Don Nardo facts for kids

Don Nardo, born on February 22, 1947, is an American historian, composer, and writer. He has written over 540 books, making him one of the most active authors in the United States. He is especially known for his history books for children and teenagers.

Don Nardo's Life and Work

Early Life and Learning

Don Nardo was born in Columbia, Missouri. For his first few years, he traveled across the country with his parents and younger brother, Philip. His parents were popular nightclub entertainers.

In the early 1950s, his family settled in Natick, Massachusetts. Don Nardo was first taught at home, then later attended public schools. As he grew up, he became interested in acting, music, history, and writing. These were all fields he would later work in. In high school, he acted in many plays and was voted best actor in his final year. Outside of school, he learned to play the trumpet. He also started writing classical music, including a four-movement symphony when he was just fourteen. He taught himself how to write down music properly by studying books.

After high school in 1965, Nardo studied theater at Syracuse University. He left after a few semesters to become an actor in New York City. Later, in the 1970s, he went back to college. He graduated with high honors from Worcester State College (now Worcester State University) with a degree in history.

Early Career

As a young actor, Don Nardo performed in many plays. This included summer theater in New York and dinner theater in the American South. He also worked with the National Shakespeare Company, acting in plays like Macbeth and Othello.

Later, Nardo became more interested in writing scripts for movies and TV shows. While working on his first scripts, he taught social studies and English in Barnstable, Massachusetts. One of his movie scripts, The Bet, won an award in 1982. He also wrote an episode for the TV show Spenser: For Hire, which starred Robert Urich. This episode was called "Skeletons in the Closet." Nardo also helped write, produce, and direct a movie called In Deadly Heat.

Writing History Books

Don Nardo had loved studying history since he was a child. Even though he earned a history degree in the 1970s, he didn't start writing history books until the 1980s. A publisher asked him to write chapters for a high school history textbook. This led to offers from other publishers who made books for young adults.

Over the years, he kept getting more offers and good reviews from places like School Library Journal. By 2004, he had written over a hundred books about ancient people. These included the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. A famous historian, Victor Davis Hanson, said that Don Nardo had become the best writer of children's books about ancient history.

Publishers like Chelsea House and Scholastic also asked Nardo to write many books about the Middle Ages. One of these was a book about the astronomer Tycho Brahe, which won a special award. He also wrote books about modern history, including studies of Native American culture, America's wars, and the U.S. founders.

His 2012 book Migrant Mother won the Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction. Another book from 2012, Destined for Space, won an award from the American Astronautical Society. In 2014, Nardo wrote his first novel, a mystery called Cloak of Destiny. He describes it as a "cosmic mystery" about an archaeologist who finds an amazing secret in Israel. This secret could change how people understand humanity's place in the universe.

Music Compositions

While writing, Don Nardo also continued to compose music. He has written seven more symphonies and many concertos for different instruments like violin, cello, and piano. He also wrote a ballet about Cleopatra and music for stage plays, including a large school production of The Hobbit. For The Hobbit, he also led the orchestra.

In 1987, the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra asked him to write a concert piece for children based on H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. In 2008, Portuguese-American violinist Pedro Ferreira asked him to write a special concerto for violin and Portuguese guitar. This was the first major concert piece ever written for the Portuguese guitar. From 2008 to 2010, Nardo was the main composer for Ferreira's Amadis Orchestra.

In 2011, the Cape Cod Symphony asked him for another piece for their 50th anniversary. This large orchestral work, called Cape Cod Impressions, was played with photos of Cape Cod shown on big screens. It received standing ovations from the audience. In 2013, he completed more orchestral arrangements of popular songs for a concert with the Cheshire Symphony Orchestra.

Personal Life

Don Nardo has been married twice. His first marriage resulted in a son, Dana, born in 1972, who became a graphic artist and animator. Don Nardo and his second wife, Christine, love animals, especially dogs. They also enjoy traveling and often visit Greece and other countries that Nardo writes about in his books.

Selected Works

• Gravity: The Universal Force. Lucent Books, 1990. ISBN: 1-56006-204-5
• World War II: The War in the Pacific. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN: 1-56006-408-0
• Anxiety and Phobias. Chelsea House, 1992. ISBN: 0-7910-0041-9
• Charles Darwin. Chelsea House, 1993. ISBN: 0-7910-1729-X
• Medical Diagnosis. Chelsea House, 1993. ISBN: 0-7910-0067-2
• Greek and Roman Theater. Lucent Books, 1994. ISBN: 1-56006-249-5
• The Battle of Marathon. Lucent Books, 1995. ISBN: 1-56006-412-9
• The Age of Pericles. Lucent Books, 1996. ISBN: 1-56006-303-3
• The Bill of Rights. Greenhaven Press, 1997. ISBN: 1-56510-740-3
• The Medieval Castle. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN: 1-56006-430-7
• Readings on Romeo and Juliet. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1998. ISBN: 1-56510-646-6
• The Rise of Nazi Germany. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1998. ISBN: 1-56510-965-1
• Readings on Sophocles' Antigone. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1999. ISBN: 1-56510-969-4
• Greek and Roman Sport. Lucent Books, 1999. ISBN: 1-56006-436-6
• Readings on Othello. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 2000. ISBN: 0-7377-0187-0
• Francisco Coronado. Franklin Watts, 2001. ISBN: 0-531-11974-2
• Daily Life in Ancient Rome. KidHaven Press, 2002. ISBN: 0-7377-0612-0
• Life of a Roman Gladiator. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN: 1-59018-253-7
• Andrew Johnson. Children's Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-516-24242-3
• The Byzantine Empire. Blackbirch Press, 2005. ISBN: 1-4103-0586-4
• The Age of Colonialism. Lucent Books, 2006. ISBN: 1-59018-833-0
• Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Mesopotamia. Greenhaven Press, 2007. ISBN: 0-7377-3441-8
• History of Architecture. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN: 1-4205-0003-1
• Julius Caesar: Roman General and Statesman. Compass Point Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7565-3834-7
• Alexander the Great: Conqueror of the Known World. Morgan Reynolds, 2010. ISBN: 1-59935-126-9
• The Islamic Empire. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN: 1-4205-0634-X
• The Birth of Christianity. Morgan Reynolds, 2012. ISBN: 1-59935-145-5
• Persian Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2013. ISBN: 1-420-50794-X
• The Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-075654927-5
• Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Raintree (England), 2015. ISBN: 978-140628807-0
• Deadliest Dinosaurs. Reference Point Books, 2016. ISBN: 978-1682820483
• Teens and Eating Disorders. Reference Point Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-1682821220
• Transgender Life. Gale/Cengage, 2018. ISBN: 978-1410380999
• Classic Stories of Greek Mythology. Reference Point Press, 2019. ISBN: 1682826198
• Why Should I Care About the Greeks? Capstone Press, 2020. ISBN: 0756565650
• Understanding Gender Identity. Reference Point Press, 2021. ISBN: 1678201782
• Important Black Americans in Science and Invention. Reference Point Press, 2022. ISBN: 1678202886
• Exploring Indian Mythology. Reference Point Press, 2023. ISBN: 978-1-6782-0480-8