The Value of understanding: the Story of margaret mead [ valuetale series]

ValueTales Series

by Spencer Johnson

A biography, stressing the understanding and tolerance, of an anthropologist who did extensive studies of primitive cultures.

Genres: Biography, Childrens, History, Picture Books

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Patrick Spencer Johnson was an American writer. He was known for the ValueTales series of children's books, and for his 1998 self-help book Who Moved My Cheese?, which recurred on the New York Times Bestseller list, on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover nonfiction list. Johnson was the chairman of Spencer Johnson Partners.

Reviews

[Kelli Oliver George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this entire series of ValueTales - I grew up with them and carefully moved them from apartment to apartment throughout my college years. I knew that I would want my own children to grow up with this series.

This series is a great way to introduce children to a varied set of "values" such as Understanding (Margaret Mead), Humor (Will Rogers), Curiosity (Columbus), Fairness (Nellie Bly), Learning (Marie Curie) all while introducing a child to history. I can say for certain that this series was the beginning of my love of history and historical figures.

I should also mention that this series has a great mix of important female AND male historical figures and includes some diversity (Ralph Bunche, Cochise, Jackie Robinson, Confucious)

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did you think?
"I liked it because understanding other countries, for example, if we didn't know China, how it feels like to be born in China, we would want to go to that country to see what it's like to be born in China. And that's exactly what she did. She found out about other countries and how they..."

What did she find out about other countries?
"That some of them are like New York and that some of them are not like New York."

Did you enjoy reading it?
"Yes!"

Is there anything else you want to add?
"I want to go to China!"

Did she go to China?
"No."

-read and reviewed by a six year old, questions and typing by mom, who didn't read the book

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me want to be an anthropologist :)

[Nicolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one book that i can honestly say shaped my future as a child, then this would be the one!

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Value of Understanding: The Story of Margaret Mead (ValueTales Series) by Spencer Johnson, Illustrator - Steve Pilligri - Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard College of Columbia University and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia. Mead served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1975. Mead was a communicator of anthropology in modern American and Western culture and was often controversial as an academic. Her reports detailing the attitudes towards sex in South Pacific and Southeast Asian traditional cultures influenced the 1960s sexual revolution. She was a proponent of broadening sexual conventions within the context of Western cultural traditions. During World War II, Mead was executive secretary of the National Research Council's Committee on Food Habits. She was curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1946 to 1969. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1948, the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1975, and the American Philosophical Society in 1977. She taught at The New School and Columbia University, where she was an adjunct professor from 1954 to 1978 and a professor of anthropology and chair of the Division of Social Sciences at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus from 1968 to 1970, founding their anthropology department. In 1970, she joined the faculty of the University of Rhode Island as a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Anthropology. Following Ruth Benedict's example, Mead focused her research on problems of child rearing, personality, and culture. She served as president of the Society for Applied Anthropology in 1950 and of the American Anthropological Association in 1960. In the mid-1960s, Mead joined forces with the communications theorist Rudolf Modley in jointly establishing an organization called Glyphs Inc., whose goal was to create a universal graphic symbol language to be understood by any members of culture, no matter how "primitive." In the 1960s, Mead served as the Vice President of the New York Academy of Sciences. She held various positions in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, notably president in 1975 and chair of the executive committee of the board of directors in 1976. She was a recognizable figure in academia and usually wore a distinctive cape and carried a walking stick. Mead was a key participant in the Macy conferences on cybernetics and an editor of their proceedings. Mead's address to the inaugural conference of the American Society for Cybernetics was instrumental in the development of second-order cybernetics. This is an inspiring book for readers of all ages.

[Leila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having never read anything about Margaret Mead, this is a wonderful introduction to her life and career as an anthropologist. Still not a fan of the talking thoughts characters (this one is named Per Sun and is shaped like a sun), but maybe it works for kids.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of my favorite books from the Value Tale series. I love how compassionate Margaret Mead is. I love that the book points out that if we want to be happy adults, we need to learn to work and enjoy working when we are children.