reading her story, they would have a better understanding of her journey and how she affected society. 

Socially, I would place these books in the early adolescence range because one of the central themes of the books is how rules help define a society.  Many of the people profiled in the books broke laws in their society at the time they were making history.  In addition, there are many sides to an issue and how one person’s actions, especially one that is perceived as historically correct, can change the world, which consists of many opinions, is a difficult concept to grasp.

Looking at literary criticisms, the fifty-two men and women collectively profiled in these books all face problems and barriers that are believable to students.  Often their problems are related to the person vs. society theme.  They act as trailblazers in their respective fields and shake up the establishment in their work.  Many of these hardships are conquered through determination, hard work, practice and inspiring others.  For example, Langston Hughes had a father who left he and his mother, later reconnected with him but then was not supportive of his career in writing.  His personal drive to carve his own path regardless of what others said is extremely admirable and shows his resolve for believing in himself. 

I found the characters profiled to be many-sided, especially since there were so many.  Some of their strengths were their determination, faith in themselves and ability to adapt to often challenging people, environments and societies.  Their challenges or weakness varied from a society that didn’t support them because they were women, to personal disabilities, to lack of financial or familial support. 

Historically, I felt both books briefly touched on the societal climate during the time the characters were active in achieving their goals.  Often the very barriers the character focused on were weakened as a result of the character’s actions. 

When looking at so many different people, the students must examine the books’ content with the aid of the teacher.  In order to fully appreciate the text and utilize the higher thought processes the: who, what, where, when and why associated with the character and their struggles.  Since many of the people profiled are not American it is essential to have the students interpret the books in an international or worldly view will help them greater understand the circumstances surrounding the individual.  Through these profiles I see no negative stereotypes of the characters of their race, culture or gender. 

One of the most impressive parts of these two books is the illustration.  They are a mish mash of mediums using actual pictures of the profiled individual, watercolor, oil, pen/pencil and pictures of other objects into a collage of sorts.  I examined many of the pages and found that these mini murals added to my interest of the individual. 

One idea for a mini lesson is for students to research and bring in information about someone they believe is influential in their world.  It has to be someone who has changed the world for the better.  As a class we can create our own A-Z listing of influential people.  Any left over letters we can research as a class and see who would be acceptable for inclusion.  Students can vote who they believe is most important out of the letter options. 

Looking back at these books, I believe the target audience is late level early elementary or early level late elementary.  I say this because the book has plenty of pictures and explains the story of each individual in a simple and concise manner.  However, there are many big concepts and issues that define the profiled characters, which may be hard for younger grades to fully understand.