stenaros's review against another edition
3.0
Read for Youth Librarian Book Group
History of Ben Franklin with each two-page spread covering a different period of his life. Ben Franklin's quotes are sprinkled throughout the book and also included on both inside covers. It was interesting to realize how many of our sayings come from Mr. Franklin.
History of Ben Franklin with each two-page spread covering a different period of his life. Ben Franklin's quotes are sprinkled throughout the book and also included on both inside covers. It was interesting to realize how many of our sayings come from Mr. Franklin.
mslibrarynerd's review against another edition
3.0
This brightly colored book seems more small child focused than it actually is. The writing is dense and the language is sophisticated, the drawings are fun and lighthearted though, and clearly are this book's strength. It is a good transitional biography for the tween readers.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
4.0
A very cool look at Benjamin Franklin's life in picture book format, with lots of interesting sidebars, cartoon-style drawings in full color, and frequent two-page spreads on different topics, with headings like "The Scientific Amusements" or "The Wonderful Effects of Points," that gather facts and episodes from his life in themed layouts. Nice endpapers have "Poor Richard" quotations. Has bibliography for older and younger readers, a timeline, and sources for the illustrations, with a detailed note from the illustrator on how he researched the images he came up with.
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this one up because of the fun cover illustration and ended up enjoying it. A good overview bio of Franklin for kids. Really enjoyed the illustrations inside as well.
line_so_fine's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like we are in this phase where kids' nonfiction is really trying to find its footing, and this book is a great example of that journey. We are coming out of an era where kid nonfiction was horrible, text-book-looking, unappealing doodoo and now authors and publishers are trying to do better. The writing is getting a ton better, but the struggle seems to be format. In this one, the pages are mostly text, but broken up into text-booky columns, with captioned illustrations sprinkled in. When I opened it up initially, my reaction to how it looked was "BLERG." Once I started reading, it was good, engaging stuff though.
cpoole's review against another edition
4.0
Biography
Byrd, Robert. Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012. Print. 40 p.
A biography of Benjamin Franklin for older children, this oversized volume is stylized in a way to catch the attention of reluctant readers. The bulk of the text is displayed on pages made to appear like it might in the past, on off-white, textured looking pages. The many intricate illustrations throughout give readers an added sense of the time and place in which Benjamin Franklin lived. The author gives many anecdotes of Ben's life which leads readers to grasp what the famous historical figure was really like. An additional feature is the boxes throughout the pages giving historical information on not only specifics in Ben's life, but also some of the inventions he was responsible for, events in history, as well as samples of what the man's writings and drawings looked like, all of these tidbits are accompanied by expert illustrations. This biography was created in such a way that is unlike many other juvenile biographies, and therefore will be much more likely to appeal to the intended audience.
Byrd, Robert. Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012. Print. 40 p.
A biography of Benjamin Franklin for older children, this oversized volume is stylized in a way to catch the attention of reluctant readers. The bulk of the text is displayed on pages made to appear like it might in the past, on off-white, textured looking pages. The many intricate illustrations throughout give readers an added sense of the time and place in which Benjamin Franklin lived. The author gives many anecdotes of Ben's life which leads readers to grasp what the famous historical figure was really like. An additional feature is the boxes throughout the pages giving historical information on not only specifics in Ben's life, but also some of the inventions he was responsible for, events in history, as well as samples of what the man's writings and drawings looked like, all of these tidbits are accompanied by expert illustrations. This biography was created in such a way that is unlike many other juvenile biographies, and therefore will be much more likely to appeal to the intended audience.
booksandbosox's review against another edition
4.0
http://librarianosnark.blogspot.com/2013/03/picture-book-saturday-non-fiction.html
tellmeyarns's review
3.0
A "greatest hits" biography of Ben Franklin's life. It's well written and has great illustrations, but my problem with this book is that it looks like a book written for a much younger audience and I'm afraid that middle grade readers wouldn't pick it up.
luann's review
3.0
This is definitely for older children. It's very interesting, but MUCH more text than you would expect from a picture book. It did lead me to go read more about pleurisy (which is what Benjamin Franklin died from) and to go watch some videos online of the glass armonica, which is a very cool musical instrument invented by "Electric Ben." I also really enjoyed reading all of Ben's sayings on the endpapers and throughout the book. What an amazing man!