Skip to main content
Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Who is Bob Dylan

Who is Bob Dylan

by, Jim O' Connor, Illustrated by, John O'Brien
New York, New York, Grosset & Dunlap
102 pages, Chapter Book

As a product of the 60's, surrounded by HUGE fans of Bob Dylan, I felt it was my duty to review this children's biography of Bob Dylan.  I also hoped it would help me understand what makes him so interesting to so many people, and where the inspiration for his music came from.  I also really liked the drawing of Dylan on the cover

We learn that Bob was born Robert Zimmerman.  At an early age he became interested in music and taught himself to play the piano and the guitar, after just one lesson from his teacher.  He was inspired by artists such as Little Richard, with his flamboyant style and musical skill.  Once he became older, and went off to college, he spent as much time as he could honing his musical skills and becoming more well known around town.  As he became more famous, he became instrumental in the Civil Rights movement writing and singing songs, that inspired those fighting against racial injustice.  His famous song, "Blowin' in the Wind" is about those battles.  The meaning of the song, is that the answers we're looking for are sometimes right in front of us, if we just look.  After a life of writing music, performing and inspiring countless people, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2012. 

The biography is well-written for children, as it doesn't go into much detail, but gives enough information to make it interesting for the young reader.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...