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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
What a great book!
What a phenomenal man.
King provides incredible background that helps explain Mr. Rogers being the way he was and why he was that way. Although being raised as an affluent upper middle class suburban kid from Latrobe, he was surrounded by love and support.
The absence of having to worry about finances allowed his mind to focus and formulate his life’s goal and purpose... creating a potent combination of music, television, a love for early childhood education and a persistent ability to stay in that childhood state.
A few of my favorite quotes:
Parenting is, in this particular order: flexibility, creativity, structure and discipline.
Attitude is caught, not taught.
For his part, Fred McFeely always made sure his grandson knew, directly and sincerely, how much he enjoyed his company. "Freddy, you make my day very special," McFeely frequently told the shy little boy, reminding him of his importance to the adults in his life.
The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away.
Early in the evolution of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rogers offered this definitive observation to a meeting of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry: “It’s easy to convince people that children need to learn the alphabet and numbers. . . . How do we help people to realize that what matters even more than the superimposition of adult symbols is how a person’s inner life finally puts together the alphabet and numbers of his outer life? What really matters is whether he uses the alphabet for the declaration of war or the description of a sunrise—his numbers for the final count at Buchenwald or the specifics of a brand-new bridge.
There are, essentially, two compelling reasons why I believe the reading public should care about Fred and his work: First, he recognized the critical importance of learning during the earliest years. No one better understood how essential it is for proper social, emotional, cognitive, and language development to take place in the first few years of life. And no one did more to convince a mass audience in America of the value of early education. Second, he provided, and continues to provide, exemplary moral leadership. Fred Rogers advanced humanistic values because of his belief in Christianity, but his spirituality was completely eclectic; he found merit in all faiths and philosophies. His signature value was human kindness; he lived it and he preached it, to children, to their parents, to their teachers, to all of us everywhere who could take the time to listen.
Fred Rogers never—ever—let the urgency of work or life impede his focus on what he saw as basic human values: integrity, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion, and of course his signature value, kindness.
What a phenomenal man.
King provides incredible background that helps explain Mr. Rogers being the way he was and why he was that way. Although being raised as an affluent upper middle class suburban kid from Latrobe, he was surrounded by love and support.
The absence of having to worry about finances allowed his mind to focus and formulate his life’s goal and purpose... creating a potent combination of music, television, a love for early childhood education and a persistent ability to stay in that childhood state.
A few of my favorite quotes:
Parenting is, in this particular order: flexibility, creativity, structure and discipline.
Attitude is caught, not taught.
For his part, Fred McFeely always made sure his grandson knew, directly and sincerely, how much he enjoyed his company. "Freddy, you make my day very special," McFeely frequently told the shy little boy, reminding him of his importance to the adults in his life.
The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away.
Early in the evolution of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rogers offered this definitive observation to a meeting of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry: “It’s easy to convince people that children need to learn the alphabet and numbers. . . . How do we help people to realize that what matters even more than the superimposition of adult symbols is how a person’s inner life finally puts together the alphabet and numbers of his outer life? What really matters is whether he uses the alphabet for the declaration of war or the description of a sunrise—his numbers for the final count at Buchenwald or the specifics of a brand-new bridge.
There are, essentially, two compelling reasons why I believe the reading public should care about Fred and his work: First, he recognized the critical importance of learning during the earliest years. No one better understood how essential it is for proper social, emotional, cognitive, and language development to take place in the first few years of life. And no one did more to convince a mass audience in America of the value of early education. Second, he provided, and continues to provide, exemplary moral leadership. Fred Rogers advanced humanistic values because of his belief in Christianity, but his spirituality was completely eclectic; he found merit in all faiths and philosophies. His signature value was human kindness; he lived it and he preached it, to children, to their parents, to their teachers, to all of us everywhere who could take the time to listen.
Fred Rogers never—ever—let the urgency of work or life impede his focus on what he saw as basic human values: integrity, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion, and of course his signature value, kindness.
This book seems so incredibly long to have such little magic that Mr Rogers shared with the world. Reading seemed more like a study than a leisurely look into his life.
It is incredibly calming and inspired to read more about Fred Rogers's life, about the things he went through and experienced, about his philosophies, about his value on kindness and compassion.
This book did it for me. It filled me with optimism, compassion, and a realization of just how good of a man Fred Rogers was and how important the causes he worked towards really are. I wouldn't call myself a huge Mr. Rogers fan by any means, but I do remember watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood at my grandpa's house on PBS when I used to go to his house after school. The Neighborhood of Make-Believe was always a magical place and the puppets were just mesmerizing. I distinctly remember the subtlety and simplicity of the show, but also how it made me so curious and attuned to what was happening on the screen.
Fred Rogers was a man who was completely devoted to everyone but himself. His life's work of providing exceptional education to children via tv and print media was a huge success. His high standards for children's television coupled with his strong morals helped to forge a career that reached millions and inspired children and grown-ups alike to be good people, to promote greater understanding and empathy, and to always encourage and love those around us. It really did make me step back and realize how important learning is to a child's development. Focusing on children is one of the most important things our society can do.
I think this book highlights Rogers' life perfectly, with attention being given to his early childhood and teenage years, a great emphasis on his career, and just enough about his personal life to keep the reader intrigued throughout the whole story. The sheer amount of individuals that King talked to and sources he utilized to make sure this record of Rogers' life was complete is astounding. I don't think there was ever a time where I wasn't interested in what I was reading. I must say, I looked forward to reading this book when I sat down to do so.
Whether you grew up watching Rogers' TV shows or you know nothing about the man, I think everyone will learn something from this book. Whether it rekindles memories of watching his show or inspires you to keep striving to be a more compassionate person, this book will be beneficial in some type of way, I promise.
Fred Rogers was a man who was completely devoted to everyone but himself. His life's work of providing exceptional education to children via tv and print media was a huge success. His high standards for children's television coupled with his strong morals helped to forge a career that reached millions and inspired children and grown-ups alike to be good people, to promote greater understanding and empathy, and to always encourage and love those around us. It really did make me step back and realize how important learning is to a child's development. Focusing on children is one of the most important things our society can do.
I think this book highlights Rogers' life perfectly, with attention being given to his early childhood and teenage years, a great emphasis on his career, and just enough about his personal life to keep the reader intrigued throughout the whole story. The sheer amount of individuals that King talked to and sources he utilized to make sure this record of Rogers' life was complete is astounding. I don't think there was ever a time where I wasn't interested in what I was reading. I must say, I looked forward to reading this book when I sat down to do so.
Whether you grew up watching Rogers' TV shows or you know nothing about the man, I think everyone will learn something from this book. Whether it rekindles memories of watching his show or inspires you to keep striving to be a more compassionate person, this book will be beneficial in some type of way, I promise.
Although I found myself a little bored at times it was great to read stories about Fred. I grew up on His show and learned so much from him. He was a father figure to so many of us who grew up without a father. May his legacy always be remembered. I will be purchasing the dvd collection to watch with my grandson.
Full of information but a little dry- wanted more insight on his feelings and mindset
Absolutely fantastic. The man was a visionary and amazing leader and friend. I very much enjoyed listening to more about his life and teachings.
I loved learning more about Fred Rogers, but this book was pretty repetitive.
When I heard there was going to be a Mister Rogers biography released, I was eagerly anticipating it. I, like so many others, grew up with Mister Rogers and his make believe friends. I now get the renewed joy of hearing his songs and messages reworked as my small children are all big fans of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Still, I didn’t really know much about Rogers as a person, so this biography was illuminating.
If anything, this made me love Mister Rogers even more. To know that he was as genuinely good a person as he came across on TV made me so happy. I didn’t know that I would care about his early life, (especially in this amount of detail) but I was engaged completely from prologue to epilogue.
The one negative about the book as a whole was the repetition of certain sections. I would read a paragraph and remember that I had read (what seemed like) that exact same paragraph a few chapters before. As I read an ARC, hopefully this will be less of an issue in the final copy.
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
If anything, this made me love Mister Rogers even more. To know that he was as genuinely good a person as he came across on TV made me so happy. I didn’t know that I would care about his early life, (especially in this amount of detail) but I was engaged completely from prologue to epilogue.
The one negative about the book as a whole was the repetition of certain sections. I would read a paragraph and remember that I had read (what seemed like) that exact same paragraph a few chapters before. As I read an ARC, hopefully this will be less of an issue in the final copy.
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.