A Ben of All Trades: The Most Inventive Boyhood of Benjamin Franklin
What's This Book About
A rousing biography from Michael J. Rosen and Matt Tavares reveals how Benjamin Franklin’s boyhood shaped his amazingly multifaceted life. Young Benjamin Franklin wants to be a sailor, but his father won’t hear of it. The other trades he tries – candle maker, joiner, boot closer, turner – bore him through and through. Curious and inventive, Ben prefers to read, swim, fly his kite, and fly his kite while swimming. But each time he fails to find a profession, he takes some important bit of knowledge with him. That tendency is exactly what leads him to become the astonishingly versatile genius we remember today. Inspired by The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Michael J. Rosen’s wry tale captures Ben’s spirit in evocative yet playful language, while illustrations by Matt Tavares follow Ben from the workbench to the water in vivid detail. A love story to the value of variety, A Ben of All Trades sheds light on an unconventional path to greatness and humanizes a towering figure in American history.
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The Creatives Behind the Book
Michael J. Rosen has written or edited more than 135 books for children and adults, including The Hound Dog’s Haiku and The Maine Coon’s Haiku. A college zoology major, he finds that many of his books are inspired by his lifelong observations of animals. He lives in the Appalachian foothills of central Ohio.
Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of Crossing Niagara, Henry Aaron’s Dream, There Goes Ted Williams, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Growing Up Pedro, as well as Zachary’s Ball, Oliver’s Game, and Mudball. He is the illustrator of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Over the River and Through the Wood, Lady Liberty by Doreen Rappaport, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, and Jubilee! by Alicia Potter. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781536201215
- Publication Date
- March 17, 2020
- Publisher
- Candlewick Press (MA)
- Text Details
- The book was typeset in Caslon.
- Illustration Details
- The illustrations were done in pencil and painted digitally.
- Page Count
- 32
- Audience
- Picture
- Reading Age
- 5 - 9 years
- WorldCat Number (OCLC)
- 1109413331
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