Freedman, Russell 1929-(Russell Bruce Freedman)

Personal

Born October 11, 1929, in San Francisco, CA; son of Louis N. (a publisher's representative) and Irene (an actress) Freedman. Education: Attended San Jose State

College (now University), 1947-49; University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1951. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, photography, filmmaking.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY.

Career

Associated Press, San Francisco, CA, reporter and editor, 1953-56; J. Walter Thompson Co. (advertising agency), New York, NY, publicity writer for television, 1956-60; Columbia University Press, New York, NY, associate staff member of Columbia Encyclopedia, 1961-63; editor, Crowell-Collier Educational Corp., 1964-65; freelance writer, beginning 1961. New School for Social Research (now New School University), writing workshop instructor, 1969-86. Military service: U.S. Army, Counter Intelligence Corps, 1951-53; served in Korea.

Member

Authors Guild, PEN, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Western Heritage Award, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, 1984, for Children of the Wild West; Spur Award Honor Book citation, Western Writers of America, 1985, and Jefferson Cup Award, 1986, both for Cowboys of the Wild West; Golden Kite Award Honor Book citation, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, 1987, Newbery Medal, American Library Association (ALA), and Jefferson Cup Award, both 1988, all for Lincoln: A Photobiography; Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book citation, 1988, for Indian Chiefs; Golden Kite Award Honor Book citation, 1988, for Buffalo Hunt; Golden Kite Award Honor Book citation, 1990, and Orbis Pictus Award, National Council of Teachers of English, and Jefferson Cup Award, both 1991, all for Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Golden Kite Award, 1991, and Jefferson Cup Award, and Newbery Honor Book citation, both 1992, all for The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane; Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award, 1992, for distinguished work in the field of nonfiction for children; Golden Kite Award Honor Book citation, 1992, for An Indian Winter; Golden Kite Award, 1993, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, 1994, and Newbery Honor Book citation, 1994, all for Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery; Golden Kite Award, 1994, for Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade against Child Labor, and 1998, for Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life; Spur Award, 1996, for The Life and Death of Crazy Horse; Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, ALA, 1998, for body of work; Newbery Honor Book citation, 2004, for The Voice That Challenged a Nation; books included on numerous "best" or "outstanding" book lists, including lists compiled by American Library Association, Junior Literary Guild, Child Study Association of America, and Children's Book Council.

Writings

NONFICTION; FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Teenagers Who Made History, portraits by Arthur Shilstone, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1961.

Two Thousand Years of Space Travel, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1963.

Jules Verne: Portrait of a Prophet, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1965.

Thomas Alva Edison, American R.D.M. (New York, NY), 1966.

Scouting with Baden-Powell, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1967.

(With James E. Morriss) How Animals Learn, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1969.

(With James E. Morriss) Animal Instincts, illustrated by John Morris, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1970.

Animal Architects, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1971.

(With James E. Morriss) The Brains of Animals and Man, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1972.

The First Days of Life, illustrated by Joseph Cellini, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1974.

Growing up Wild: How Young Animals Survive, illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1975.

Animal Fathers, illustrated by Joseph Cellini, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1976.

Animal Games, illustrated by St. Tamara, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1976.

Hanging On: How Animals Carry Their Young, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1977.

How Birds Fly, illustrated by Lorence F. Bjorklund, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1977.

Getting Born, illustrated with photographs and with drawings by Corbett Jones, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1978.

How Animals Defend Their Young, Dutton (New York, NY), 1978.

Immigrant Kids, Dutton (New York, NY), 1980.

Tooth and Claw: A Look at Animal Weapons, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1980.

They Lived with the Dinosaurs, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1980.

Animal Superstars: Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, Smartest, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1981.

Farm Babies, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1981.

When Winter Comes, illustrated by Pamela Johnson, Dutton (New York, NY), 1981.

Can Bears Predict Earthquakes? Unsolved Mysteries of Animal Behavior, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1982.

Killer Fish, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1982.

Killer Snakes, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1982.

Children of the Wild West, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Dinosaurs and Their Young, illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1983.

Rattlesnakes, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1984.

Cowboys of the Wild West, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Sharks, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1985.

Indian Chiefs, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1987.

Lincoln: A Photobiography, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Buffalo Hunt, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1988.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1990.

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, photographs by Orville and Wilbur Wright, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1991.

An Indian Winter, paintings and drawings by Karl Bodmer, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1992.

Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade against Child Labor, photographs by Lewis Hine, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1994.

The Life and Death of Crazy Horse, drawings by Amos Bad Heart Bull, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1996.

Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille, illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Give Me Liberty!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, Holiday House (New York, NY) 2000.

The Days of the Vaqueros: America's First True Cowboys, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Confucius: The Golden Rule, illustrated by Frederic Clement, Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2002.

In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America's Bill of Rights, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2003.

The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Children of the Great Depression, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2006.

The Adventures of Marco Polo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2006.

OTHER

Holiday House: The First Fifty Years (adult), Holiday House (New York, NY), 1985.

Contributor to Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, and New Book of Knowledge Annual, 1981-89. Contributor to periodicals, including Cricket, Ranger Rick, Horn Book, and School Library Journal.

Adaptations

Lincoln: A Photobiography was adapted as a filmstrip and video, McGraw-Hill Media, 1989. The Voice That Challenged a Nation was adapted for audiobook, read by Sharon Washington, Recorded Books, 2005.

Sidelights

Praised by Horn Book contributor Mary M. Burns as a "dependable historian and biographer," Russell Freedman "is also an exciting writer who can make readers feel that they are witnesses to significant happenings," according to the critic. The award-winning author of more than forty nonfiction books for children, Freedman includes among his published titles The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, Cowboys of the Wild West, Lincoln: A Photobiography, and Give Me Liberty!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence. A man of wide-ranging interests, Freedman has written on subjects as diverse as famous teens, animal behavior, and U.S. presidents; his books are noted for their understandable and entertaining presentation of often-complex information. Pioneering the "photobiography" format, which he first used in his Lincoln biography, Freedman has continued to employ a creative mix of text and image in popular biographies and history books. His works often "build on a suite of historical photographs or paintings, enhanced by a sleekly written, factual text," according to Michael Dirda in the Washington Post Book World.

As the recipient of the 1988 Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography, Freedman became the first nonfiction author in over three decades to win that pres-

tigious award, as well as one of only a handful of non-fiction writers to be honored with the medal since it was first presented in 1922. Newbery honors have been bestowed upon Freedman for The Wright Brothers, and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, and The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights, and in 1998 he was awarded the prestigious Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his entire body of work. Describing the author's approach to nonfiction, Michael Santangelo wrote in a School Library Journal review of Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott that, in his well-illustrated texts, Freedman "pulls readers into the narrative, integrating the actual recorded words and deeds of the people to tell the story."

If writing comes naturally to Freedman, he may credit both nature and nurture. Born in 1929 in San Francisco, he grew up in an atmosphere where literary accomplishments were encouraged. "My father was a great storyteller," the author recalled in his Newbery Medal acceptance speech, as reprinted in Horn Book. "The problem was, we never knew for sure whether the stories he told were fiction or nonfiction." Freedman's father, a book salesman, met Russell's mother, a clerk, in the bookstore where she worked. "I had the good fortune to grow up in a house filled with books and book talk," the author stated. His family home was often filled with visiting authors as well: writers such as John Steinbeck, William Saroyan, and John Masefield all dined at the Freedman home at one time or another.

From 1947 to 1949, Freedman attended San Jose State College and graduated in 1951 with a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. For the next two years he served with the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps, spending part of that time in combat duty in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division. After his stint in the army, Freedman went to work for the Associated Press in San Francisco as a reporter and editor. "That was where I really learned to write," he told Frank J. Dempsey in a Horn Book interview. He also wrote publicity pieces for television until he came upon something that would change the direction of his life: an article about the blind sixteen-year-old boy who invented a Braille typewriter. Freedman also learned that another blind sixteen year old, Louis Braille, had originally developed the Braille system. The article served as the inspiration for Teenagers Who Made History, Freedman's first book. The writer returned to Braille's life again later in his career: his 1997 biography Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille was praised by Martha V. Parravano in Horn Book for "bring[ing] the central figure to life as vividly as only Freedman can."

Reflecting an early interest, Freedman has written more than twenty books on animal behavior, many of them early in his career. He collaborated with James E. Morriss on a series of books that seeks to explain, in simple language, some of the scientific concepts of the animal kingdom. As the titles indicate, the books cover basic subjects: How Animals Learn, Animal Instincts, and The Brains of Animals and Man are among these titles. The volumes were well received by the educational community, a reviewer for Science Books stating that the coauthors' How Animals Learn and Animal Instincts rank "among the best for beginning naturalists."

In 1980 Freedman took a break from chronicling wildlife to write a book on a different kind of animal: the human. While attending a photographic exhibit at the New York Historical Society, he was struck by the photographs of children in nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century America. "What impressed me most of all was the way that those old photographs seemed to defy the passage of time," the author later recalled in a Horn Book article. Freedman decided to tell the story behind the photographs and convey through his words—and some of those very same pictures—a sense of what life was like in those suspended moments of history. The resulting book, Immigrant Kids, proved to be a turning point: while continuing to produce books on animals, Freedman increasingly turned his writing attention to people.

The nonfiction works Freedman produced shortly following this creative transition, which include Children of the Wild West, Cowboys of the Wild West, and In the Days of the Vaqueros: America's First True Cowboys, have earning praise for their accurate portrayal of life in America's mythical Old West. As Richard Snow noted in the New York Times Book Review, Children of the Wild West "is a good introduction for young readers to the patterns of life in a Wild West that had nothing at all to do with gambling halls and shootouts." Noting the many myths about the often-romanticized group that is the book's focus, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that "cowboys … were really boys. Many were teenagers, a few ‘old hands’ were in their early twenties; and they were responsible for driving great herds across the plains in the 1800s." In the book, Freedman avoids romanticizing cowboys and instead describes the many difficulties encountered while living on the open range. George Gleason, writing in School Library Journal, praised the work, calling Cowboys of the Wild West "certainly a book to linger over and turn to again and again." Within the pages of In the Days of the Vaqueros the author "combin[es] impressive research and the skill of a campfire storyteller" in describing the Indian cowherds who first honed their skills in sixteenth-century, Spanish-controlled Mexico, according to a Publishers Weekly writer. The critic went on to cite Freedman's study as a work that "sets the record straight" with regard to the vaqueros' significant yet too-long-overlooked "contribution to the building of the West."

A study of Native Americans, Indian Chiefs focuses on six tribal leaders, among them Sitting Bull and Red Cloud. Enhancing his work with archival photographs, Freedman gives a balanced picture of the lives and decisions of these great men. Karen P. Zimmerman, writing in School Library Journal, stated that the author's account is factual; Freedman "does not romanticize the Indian viewpoint, nor is he judgmental against the whites." In Buffalo Hunt Freedman chronicles the importance of the great buffaloes to Native Americans and how the animals' disappearance impacted Indian lives.

In The Life and Death of Crazy Horse Freedman tells the story of the great Lakota Sioux chief. Unlike other leaders of his day, Crazy Horse was a quiet, modest man who was also an excellent leader and tactician. He led groups in fights along the Oregon and Bozeman trails, among them the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in an attempt to stem the tide of infiltration by white pioneers. The Indian leader's life ended in a U.S. Army prison, at a time when the fate of Native Americans looked dim. As a Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked, "no dry history this, but a story certain to sweep readers along its tragic path."

In addition to revealing the underpinnings of the myths associated with life in the American West, Freedman separates fact from fiction with respect to one of the nation's most intriguing historical characters: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. In researching the work that would become Lincoln: A Photobiography, Freedman toured the late president's birthplace in Kentucky, as well as numerous other Lincoln-related historical sites located in Springfield, Illinois. From there, he traveled to the presidential box in Ford's Theater, Washington, DC, where Lincoln was ultimately assassinated. In writing his book, Freedman examined several of the former president's original handwritten documents, including a letter to Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and the first-draft notes for the Emancipation Proclamation. The author's commitment to presenting the facts paid off; critical and popular response toward Lincoln was very favorable. As Elaine Fort Weischedel proclaimed in School Library Journal, "few, if any, of the many books written for children about Lincoln can compare with Freedman's contribution."

Since the success of Lincoln, Freedman has continued to profile historical figures in books such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, The Wright Brothers, and The Voice That Challenged a Nation. In Franklin Delano Roosevelt he brings to life the complicated personal world of America's thirty-second president; the result, according to Alan Brinkley in the New York Times Book Review, is a "sensitive [and] evocative" biography that "presents Roosevelt as an attractive and admirable public figure." Eleanor Roosevelt serves as a "sensitive portrayal" of FDR's first lady that "captures the spirit" of this remarkable woman, according to Horn Book reviewer Elizabeth S. Watson.

An interest in inventors led Freedman to write The Wright Brothers. Here his "careful research yielded a completely engrossing volume," according to Margaret A. Bush in Horn Book, the critic noting that the work "draws deeply on letters, diaries, and other well-documented sources." Freedman dips into the characters of Wilbur and Orville Wright, showing that their complementary personalities and life experiences helped them develop the "three-axis control" technology that would provide the foundation of modern aeronautics. Critics praised Freedman's choice of photographs as well as his storytelling ability, Bush calling the work a "fresh, illuminating look at an old story."

The story of one of the most inspiring African-American vocalists of the early twentieth century unfolds through both text and illustrations in The Voice That Challenged a Nation. A world-renowned contralto, Marian Anderson had performed before the White House, but was barred from singing at Constitution Hall in 1939 because racial restrictions imposed by the Daughters of the American Revolution prohibited performances by non-whites. In reaction, Eleanor Roosevelt and other supporters of racial equality arranged for Anderson to perform on the steps of Washington, DC's Lincoln Memorial, where in addition to the 75,000 listeners in attendance, her performance was broadcast throughout the United States. Praising the work as a "fully realized portrait of a musical artist and her times," a Kirkus Reviews writer cited The Voice That Challenged a Nation as "Freedman at his best," and Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman noted that, in his "plain yet eloquent" text, Freedman brings to light Anderson's "personal struggle, professional artistry, and landmark civil rights role."

Drawing on the inspiration behind Freedman's first book, Immigrant Kids, Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade against Child Labor profiles the photographer who documented the lives of the thousands of impoverished children forced by circumstances to perform arduous labor during the early 1900s. In immigrant families of the early century, it was not uncommon for young people to work fourteen-hour days, toiling amid dangerous conditions in mines and industrial factories. Such jobs often left children seriously injured, deformed, or even dead. Hine's photographs effectively publicized these atrocities and brought them before the public eye. As Freedman told Shannon Maughan in Publishers Weekly, Hine used "a camera as a tool for social change." In the New York Times Book Review, Iris Tillman Hill wrote of Kids at Work that "those who want to share a lived sense of history with young children could not do much better than to … read this book with them." A related work, Children of the Great Depression, features Freedman's text and contemporary written accounts by young people alongside the images of Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, Walker Evans, and other photojournalists as it illuminates life as lived during the economic depression of the 1930s. "His portrayal is at once bleak and uplifting," a Publishers Weekly contributor explained, noting that Freedman shows, amid the hardships of Hoovervilles, breadlines, and aban-

doned farms, the spirit of resilient "young Americans determined to survive."

Another photobiography, Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life, profiles the American dancer, teacher, and choreographer who, born in Pittsburgh in 1895, went on to become one of the seminal figures in the world of modern dance. "Freedman's focus," noted Booklist contributor Rochman, "is on how [Graham] created a thrilling new modern dance language that connected movement with emotion." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented that the "venerable author hooks readers in immediately" in this "outstanding biography [which] speaks not only to dancers but to anyone interested in the arts, history, or the American entrepreneurial spirit." Reviewing the same title in the New York Times Book Review, Theodore W. Striggles called the book "a fine introduction" to the dancer's work. and concluded that Martha Graham "is so smoothly written that there are only a few moments during which the adult reader is reminded of the primary audience for whom the book is intended." Deeming Freedman a "preeminent biographer," Horn Book critic Susan P. Bloom further commented that "no reader, whether interested in dance or not, will want to miss Graham's extraordinary story" as detailed in a volume the critic praised as "Freedman's remarkable achievement."

From dance, Freedman turns his hand to sports in his chronicle of Babe Didrikson, a female athlete who broke records in golf, track and field, and other sports at a time when opportunities for women athletes were limited. "Freedman is on top of his game with this engaging profile of one of this century's most remarkable athletes and larger-than-life personalities," wrote Luann Toth in a School Library Journal review of Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion. In characteristic fashion, Freedman blends thorough research, clear prose, and a wealth of visual images in his detailed biography. As Toth concluded, "befitting a champion, this superbly crafted, impeccably documented biography ranks head and shoulders above its peers," and a Horn Book critic asserted that the book's "measured yet lively style captures the spirit of the great athlete." A contributor for Publishers Weekly called Babe Didrikson Zaharias "exemplary," and concluded that Freedman's "celebratory work gives readers a chance to cheer Zaharias's legendary life."

In Give Me Liberty! Freedman puts readers on the path leading to the drafting and acceptance of the Declaration of Independence, from the Boston Tea Party to the signing of the document that announced American sovereignty. Here the author "weaves a tapestry that combines political observations, character interpretations, and popular sentiments in a style accessible to middle-school readers yet equally appealing to adults," commented Burns. "How does [Freedman] do it?" wondered GraceAnne A. DeCandido in a Booklist review of the same book. DeCandido went on to note, "Once again Freedman takes a crucial moment in American

history and imbues it with living grace and powerful tension." Leah J. Sparks also had high praise for Freedman in a School Library Journal review. "Known for his stellar biographies and superb nonfiction," Sparks wrote, "Freedman now offers a fine book about the creation of the nation's most important historical documents."

Another historic chronicle, In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America's Bill of Rights discusses the nation's foundation in the U.S. Constitution and the civil liberties that were granted to Americans under the Constitution's first ten amendments, ratified in 1791 and commonly known as the Bill of Rights. Praising Freedman's "signature clear, conversational prose," Rochman noted in Booklist that by focusing on each amendment individually the author moves from "origin, various interpretations, landmark Supreme Court cases" up to aspects of the right that are newsworthy in the modern, post-911 world. "Once again," Ginny Gustin added in her appraisal of In Defense of Liberty for School Library Journal, the author "demonstrates his masterful ability to focus on those aspects" of history "that will intrigue readers and give history a sense of immediacy."

Sharing his gift for making history come alive with younger readers, Freedman has collaborated with illustrators on several picture-book biographies, including The Adventures of Marco Polo and Confucius: The Golden Rule. A Chinese philosopher that lived over 2,500 years ago, Confucius rejected the rights of the affluent in favor of universal education and a system of political power based on merit. In Freedman's short biography, which School Library Journal contributor Patricia D. Lothrop noted "beautifully compensates" for the lack of information about its subject, the man "jumps off the page as a fiery revolutionary," according to Booklist contributor John Green. Calling Frederic Clement's illustrations for the book "superb," Lothrop added that Confucius: The Golden Rule will inspire young readers due to the philosopher's still-relevant perspective.

Basing his text on the early-fourteenth-century explorer's sometimes fantastical writings, in The Adventures of Marco Polo Freedman escorts readers along Polo's path as it winds through deserts and mountains and follows the Silk Road to China and Xanadu, the perhaps mythical kingdom ruled by Kublai Khan. The work, enhanced by "enchanting" paintings by Bagram Ibatoulline, features what Booklist critic Ilene Cooper called an "informative yet evocative" text. The author's characteristic "impeccable research, historical fidelity and flair for engrossing narrative nonfiction" are all featured in The Adventures of Marco Polo. according to a Publishers Weekly contributor in a glowing description of Freedman's work.

Although books such as Freedom Walkers and Give Me Liberty! take other forms, biography remains the format in which Freedman most likes to work. In an interview with James Cross Giblin for Horn Book, the author expanded on his reasons for writing nonfiction for children: "A writer of books for children has an impact on readers' minds and imaginations that very few writers for adults can match. But beyond that, writing nonfiction for children gives me, or any writer, tremendous artistic freedom. I can write about almost any subject that interests me and that I believe will interest a child. I can be a generalist rather than a specialist. … It's a much greater challenge to convey the spirit and essence of a life in a hundred pages than to write a 600-or 800-page ‘definitive’ tome that includes every known detail about that life. A nonfiction children's book requires concision, selection, judgment, lucidity, unwavering focus, and the most artful use of language and storytelling techniques. I regard such books as a specialized and demanding art form."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 20, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1990.

Meet the Authors and Illustrators, Volume II, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

Twentieth-Century Young-Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994.

Ward, Martha E., Authors of Books for Young People, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 1993, p. 1962; June 1, 1996, p. 1721; March 1, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille, pp. 1157-1158; April, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life, p. 1324; January 1, 1999, p. 782; July, 1999, p. 1932; March 1, 2000, p. 1248; March 15, 2000, p. 1359; October 1, 2000, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Give Me Liberty!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, p. 336; November 15, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of In the Days of the Vaqueros: America's First True Cowboys, p. 572; October 1, 2002, John Green, review of Confucius: The Golden Rule, p. 340; October 1, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America's Bill of Rights, p. 324; June 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights, p. 1754; December 15, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Children of the Great Depression, p. 46; September 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, p. 60; October 15, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of The Adventures of Marco Polo, p. 46.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 1987, p. 167; January, 1988; June, 1992, p. 260; May, 1997, review of Out of Darkness, p. 321; December, 2001, review of In the Day of the Vaqueros, p. 138; December, 2002, review of Confucius, p. 154; October, 2003, Elizabeth Bush, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 59; December, 2005, July-August, 2004, Janice Del Negro, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 464; review of Children of the Great Depression, p. 181.

Horn Book, January-February, 1986, Russell Freedman, "Perusing the Pleasure Principle"; March-April, 1986, pp. 220-221; January-February, 1987, pp. 104-107; July-August, 1987, p. 483; March-April, 1988, p. 222; July-August, 1988, Russell Freedman, "Newbery Medal Acceptance," pp. 444-451; July-August, 1988, Frank J. Dempsey, "Russell Freedman," pp. 452-456; March-April, 1991, pp. 213-214; July-August, 1991, Margaret A. Bush, review of The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, pp. 475-476; January-February, 1994, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, p. 87; November-December, 1994, p. 744; May-June, 1997, Martha V. Parravano, review of Out of Darkness, pp. 339-340; July-August, 1998, James Cross Giblin, "Russell Freedman," pp. 455-459; July-August, 1998 Susan P. Bloom, review of Martha Graham, pp. 511-512; September-October, 1999, review of Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion, p. 623; July-August, 2000, p. 426; January-February, 2001, Mary M. Burns, review of Give Me Liberty!, p. 109; January-February, 2002, Margaret A. Bush, review of In the Days of the Vaqueros, p. 96; September-October, 2003, Betty Carter, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 628; May-June, 2002, Roger Sutton, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 344; January-February, 2006, Betty Carter, review of Children of the Depression, p. 100; September-October, 2006, Kitty Flynn, review of Freedom Walkers, p. 604.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2001, review of In the Days of the Vaqueros, p. 1422; July 15, 2002, review of Confucius, p. 1031; October 1, 2003, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 1223; April 1, 2004, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 329; December 1, 2005, review of Children of the Great Depression, p. 1274; September 15, 2006, review of The Adventures of Marco Polo, p. 953.

Kliatt, November, 1992, p. 26; September, 1996, p. 4; July, 1998, p. 32; January, 2006, Nola Theiss, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 54.

New York Times Book Review, November 13, 1983, Richard Snow, review of Children of the Wild West, p. 52; January 24, 1988, p. 37; March 17, 1991, Alan Brinkley, review of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, p. 26; November 14, 1993, p. 40; November 13, 1994, Iris Tillman Hill, review of Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade against Child Labor, p. 23; May 17, 1998, Theodore W. Striggles, review of Martha Graham, p. 29.

Publishers Weekly, November 15, 1985, review of Cowboys of the Wild West; November 27, 1987, review of Lincoln: A Photobiography, p. 86; May 3, 1991, p. 73; May 4, 1992, p. 58; June 21, 1993, p. 105; July 19, 1993, Shannon Maughan, interview with Freedman, pp. 228, 234; June 17, 1996, review of The Life and Death of Crazy Horse, p. 67; April 6, 1998, review of Martha Graham, p. 80; July 19, 1999, review of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, p. 196; February 14, 2000, p. 99; November 6, 2000, p. 93; September 10, 2001, review of In the Days of the Vaqueros, p. 94; August 5, 2002, review of Confucius, p. 72; March 22, 2004, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 88; October 17, 2005, review of Children of the Great Depression, p. 70; October 2, 2006, review of The Adventures of Marco Polo, p. 65.

School Library Journal, December, 1985, George Gleason, review of Cowboys of the Wild West, p. 99; May, 1987, Karen P. Zimmerman, review of Indian Chiefs, pp. 110-111; December, 1987, Elaine Fort Weischedel, review of Lincoln: A Photobiography, pp. 93-94; July, 1999, Luann Toth, review of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, p. 106; October, 2000, Leah J. Sparks, review of Give Me Liberty!, p. 183; September, 2001, Steven Engelfried, review of In the Days of the Vaqueros, p. 242; September, 2002, Patricia D. Lothrop, review of Confucius, p. 244; October, 2003, Ginny Gustin, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 188; July, 2004, Ginny Gustin, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 120; October, 2004, Mary N. Oluonye, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 67; November, 2004, Alison Follos, review of Martha Graham, p. 67; August, 2005, Blair Christolon, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 48; December, 2005, Ann Welton, review of Children of the Great Depression, p. 165; March, 2006, John Peters, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 90; November, 2006, Wendy Lukehart, review of The Adventures of Marco Polo, and Michael Santangelo, review of Freedom Walkers, p. 159.

Science Books and Films, December, 1977, p. 166.

Science Books, May, 1970, review of How Animals Learn and Animal Instincts, pp. 2-3.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1996, p. 48; April, 2001, review of Give Me Liberty!, p. 63; August, 2003, review of Confucius, p. 187; April, 2004, Sherrie Williams, review of In Defense of Liberty, p. 66; August, 2004, review of The Voice That Challenged a Nation, p. 237.

Washington Post Book World, July 12, 1992, Michael Dirda, review of An Indian Winter, p. 8.

Wilson Library Bulletin,September, 1994, p. 121; June, 1995, p. 48.