A review by david_reads_books
Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different, by Ben Brooks
4.0
A colorful children's book on 77 boys who faced adversity getting started in life but went on to do great deeds and/or become successful in their field. Nice layout with a vibrant graphic scene of the person on one page, and about 300 words on the opposite page.
I felt the synopsis of the person was far too short. But more words would mean smaller font, or a book design-layout change. Its designed for kids so it meets its purpose. But I might have edited the order of the people presented. First four: Patch Adams, Eddie Aikau, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Mohed Altrad. Further back in the book are: Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Lionel Messi, Vincent Van Gogh. I would have put a more well-known name to start the book.
I also found very key facts missing, or ~wrong. e.g. Jesse Eisenberg found out that by acting he could gain victory over being shy. It says he was a supervillain, zombie hunter, street magician, and a rare parrot named Blu. But none of these movie names are mentioned? Galileo Galilei did NOT invent the telescope. The telescope was invented near his time of using it. Its just that Galileo expanded its use to more than sighting ships on the horizon, and worked to make it better. This is a common misconception, but it is being perpetuated by the simplicity in this book. The picture of Galileo is of him dropping a book with a cross (bible?) from a leaning building. Not a proper picture to present. He did NOT drop a bible. And historians agree that Galileo did NOT do the dropping.
I still think this book can help kids get excited as they hear about how none of these boys/men achieved what they did easily. There was adversity and work involved. It is also good to show a great variety of people from different cultures and different achievements. Its not all just business or scientific success. Multiple humanitarians are feature here. This promotes kids wanting to be whatever they reach for.
3.5 rounded up.
I felt the synopsis of the person was far too short. But more words would mean smaller font, or a book design-layout change. Its designed for kids so it meets its purpose. But I might have edited the order of the people presented. First four: Patch Adams, Eddie Aikau, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Mohed Altrad. Further back in the book are: Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Lionel Messi, Vincent Van Gogh. I would have put a more well-known name to start the book.
I also found very key facts missing, or ~wrong. e.g. Jesse Eisenberg found out that by acting he could gain victory over being shy. It says he was a supervillain, zombie hunter, street magician, and a rare parrot named Blu. But none of these movie names are mentioned? Galileo Galilei did NOT invent the telescope. The telescope was invented near his time of using it. Its just that Galileo expanded its use to more than sighting ships on the horizon, and worked to make it better. This is a common misconception, but it is being perpetuated by the simplicity in this book. The picture of Galileo is of him dropping a book with a cross (bible?) from a leaning building. Not a proper picture to present. He did NOT drop a bible. And historians agree that Galileo did NOT do the dropping.
I still think this book can help kids get excited as they hear about how none of these boys/men achieved what they did easily. There was adversity and work involved. It is also good to show a great variety of people from different cultures and different achievements. Its not all just business or scientific success. Multiple humanitarians are feature here. This promotes kids wanting to be whatever they reach for.
3.5 rounded up.