I’m a teacher who loves to read and one of my favorite places in the world is the public library, so that certainly ranks my liking of Ben Franklin pretty high! I decided to read this nonfiction book, Who Was Ben Franklin, after I purchased it in Phil., PA a little over a year ago. After learning just a little bit about this famous man, I wanted to go to the library that he actually constructed and the city that he made such an impact on. I picked this book up because it looked like a quick read with penciled sketches that were easy to understand and text that looked easy to read and enjoy, not laborious at all. I was right. This is one of those nonfiction books that is a biography of the person’s life and superbly done to capture young readers’, and teachers’ like me, attention and truly teach about the person. The author has created other “Who was…” books, one of which is about Thomas Jefferson that I have also read, and I plan on buying more. This is a great way for students to learn about famous people in history without having to be labored down with unlearned words and boring details that most past nonfiction text are constructed of. The author, Dennis Brindell Fradin, has done a wonderful thing with this idea for nonfiction and biographies!
Ben Franklin was a man who had knowledge far before his time. He understood the importance of experimenting with nature to discover the root cause of all his questions. Most know about his kite and key experiment, but by this experiment he was able to create the lightening rod to make storms and electricity less frightening and deadly for the common person. He was also knew a lot more about health and wellness than most people gave him credit for and bathed often. On a humorous note – no wonder he had no problem finding lady friends a plenty when he moved to France to act at the United States representative to convince France to help in the American Revolutionary War. Interesting that not to long after, France went into a Revolutionary War! Most would say that overtaxing its citizens and a weak monarchy caused this war. I wonder what Franklin’s views of the French monarchy were?
I think that one of the most influential things about Franklin is that he loved to read. As a teenager he became a vegetarian in order to save money and buy books with. He never stopped reading and learning and would certainly be considered an Academically Gifted Genius in today’s day and age. I wonder what he would have discovered if he were around now?
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