What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?

Title: What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?

Author: Jean Fritz

Biography #4

When I first picked up, What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin”, I thought to myself boooorrring. To my delight, this notion was proven wrong within the first few pages of the book. I had absolutely no idea Ben Franklin was such an important and inspirational man. I learned so much from reading this book. For example, did you know that Ben wrote the Poor Richard’s Almanac? He also came up with the sayings “eat to live, not live to eat” and “a penny saved is a penny earned”. Franklin was also the reason France joined America in the war against Britain. This was all fascinating and new information to me.

I would definitely recommend Jean Fritz’s work to my students and any educator. These books are fun, educational, and very interesting to read! Though they may appear boring, this certainly isn’t the case. On a final note, I think this series needs to be reprinted and updated. These books are so good; I would hate to see them wither away on a library shelf simply because they look old and boring. The illustrations are very good as well, but would really “pop” on a glossy page with some color enhancement. Overall, however, excellent read that I would recommend to anyone. 

Through My Eyes

Title: Through My Eyes

Author: Ruby Bridges

Biography #2

Through My Eyes is the courageous tale of Ruby Bridges, one of the first African-American children to integrate into all white schools during the civil rights movement. Recounted by Ruby herself, the story was literally impossible to put down. I was so intrigued and inspired by her struggles and was in tears nearly the entire time. Reading about what this young girl went through and the horrendous things she had to hear and see every day was heartbreaking. In the same breath, it was so amazing to read about the kindness Ruby and her family received during their difficult time. Letters of encouragement and care packages arrived often; Ruby even received a letter from the former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Reading this book was especially important to me as a future educator because it really put things in perspective. Though we have come a long way, Ruby’s story isn’t so far in the past that it is no longer relevant. Even with integrated schools, some become highly segregated because of achievement gaps between rich and poor students as well as white and non-white students. I learned so much from reading this book and think children would too. I would use it for students in 4-6 grade and would recommend it to teachers to keep in their classroom library.  

Planting the Trees of Kenya

Title: Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai   

Author: Claire A. Nivola

Biography #1

I have read other stories about Wangari Maathai before but this book has got to be by far one of the clearest portrayals of her life that I have read. The story begins be detailing what life was like for Wangari when she was a child growing up in Kenya. As she remembers it, the hills were lush and green and the trees thick and ground full of water. The fig tree was sacred and protected. When Wangari grew up she decided she wanted to go to college to study Biology. In the five years she spent in America, Kenya changed drastically. No longer were the hills lush and full of life, the trees were diminishing, and the water dried up. Instead of growing food for themselves, farmers were now selling their crops and buying lower quality food from the local store. Wangari did not like what she saw so she began to educate the women in her community on how to grow and replant trees. Men began to admire what they women were doing and joined their efforts. Wangari taught local schools all she knew about making plants grow. Many years later, Kenya is once again lush and full of life.

I would recommend this story for children in 3-5 grade. Though I loved the content of the story, the pictures were particularly magnificent. They were so incredibly detailed and colorful I found myself looking at them longer than the time I spent reading the words. As with many books, the pictures added to the story greatly and helped tell the story. Throughout reading the book, I found out a lot about Wangari Maathai and think children would learn a lot too. I especially liked the author’s note in the back that gave more information about who Wangari is and how her efforts have made a difference in the world.  In my opinion, this was an excellent book I would love to see be shared with more students. There is plenty of room for more research to be done about Wangari for students who are particularly interested by her story.