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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I enjoyed reading about Fred Rogers and his life. Good insights into his childhood, career, and how he became who he was.
3.5 while I enjoyed the book, there were some parts that I skimmed. I felt the amount of detail given to certain people and or events was extraneous.
However, I lovedl Mr. Rogers as a child and my own children grew up with him. His dedication, gentleness, and kindness towards children definitely is explained in this biography.
However, I lovedl Mr. Rogers as a child and my own children grew up with him. His dedication, gentleness, and kindness towards children definitely is explained in this biography.
Mr. Rogers is well known and loved, but I enjoyed this book because it gives more detail on his background and how Mr. Rogers came to be who we know. The world needs a little more Mr. Rogers neighborly mentality and this was a good reminder of that.
This is a very comprehensive biography of the life and works of Fred Rogers. I have a very soft spot in my heart for Mister Rogers, and listening to LeVar Burton narrate this audiobook was just perfect. If you like biographies, check this one out. The world could use a lot more people like Mister Rogers!
This is an important book. Mr. Roger's influence on generations of children (and adults) is acknowledged, yet until now I don't believe he has been fully understood. Learning about his family history and upbringing makes his journey even more remarkable. This biography is incredibly thorough, almost too much so, at times the details redundant. It's a dense history of Mr. Rogers' legacy, and perhaps could have been condensed a bit to be more accessible to a reader with casual interest. The writing is concise and provides a positive, uplifting portrait of this wonderful man and all that he has contributed to our society.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
A worthy biography of a worthy subject, but it suffers a little from adoring repetitiveness and from the way the author acknowledges Fred's privilege but also exhibits a tone-deafness to the noblesse oblige element of the generosity he was raised in. It provides plenty of interesting background and insider details to round out your portrait of America's favorite cardiganned crusader. And you can read with no fear. You'll find that Mr. Rogers was exactly who he appeared to be — a careful and caring champion of kids and kindness, and a firm believer in the positive power of the neighborhood — and more.
This 5-star rating is purely selfish. I ADORE Mr. Rogers and his devotion to providing children with high quality educational television programming, as well as his intense focus on the social emotional development of young children. However, I was UNPREPARED in so many ways for the emotions I would experience while reading this book.
I opted to listen to the audiobook version of this book because it was read by Lavar Burton, another staple of my childhood, star of TV's "Reading Rainbow." The nearly fourteen hours I listened to this biography had me laughing out loud and crying on multiple occasions. I am sure the neighbors are worried about my emotional state as I found myself crying on my morning walks while listening to this biography. As a reader who prefers memoirs, as opposed to biographies, I found Maxwell King's story to be compelling and thoughtful, evoking the qualities of Mr. Rogers, so those of us who grew up with him at some point during his long television career, could feel like we could better knew the man who entered our living rooms during our preschool mornings.
Fred Rogers, the man, was just as compassionate and thoughtful as the Mr. Rogers viewers saw on TV. This story has inspired me to re-think the way I teach my Early Childhood Class, as well as the kind of person I am and the legacy I would like to leave behind as both a mother and an educator. Everyone should strive to be a "helper" in trying times, providing safety and structure to the most vulnerable in the world: children.
I'm going to need a hug now.
I opted to listen to the audiobook version of this book because it was read by Lavar Burton, another staple of my childhood, star of TV's "Reading Rainbow." The nearly fourteen hours I listened to this biography had me laughing out loud and crying on multiple occasions. I am sure the neighbors are worried about my emotional state as I found myself crying on my morning walks while listening to this biography. As a reader who prefers memoirs, as opposed to biographies, I found Maxwell King's story to be compelling and thoughtful, evoking the qualities of Mr. Rogers, so those of us who grew up with him at some point during his long television career, could feel like we could better knew the man who entered our living rooms during our preschool mornings.
Fred Rogers, the man, was just as compassionate and thoughtful as the Mr. Rogers viewers saw on TV. This story has inspired me to re-think the way I teach my Early Childhood Class, as well as the kind of person I am and the legacy I would like to leave behind as both a mother and an educator. Everyone should strive to be a "helper" in trying times, providing safety and structure to the most vulnerable in the world: children.
I'm going to need a hug now.
Great topic, not a great book. I was looking for something relaxing to read and figured a biography of Fred Rogers would be pretty inoffensive. It was interesting to read about the circumstances that created and shaped Mister Rogers, and I learned plenty I didn’t know before. Unfortunately, the book is too long by half. There is clearly a point where the book is finished, and Maxwell King starts aggressively inserting filler chapters to pad the book out. They’re unneeded, and they make the whole feel bloated. Additionally, King repeats certain pieces of information over and over and over again, in case you forgot since the last time he mentioned it. The book could have really used stronger editing. The worst part however is when he mentions that Fred Rogers didn’t want this book written, making me uncomfortably like I had violated his wishes by reading it. I’m going to guess based on the book, that he wouldn’t want me to feel that way though. Ha. I read the audiobook, which has an epilogue followed by an interview with the author. The questions offered in the interview result in the author repeating the information in the epilogue nearly verbatim. It was a perfect microcosm of the experience of reading this biography. 3/5