Maryann Weidt began writing twelve years ago. In that time, she has published a dozen or so books for children, including the Minnesota Book Award-winning picture book, Daddy Played Music for the Cows. She has taught writing classes at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and the Antioch Writers Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In June of 2002, Weidt was a special guest and reader at the Grand Opening of the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts. One of Weidt's best selling books is a biography of Dr. Seuss titled Oh, the Places He Went. For more information and some swell writing tips, see Maryann's website.

Harriet Tubman
Lerner Publications, 2003
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-8225-4676-4

Each title in the History Maker Bios series offers introductions to the lives of historical figures found in the core of every history curriculum, and Harriet Tubman profiles the woman who risked her life helping others escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. Whether spying, cooking, nursing, giving speeches, or leading slaves to freedom, Harriet Tubman spent her entire lifetime helping others.

Rosa Parks
Lerner Publications, 2003
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-8225-4673-3

Filled with illustrations, photographs, artwork, historically accurate caricatures, and little-known facts, Rosa Parks introduces readers to a woman whose defiant action became a key event in the Civil Rights Movement. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was ordered to give her seat to a white man, and she was arrested for refusing. Raised to stand proud, even when being harassed and discriminated against, Parks showed her fellow African Americans that they too could stand up for their rights.

Matthew Henson
Lerner Publications, 2002
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-0-8225-0397-2

Did you know that when Matthew Henson and Robert Peary traveled to the North Pole they ran behind, not on, sleds that were 12 feet long with runners made of walrus tusks? In 1909, after 18 years of expeditions, they were the first men to reach the North Pole. Although instrumental to this achievement, Henson was denied the accolades that should have followed because he was African American. It was not until more than thirty years later that people outside of the African American community gave him the recognition he deserved.

Voice of Freedom: a Story about Frederick Douglass
illustrated by Jeni Reeves
Lerner Publications, 2001
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-1-57505-553-4

"Frederick wrote three autobiographies and two of them are on audiotape. So I could literally hear his voice in his writing—not his actual voice, of course. But I think hearing his words on tape helped me translate his feelings onto the pages of my book. He was a powerful speaker, and his strength came through his written words. Frederick must have been a very determined person to run from slavery as he did. I cannot imagine the courage it took, knowing he might be captured and killed at any time.

"Also, my editors at Carolrhoda have always been good at encouraging me to weave information about the time period into the story. Sometimes I get carried away with the history part and they have to rein me in. At any rate, readers of Voice of Freedom will learn about slave conditions in the early 1800s and about the Underground Railroad."

Revolutionary Poet: a Story about Phillis Wheatley
illustrated by Mary O'Keefe Young
Lerner Publications, 1997
ages 9 to 12, ISBN 978-1-57505-037-9

Taken from her family in Africa at the age of seven, Phillis Wheatley arrived in Boston as a slave in 1761. After she was purchased by the Wheatley family, Phillis quickly learned to speak and read English. The bright young girl soon began writing poetry. By 1771, her poems had been published in newspapers all over the colonies, and critics were praising the "extraordinary negro poetess." This biography describes her life and accomplishments in a well-researched, factual, readable manner.

Oh, the Places He Went: 
a Story about Dr. Seuss—Theodor Seuss Geisel
illustrated by Kerry Maguire
Lerner Publications, 1995
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-87614-823-5

Who put the cat in the hat?

Who first served up green eggs and ham?

It was Dr. Seuss, inventor of such magical, rhyming characters as the Grinch, Horton, and the Lorax. Author Maryann Weidt tells the story of how this shy boy traveled from being a discouraged artist and writer to becoming the creator of some of the most beloved children's books of all time.

Daddy Played Music for the Cows
illustrated by Henri Sorenson
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1995
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-87614-823-5

Reading Guide available from Minnesota Storytime

A little girl explains how she was born in the barn while her father played music for the cows, and her life story is filled with such images as chasing mourning doves and swinging from a rope into a mountain of hay.

Mr. Blue Jeans: a Story about Levi Strauss
illustrated by Lydia M. Anderson
Lerner Publications, 1992
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-87614-588-3

In 1847, an eighteen-year-old immigrant arrived in New York. He had little in his pockets and no knowledge of English. Yet, by 1874, people throughout the United States knew him as the man who made blue jeans with copper rivets. Even now, Levi Strauss's name lives on as a mark of quality and style. Weidt provides intriguing and little-known facts in this biography of one of the world's great entrepreneurs.

Stateswoman to the World: 
a Story about Eleanor Roosevelt
illustrated by Lydia M. Anderson
Lerner Publications, 1992
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-87614-562-3

Although best known as the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor was a skilled politician and journalist in her own right. She worked for justice and world peace throughout her career. At the age of sixty-one, she represented the United States at the first United Nations Assembly. There she oversaw the writing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A truly fascinating look at a fascinating woman.

Presenting Judy Blume
Twayne Publications, 1990
young adult, ISBN 978-0-8057-8208-0
out of print

Presenting Judy Blume provides the definitive study of Blume's life and work. Extensive interviews with Blume, her son, and her editor portray the working of a creative mind uniquely in touch with the young adult experience. As entertaining as it is informative, this comprehensive and accessible study, which inlcludes an analysis of each of Blume's books, a discussion of the issue of censorship, a detailed chronology of Blume's career, and an extensive bibliography, will be welcomed by every reader eager to know more about this immensely popular author.