Who Is Steven Spielberg?

Who Was . . . ? Series

by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., Daniel Mather (Illustrator)

While other kids played sports, Steven Spielberg was writing scripts and figuring out camera angles. He went from entertaining his Boy Scout troop with home movies to amazing audiences around the world with epic blockbusters. He has directed four of the most successful films of all time and has won two Academy Awards for Best Director. From Jaws to Lincoln, young readers and aspiring filmmakers will be fascinated by the life of this famous director.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Biography Memoir, Jewish, Chapter Books

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 2013

About the author

I was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.

I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.

So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.

Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.

Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.

And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very impressive and prodigious life!

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Spielberg will always be one of my favorite directors. He made going to the movies during my childhood pure joy. He is an American treasure.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story of a life well lived!

[Grace Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Spielberg is a world-renowned director with big-hit movies like Jurassic Park, E.T, and Jaws. He knows what his goal is and puts lots of effort into it. At a young age, Steven is often in his bedroom writing stories and creating different characters, which built up his creativity. Steven’s parents gave him a camera, which helped him to explore filming and directing. He earned first place on filming at his school’s boy scout and “in that moment, he knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.” Steven didn’t just rely on his passion. He put great efforts into it. From an audience's perspective, a movie may look natural and real, but behind all the scenes, movie crews will always face some difficulties. Steven and his crew faced problems like storms, bad weather, props getting destroyed by the bad weathers and dangerous snakes and tarantulas. As the director, Steven has to figure out how to resolve the problems so that he can make sure the movie’s quality won’t get damaged and his crew will be safe. This book shows that Steven didn’t just find his passion for filming/directing and leave it there, instead, he put lots of effort into it to succeed.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love steven spielberg

[Madysenn Mcclure · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book , Who is Steven Spielberg by Stephanie Spinner, is about about a man who has made a bunch of amazing movies. He is an amazing author who has accomplished his dreams, This book tells us about the amazing man named Steven and he is the main character of the book. I reccomed this informative book becuase it taught me about Steven's incredible life.

[Reese Holsinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally read it in about 20 minutes. It was really good! Now I want to start making some home movies and watch every one of Steven Spielberg's films. All of them sound really amazing.

[Mary Keen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent youth book --i wanted to learn more after seeing the excellent biography supposedly mostly about his family --"the Fabelmans."

I learned a lot i hadn't known, eg how he moved from one type of movie to another, in this easy-to-read book, also suitable for adults, IMO. Interesting about his second marriage and his large family --and his insistence on getting home to eat dinner with his family.

Also how he reunited with his father, realizing that the divorce wasn't his fault, just an agreement with his mother to cause the least pain. The film covered the antisemitism he experienced.

The little sidebars are useful for kids to fill them in on historical background. I also appreciated the timelines, biography, and especially the "filmography" as i'd forgotten about all the films he made. Such a genius and also, it seems, a good person.

[Brandon Zimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good, I liked it. I love movies (who doesn't) so after I read this book I learned how one of the most famous film directors got his start. I've seen some of his movies and knew a little bit about who he is but I didn't know that he borrowed his fathers camera when he young. Steven Spielberg is a role model anyone can fallow if you dream big and never stop. In terms of vocabulary it was a little easy for me to read but that's just me. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes movies and wants to know how one of the greatest film directors got his start. The fact the Steven knew he wanted to this for the rest of his life when he was at a very young age in his life is incredible and that just shows how much he loves his job.

[Lindsey Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have see lots of the movies he directed, like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T, but I didn't know much about him before reading this book. I was very curious to find out how he fell in love with filming and directing movies. I had no idea that he moved so much as a kid, and felt bad for him because he would make friends and the have to move. I also felt bad for him when his parents split up, and his mother and sisters moved away. I think that it's cool that he made home movies and that his parents were very supportive about him and his filming. I was laughing when Steven explained how he left college so fast he didn't even clan out his locker. I'm so happy that Steven followed his dreams, because he has made some of the best movies I've ever watched.

[Amanda Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cool and eye-opening. I learned so much about Steven Spielberg reading this book. There is so much information that I didn't know that had me in awe by the end of the book. You learn a lot about his life and how he got his start in the film business. This book would thrive in my classroom because students that are interested in learning about famous peoples' lives or about specific famous peoples' lives would really enjoy reading this book. This book would be good for 5th graders. This book could also be done as a read aloud and we can discuss different events that happened in Steven Spielberg's life.

[Blake Pettit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another great book, and like the Stevie Wonder one, it opened my eyes to a lot of things about the life of Steven Spielberg that I had never heard of before. He is one of Hollywoods biggest names, but this book still taught me a lot about who he was growing up, and how his life went that led to him becoming as big of a deal in the film industry as he was. I would definitely have this book in my classroom because I am a huge fan of movies, and would like to share one of their biggest influences with my students as well.

[Shannonmde]

First win amateur film contest at age 16. — 20
As a teenager SS snuck off on tour of Universal Studios. — 22
The shark in Jaws is named Bruce after SS lawyer. — 38
Speaking about Jurassic Park “This was the first movie ever made where the entire success or failure of the story was dependent on these digital characters.” — 70
Graduated college in May 2002 from California State University Long Beach. — 87

Sydney’s biography project — February 2019
Also HBO Spielberg documentary

[Grazie Mille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Spielberg, I am in awe.



how has one person made so many excellent movies?!?!?

I also wasn't aware how big his family is. 7 kids! (this book is a little outdated with that info) one kid from his first marriage, 3 kids from his second marriage, 2 adopted kids, and also a kid from his second wife's first marriage.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It shows the progression of Steven from borrowing his first 8mm camera to becoming a famous film director. The book highlights his many accomplishments as well as showing the progression of the film industry. It is a good beginning book on the development of the motion picture industry that we know today.

[Prachiti Talathi Gandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across this series in the Library. This series is written for kids. Language is very simple, lots of illustrations and introduce kids to famous personalities.
In short, these are biographies of famous people, written in child friendly way.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if I'd keep reading these this year, since it was one of my goals for 2020. But I still have plenty that I haven't read, so I'm going to keep going. I really enjoyed this one and am inspired to watch some of Spielberg's movies that I haven't seen before.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Maybe it’s getting such a meh review because I was a little bored with it. Not super sure. Just out of curiosity, I looked up how many films he made (38). Out of those 38, I’ve only ever seen 3 all the way through. Most just don’t strike me as interesting or up my alley.

[Annemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are underrated as biographies in general. All the information you need to know, right in front of you snd all the important dates and events in such a concise space? Literally perfect for anyone needing to know a good but about someone quickly.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recommended this Who Is/What is series to many people, but this was the first that I have read. I only wish that it was published more recently because Spielberg continues to do great things! It ended in 2012/13.

[Jack Gabrielli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I watch a lot of movies in my spare time so it’s interesting to hear about one of the most well known living filmmakers. This book (and most of the Who Was…? series) would be a series I would happily keep in the classroom.

[Tj Frein · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think its a good book it explains how he started his carer i think it is a good book and you should read it

[Niko Houck · Rating 4 out of 5]

this a good fun book, and it might seem boring but its a real page turner, i recomend this to anybody.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did I not know he started DreamWorks with two other people?

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short biography of Steven Spielberg. It contains lots of information about his life and it is written in a fun way.

[Aidan Branch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Is an idol. Here is one of his words: "To change the movie perspective, tis of thee has to read the declaration of independence". (Page - 63)

[Zadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school, it was not somthing i would have picked on my own, but i found it extremly inresting.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We loved this one.