Benjamin Franklin

December 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-In this volume in the series, Krull focuses on Franklin's passion for science and his drive to make scientific knowledge useful in everyday life. Despite the fact that his achievements as a statesman were more extensive ("a list of Franklin's political achievements would fill a bigger book"), he viewed science as his true calling. In a lively, even "gossipy," style, the author emphasizes Franklin's experiments-for example, investigating the flow of warm and cold air, electricity, health, optics-and the resulting useful applications-the Franklin stove, the lightning rod, the cure for scurvy, bifocals. Krull's forte is to connect what readers know with what they are learning. She tells them that Franklin was a "superb networker," making connections with the best-known thinkers of his day. In fact, he developed his own "information superhighway." Kulikov's pen-and-ink illustrations support Krull's friendly approach, showing a young Franklin being propelled across a pond by a kite and an older Franklin enjoying a bath in his portable tub while engaged in conversation. For teachers and librarians looking for text sets that discuss point of view or the style and organization of information, this book can be effectively combined with Robert Byrd's Electric Ben (Dial, 2012), Candace Fleming's Ben Franklin's Almanac (S & S, 2003), and David A. Adler's B. Franklin, Printer (Holiday House, 2001).-Myra Zarnowski, City University of New York

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2013
Grades 5-8 Certainly every school child knows of Benjamin Franklin as a founding father and statesman, but many are unaware of just how formative he was in finding solutions to some of life's most annoying and uncomfortable predicaments. In this latest title in the Giants of Science series, Krull explains the many ways that Franklin was the American manifestation of the European Enlightenment, putting his discoveries in clear historical context. Known as natural philosophers in the eighteenth century, scientists like Franklin specialized in the kind of theoretical thinking that could result in inventions to make life better, from lightning rods to efficient heating stoves. Krull celebrates Franklin's idiosyncrasies, the joy he found in scientific discovery, his worldwide infamy, and his admitted reliance on the scientists who came before him. While Franklin's life needs very little stylization to provide an interesting read, Krull manages to make perfectly clear just how much of a metaphoric lightning rod for theoretical thought and creative energy he truly was. Kulikov's hallmark exaggerated illustrations help make the material all the more engaging.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)