Dede Putra – illustratör

Born in 1729, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbs was never supposed to come to power. But at age sixteen, she married the heir to the Russian throne. By 1762, Sophie, known now as Catherine, overthrew her immature and incompetent husband, Peter III, to lead the nation. Catherine became the sole ruler of Russia.This exciting Who Was? title explores how Catherine was able to turn Russia into one of the great powers of Europe by expanding its borders, helping improve its educational system, and advocating for the arts. Her three-decade reign is considered the Golden Age of Russia, and she is called Catherine the Great.

Discover how a little girl raised on a dairy farm grew up to become the first woman ever to have an exhibition of their entire life’s work at the Museum of Modern Art!

Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South. Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her poem, "Still I Rise," Angelou was able to lift herself out of her situation and flourish. She moved to California and became the first black - and first female - streetcar operator before following her interest in dance. She became a professional performer in her twenties and toured the U.S. and Europe as an opera star and calypso dancer. But Angelou's writing became her defining talent. Her poems and books, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, brought her international acclaim.

Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and although he didn’t yet know it, Leif was destined to embark on an adventure of his own. The wise and striking Viking landed in the area known as Vinland almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus even set sail! “Leif the Lucky” and the other fierce, sea-fearing pirates were accomplished navigators who raided foreign lands for resources, hunted for their food, and passed down Old Norse myths from one generation to the next. This book gives readers a detailed account of what life was like during the time of the Vikings.

Meet the man who changed the game forever. Michael Jordan has always been competitive - even as a young boy, he fought for attention. His need to be the best made him a star player on his college basketball team and helped him become an NBA legend, both for his skills and his endorsements. His Nike contract for Air Jordan basketball shoes set an unmatched precedent for professional athletes. Author Kirsten Anderson takes readers through each exciting moment, detailing the iconic reverse lay-ups and jump shots of Michael Jordan’s storied career.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis, from Argentina, is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. Since being elected pope he has shown a humbler, less formal approach to his office than his predecessors: a warm style that has been referred to as 'no frills.' His common touch and accessibility, as well as his insistence that the church be more open and welcoming, has quickly endeared him not only to Roman Catholics but to millions of others around the world.

Discover what lives and grows in the Congo Basin in Central Africa, one of the planet’s most remarkable regions.

Explore the most amazing wonders of the ancient world!More than 2,000 years ago, travelers wrote about the incredible sights they saw while on their journeys. They told tales of hanging gardens that were built for a Babylonian queen, and a colossal statue that guided ships through the harbor of Rhodes in Greece. These writers compiled a list of the very best of these sights that are now known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Author Yona Zeldis McDonough takes the readers on a trip to the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Great Pyramids in Egypt (the only Wonder still standing), the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Colossus of Rhodes in ancient Greece, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Temple of Artemis, detailing the creativity and skill that these early civilizations possessed.

Although it’s known more as an important tourist attraction today, the city of Chichen Itza was a powerful religious, political, scientific, and artistic center of the Maya people.Readers will learn about how Chichen Itza began and what happened to cause the downfall of a great society. The book also provides details about the culture of the Maya of Chichen Itza and the stunning architecture they built like the El Castillo pyramid, the Temple of the Warriors, and the massive ball court that was used for games and rituals.

Rev your engines and get ready for this exciting look at how Dale Earnhardt Jr. lived up to his family legacy and became one of the greatest professional stock car racing drivers in the world.No one was surpised when Dale Earnhardt Jr. began his racing career at age seventeen. His father and grandfather were professional racers, and he spent most of his childhood servicing cars at his dad's dealership. Now Dale was ready for his own turn in the driver's seat. He started out racing in the Street Stock division but would go on to win several NASCAR championships before retiring from driving fulltime in 2017. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s passion and dedication to the sport he loves is why he is considered the most popular professional driver in the world.

Go back to the thrilling time of warring knights who were prepared to give their life in order to protect their lord and his castle.Castles may conjure up a romantic fairy tale world; however, in real life, during the Middle Ages, castles were fortresses, providing shelter and protection for the lord as well as for the peasants who lived on his land. For an army, a lord depended on young soldiers in armor called knights who spent years at the castle learning the skills of warfare. Author Sarah Fabiny dives into the history of castles and how they grew from simple wood structures to mighty fortresses in stone. She also explains who could become a knight and what their lives were like off of the battlefield, enjoying feasts, courting their lady loves, and showing off in tournaments. With 80 fun black-and-white illustrations and an engaging 16-page photo insert, readers will be excited to read this latest addition to Who HQ!

Oh, rats! It's time to take a deeper look at what caused the Black Death--the deadliest pandemic recorded in human history.While the coronavirus COVID-19 changed the world in 2020, it still isn't the largest and deadliest pandemic in history. That title is held by the Plague. This disease, also known as the "Black Death," spread throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe in the fourteenth century and claimed an astonishing 50 million lives by the time it officially ended. Author Roberta Edwards takes readers back to these grimy and horrific years, explaining just how this pandemic began, how society reacted to the disease, and the impact it left on the world.With 80 black-and-white illustrations and an engaging 16-page photo insert, readers will be excited to read this latest additon to Who HQ!

Discover how a young girl who loved to read and write became a voting rights activist, a candidate for governor of Georgia, and an author in this exciting addition to the Who HQ Now series that features newsmakers and trending topics.

This compelling addition to the What Was? series covers what was supposed to be “the war to end all wars” but tragically wasn't.

Discover how a young girl who was the star of her school's debate team became a federal jurist and the first Black woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court in this exciting addition to the Who HQ Now series that features newsmakers and trending topics.

From a very young age, Katherine Johnson counted everything—the number of dirty dishes she'd washed, the steps she walked to church, and even the number of leaves on the trees. By 1928, she was so intelligent and skilled at math that she was able to skip several grades and start high school at age ten! And while Katherine had to deal with racism, segregation, and prejudice throughout her life, she did not let this hold her back from becoming a mathematician. In 1953, she started working as a 'human computer' at America's space agency, now known as NASA. Katherine calculated complex equations by hand, and these calculations helped astronauts travel safely into space. She was a part of many important missions, including the Apollo 11 mission that put the first person on the moon.Katherine Johnson broke barriers and became a trailblazer for women and people of colour in the fields of math and science, and her story in this illustrated biography shows young readers that with hard work and determination, anyone can reach for the stars!