Non-Fiction Picture Book Review: Benjamin Franklin: An American Genius

Benjamin Franklin:  An American Genius
Written by:  Kay Melchisedech Olson
Illustrated by:  Gordon Purcell and Barbara Schulz
Published by:  Capstone Press, 2006

* I recently picked up the first book in The 39 Clues series, Maze of Bones, by Rick Riordan, on audio.  We have all been listening to the story with interest, while driving in the car.  So far the book has focused a lot on Benjamin Franklin.  I thought it might be helpful and informative for my daughter if we read a biography about him.  I found this book at the library among several different bios that they had of Franklin.  My daughter has shown interest in graphic novels so I thought that this would be right up her alley.

This book is broken up into four chapters that highlight important parts of his life:  Printer, Inventor, Patriot, and Statesman.  Each illustrated box has a text box with factual information and then speech bubbles with character commentary.  I think the book did a great job of highlighting the important parts of Franklin's life, in a format that is easy to read and understand.  My daughter was able to make many connections to things we read about Benjamin Franklin in this book and things that were mentioned in Maze of Bones. 

This book is one in a series of Graphic Biographies published by Capstone.  They also have a series of books called Graphic History that focus on important events in history.  As the new Common Core Standards are being implemented in most states there is a greater need for children to read more non-fiction.  This series can help motivate the reluctant reader by presenting factual information in a fun and interesting format.

This was an informative book that my six year old daughter and I enjoyed reading.  We will definitely check out some of the other books in the series.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.