Ben Franklin: Young Printer

by Augusta Stevenson, Ray Quigley (Illustrator)

One of the most popular series ever published for young American's, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies - easily read by children of eight and up - today's youngster is swept into history.

Genres: Biography, History, Childrens, Nonfiction, American History, Historical

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

Reviews

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Stevenson does a great job letting us know what the youth and great people of America did and experience in their growing up years.

I read this book as a 7th or 8th Grader in Sebeka, Minnesota. I had a lot of time to read and read over 100 books each year.

[Kristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have yet to find a "Childhood of Famous Americans" book that doesn't make sure readers know how terribly savage and dangerous "The Indians" are. This one starts out with young Ben being castigated by his parents for being friendly to a native trader and warning him that he must never go visit them, or he will surely be murdered or kidnapped. Punctuated, of course, with his little sister crying and begging him not to consider such a terrible thing as befriending and visiting Indians.

The family is framed as poor, but so loving, except that then the children are ruled with an iron hand and punished by withholding food if they dare comment, good or bad, about the meal. At which point, lonely Ben goes to bed wishing for another adult to step in and save him, and cowering for fear of "Indians with Tomahawks" who might be hiding in the dark. Sounds loving to me.

Benjamin Franklin is always a good boy, never doing, saying, or thinking anything wrong, and he is supremely obedient. And he apparently finished his life as the Best Loved Citizen of All America, Ever!!! Which, of course, feels quite forced. No wonder people seem to think this country was founded by superheroes. Franklin was an amazing man, no doubt, but this book is getting removed from my shelves post haste.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud with my son. This series, although dated, kept my son's interest and he enjoyed reading about what life was like long ago. He now wants to follow up with other children's books about Benjamin Franklin to learn more about his accomplishments as an adult.

[Jude Schifferer · Rating 5 out of 5]

By reading this book I learned Benjamin Franklin made many inventions like: the rocking chair, clock, bifocal glasses, and lightning poles. Ben was friends with Paul Revere and lived in Boston City.

[LaWindes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives lots of good stories about franklin's growing-up years. Almost nothing about adult life after he ran away to Philadelphia. Good insight into the life of apprentices in the 1700's. Ben was certainly a precocious child!

[GheenGirls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turtle: great! Return to library.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good and had good stories in it. I didn’t like it that much because it was filled with a lot of facts.

[Anson Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

READ ALL THESE BOOKS!!! I adore them

[Megdep · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, part of the series Childhood of Famous Americans, is a simple story about Benjamin Franklin when he was a young boy. His family, led by his candle-maker father, is a large one without a lot of money, but is portrayed as loving and warm. We learn that Benjamin was very bright when he was young, and his family didn't have a lot of money and couldn't afford to send him to school until his father got a contract to sell candles to the city. He is sent to a couple different schools, has all sorts of simple adventures and is even almost kidnapped by a sailor. The humor and scary parts are all very tame and suitable for a very young reader or listener.

My one complaint is that, in simplifying this story for a young audience, the author made the writing very monotonous--all of the sentences seem to be of the same length, and paragraphs are one or two sentences long. This is probably appropriate for a young reader getting used to chapter books, but it makes for a rather sleep-inducing read aloud story.

But the information about Benjamin Franklin when he was young is interesting, and the author manages to convey humor and an appreciation for Franklin's wits.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This easy read story helps us to understand Benjamin Franklin's hunger for knowledge. He wanted to know how and why things happen. He wanted to be proficient in as many lines of work as he could and did not want to be tied down to one occupation. As an apprentice printer, he found that he could help others learn through his writing. He used his experiences of his youth to become a author, scientist, inventor, statesman, and patriot.

[amusha23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin Franklin became a good printer. He was born in New England (as known as Boston today) somewhere around 1714. He lived with his dad, mom, Ben's brother James, and other Franklins. When years passed, a big wave of people in Philadelphia were at a dock to celebrate Ben returning home from Europe. Then, Ben became a famous person all across America, and all across Europe.

[Ms. · Rating 4 out of 5]

as you all know, this is all about Ben Franklin and his family.When ben was young,he was still very smart.In matter of fact,when he was in his40's, poeple said he was almost as great as great as George washington.If you want to find alot of info on Ben, look at this book!

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremly entertaining! my little sister who does not read ofter was loving this book so i sat down for an hour and read it. verry short and interesting to learn of the childhood Benjamin Franklin. I would recomend for any child to read.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this book in out Knights and Ladies of Liberty class. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book. A very easy read, but gives you a lot of ideas for games and activities to incorporate into a class of 11 kids.

[Angie Libert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nevada's sayings BEN Franklin is amazing book.sad that his parents were so protective and did not let him see the world.



favorite Quote
a man has to be honest
if he wants the respect of others

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about Benjamin Franklin! My son's book, we both very much enjoyed it. There was SO much information presented in a great manner, I couldn't put it down.:)

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember staying up all night and reading this with a flashlight when I was younger!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'd be curious to read this now, forty years after i originally read it. wonder what the history in the book is like, do remember that i preferred "ben and me".

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tought it was OK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cordellya Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informative book on the life of young Benjamin Franklin.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. I would have rated it 4 1/2. He ran away when he was 17.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it.

[Serenity Kosorok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book!!!!!!