Ben Franklin and His First Kite
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Overview
Ten-year-old Ben Franklin finds working in his father's candle shop boring — he'd much rather be doing experiments. He can't wait to try out his latest idea. With nothing but a simple kite, can Ben get across the pond — without swimming a single stroke?
Synopsis
Ten-year-old Ben Franklin finds working in his father's candle shop boring — he'd much rather be doing experiments. He can't wait to try out his latest idea. With nothing but a simple kite, can Ben get across the pond — without swimming a single stroke?
Sally Canzoneri - Children's Literature
Though billed as nonfiction, this is a fictional story based on an incident from Ben Franklin's boyhood. There is a good deal of dialogue that is obviously fictional. Moreover, the events differ from Franklin's own description of the day he used his kite to pull himself across a pond. In Krensky's version, young Ben purposely sets out to conduct an experiment using his kite. In Franklin's description, he was trying to amuse himself with his kite and enjoy swimming at the same time, when he discovered that the kite would draw him across the water. Aside from concerns always raised by presenting fiction as nonfiction, the approach taken in this book is troubling. Young readers would probably like the real Ben Franklin better than the rather know-it-all character in this book; they would also learn that scientific discoveries are made by close observation of everyday events as well as through planned experiments. This book is one of the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series and a Level 2 "Ready-to-Read" book. 2002, Aladdin/Simon & Schuster,
Editorials
Children's Literature
Though billed as nonfiction, this is a fictional story based on an incident from Ben Franklin's boyhood. There is a good deal of dialogue that is obviously fictional. Moreover, the events differ from Franklin's own description of the day he used his kite to pull himself across a pond. In Krensky's version, young Ben purposely sets out to conduct an experiment using his kite. In Franklin's description, he was trying to amuse himself with his kite and enjoy swimming at the same time, when he discovered that the kite would draw him across the water. Aside from concerns always raised by presenting fiction as nonfiction, the approach taken in this book is troubling. Young readers would probably like the real Ben Franklin better than the rather know-it-all character in this book; they would also learn that scientific discoveries are made by close observation of everyday events as well as through planned experiments. This book is one of the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series and a Level 2 "Ready-to-Read" book. 2002, Aladdin/Simon & Schuster,— Sally Canzoneri