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Rosen, Michael J.

A Ben of All Trades: The Most Inventive Boyhood of Benjamin Franklin

32 pp. | Candlewick | March, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-0121-5 $16.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Matt Tavares. Before the bifocals, the lighting rod, the ambassadorship, and all the rest of his many accomplishments, Ben Franklin knew precisely what he wanted to be when he grew up: a sailor. As a child, he spends his time reading and improving his swimming skills in the nearby Mill Pond and Charles River; Tavares's expansive illustrations show him testing his handmade paddles and even being pulled through the water by a wind-filled kite, like a human sailboat. Having lost one son to the sea, Ben's father emphatically refuses to entertain such a course for him and introduces him to a number of different trades. But each is too repetitive, and none appeals to Ben. Ben's face shines with joy when he is in the water but turns solemn while he's at work he considers boring. Finally having run out of his father's options, Ben signs on as a journeyman in his brother's print shop, where the work suits him because of its variety and allows him to blossom into his later roles. "Not one job was exactly like the one before, but he excelled at each career by applying the diverse knowledge he'd gained and the insightful curiosity that seemed insatiable." This historical-fiction picture book (Rosen was "inspired by Franklin's Memoirs" and "worked to open out Franklin's brief recollections in order to compose a realistic story you would enjoy") is appended with a historical note, author's and illustrator's notes concerning their processes, and a brief bibliography.
Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

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