Who Is George Lucas?

by Meg Belviso and Pam Pollack

Published 1 May 2014
As a child his passions were comics and cars, but George Lucas grew up to be one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.  He is a producer, screenwriter, director and entrepreneur whose company Lucasfilms pioneered the movie effects that changed the world of animation. He founded Industrial...Read more

Who Was Alfred Hitchcock?

by Meg Belviso and Pam Pollack

Published 4 December 2014
Known as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's unique vision in movies like Psycho and The Birds sent shivers down our spines and shockwaves through the film industry. His innovative camera techniques have been studied for decades and his gift for storytelling cemented his...Read more

Each illustrated spread focuses on different topics - from birth and the toddler years up to the present and dreams for the future. Create your own family tree, list your BFFs, pets, and favourite subjects, food, and hobbies. When completed, readers will have an up to the minute autobiography...Read more

Who Was Alexander Hamilton?

by Meg Belviso and Pam Pollack

Published 22 August 2017
Read the story of the Founding Father who inspired the smash Broadway musical.

Born in the British West Indies and orphaned as a child, Alexander Hamilton made his way to the American Colonies and studied to become a lawyer. He joined a local militia during the American Revolution,...Read more

Who Was Celia Cruz?

by Meg Belviso and Pam Pollack

Published 4 August 2020
How did a working-class girl from Cuba become a symbol of artistic freedom for Cuban Americans and the "Queen of Salsa"? Find out in this addition to the Who HQ library!

Although her family and friends know her as Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso, the...Read more

Who Was Lewis Carroll?

by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso

Published 3 October 2017
Meet the man who created Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!

Lewis Carroll is the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson, a mathematician and church deacon, who taught at Oxford University. He was inspired to write his best known works, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...Read more

Who Is J.K. Rowling?

by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso

Published 1 August 2012
Everyone loves Harry Potter. Now kids can learn about Harry's creator!

In 1995, on a four-hour-delayed train from Manchester to London, J. K. Rowling conceived of the idea of a boy wizard named Harry Potter. Upon arriving in London, she began immediately writing the first book in...Read more

Who Was Joan of Arc?

by Meg Belviso and Pam Pollack

Published 1 March 2016
Joan of Arc was born in a small French village during the worst period of the Hundred Years' War. For generations, France had been besieged by the British. At age 11, Joan began to see religious visions telling her to join forces with the King of France. By the...Read more

Who Is Hillary Clinton?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 2 August 2016
Who Is Hillary Clinton? Readers of our New York Times best-selling series can find out now!

At age fourteen, Hillary Clinton thought it would be thrilling to become an astronaut, so she sent an application to NASA. The reply was a flat out rejection: the space program didn't...Read more

Who Was Marie Antoinette?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 6 October 2015
From the palaces of Austria to the mirrored halls of Versailles, Marie Antoinette led a charmed life. She was born into royalty in 1755 and married the future king of France at age 15. By 21 she ascended to the throne and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of masquerade balls,...Read more

Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 11 August 2015
Filled with broken hearts and black ravens, Edgar Allan Poe's ghastly tales have delighted readers for centuries. Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at age two. He was soon adopted by a Virginia family who worked as tombstone merchants. In 1827 he enlisted in the Army and...Read more

Who Was Milton Bradley?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 2 August 2016
Meet the man behind the board games: Milton Bradley.

Born in Maine in 1836, Milton Bradley moved with his family to the working-class city of Lowell, Massachusetts, at age 11. His early life consisted of several highs and lows, from graduating high school and attending Harvard to getting...Read more

Best known for his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in British-occupied South Africa. His early life was full of action and adventure. Tolkien spent his childhood roaming the British countryside with his family and could read and write by age four....Read more

Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black...Read more

Who Was Beatrix Potter?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 21 July 2015
Born into wealth in 1860's London, Beatrix Potter always had a vivid imagination. Her early interests included natural history and archaeology, and Potter delighted in sketching fossils and fungi. After briefly illustrating Christmas cards with her brother, Bertram, Potter wrote and illustrated her well-known book, The Tale of Peter...Read more

Who Were the Brothers Grimm?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 11 August 2015
Known as the keepers of modern-day fairy tales, The Brothers Grimm are as legendary as their stories. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in 1780s Germany and were inseparable throughout their childhood. While pursuing their law degrees, the two became fascinated with folktales and folk songs. Together, they researched...Read more

Who Was Frank Lloyd Wright?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 29 December 2015
Born in Wisconsin in 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright became obsessed with a set of building blocks his mother had given to him on his ninth birthday. He grew up to become the father of organic architecture and the greatest American architect of all time, having designed more than 1,100...Read more

Who Was Jesse Owens?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 11 August 2015
At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, track and field star Jesse Owens ran himself straight into international glory by winning four gold medals. But the life of Jesse Owens is much more than a sports story. Born in rural Alabama under the oppressive Jim Crow laws, Owens's family suffered...Read more

Who Was Blackbeard?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 10 November 2015
Though much of his early life remains a mystery, Blackbeard most likely began his life as Edward Teach in the sailing port of Bristol, England. He began his career as a hired British sailor during Queen Anne's War. He eventually settled in the Bahamas under Captain Benjamin Hornigold who...Read more

Who Is Malala Yousafzai?

by Tomie dePaola

Published 11 August 2015
Malala Yousafzai was a girl who loved to learn but was told that girls would no longer be allowed to go to school. She wrote a blog that called attention to what was happening in her beautiful corner of Pakistan and realized that words can bring about change. She...Read more