Nonfiction for Children

Fifty years later, Crandall received an apology from the citizens of Canterbury as well as reparation for some of her losses. Since then, Crandall's name has faded into near-obscurity, although Jurmain notes in an appendix that her battle provided a legal cornerstone for the civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s.

First Lady on a Mission

Author Candace Fleming tells the story of another American heroine in Our Eleanor (Atheneum, $19.95; ages 10-14). In this engaging and unstintingly honest biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Fleming takes an unusual "scrapbook" approach, presenting Roosevelt's life in short bursts of text, numerous archival photographs and reproductions of things like her final report card and handwritten letters. It all combines to produce a well-rounded portrait of an extraordinary woman.

In roughly chronological order, Fleming shows how Roosevelt slowly threw off the conventions of her privileged upbringing in her deeply felt quest to right the world's wrongs. Among other topics, Fleming addresses Roosevelt's difficult childhood, her dark moods, her role as a political lightning rod, and her challenging relationships with her husband, children and dominating mother-in-law.

What emerges from this meticulously researched volume is a sense that Roosevelt was an intriguing mixture of traits: stubborn, insecure, energetic, courageous, unselfish and relentlessly earnest. Her high-mindedness could sometimes madden a saint (and almost drove her husband crazy). But as a Bronx truck driver said when Roosevelt died in 1962: "The folks will miss her. She was always on their side."

Memorable people and places can be found in these other new nonfiction gems:

So You Want to Be an Explorer? (Philomel, $16.99; ages 4-8). Author Judith St. George and artist David Small, who teamed up on the Caldecott Medal-winning So You Want to Be President? , offer a book filled with amusing illustrations and true tales of risk-takers who changed the world.

Egypt in Spectacular Cross-Section (Scholastic, $18.99; ages 8-12). Famous for his intricately detailed explorations of everything from castles to the human body, illustrator Stephen Biesty tackles ancient Egypt in this kid-pleasing volume written by Stewart Ross.

Bodies From the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompei (Houghton Mifflin, $16; ages 9-12). In this sometimes grisly but always fascinating book, James M. Deem relates how archaeologists and other experts have documented what happened when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in Pompei in 79 A.D.

Marooned (Clarion, $15; ages 9-12). The "real" Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, is the subject of this brief but absorbing biography by Robert Kraske.

Express Yourself! Activities and Adventures in Expressionism (Watson-Guptill, $12.95; ages 9-12). Joyce Raimondo offers kids a fun, hands-on exploration of six famous artists in this picture-packed book.

Karen MacPherson writes a weekly children's book review column for Scripps Howard News Service and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.