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sassychortle's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating! This is a great one for families who play monopoly. There's quite a story behind that game. It was sad to learn that what now feels like a tool to teach that you win when you have the most money and everyone else is poor was intended as quite the opposite. It was meant to show how unfair monopolies are and originally had a second set of rules that created a more fair game. Knowing this though, we've started to talk about that when we play and figure out ways we can share and help each other to stay in the game (the downside is I hate the game and it makes it go on forever that way!). There are more great discussion topics relating to intellectual property in this book! A+++
bibliothique's review against another edition
charles darrow can kick rocks. i do want to play the landlord's game now. a lot of my kids love monopoly because they enjoy hoarding wealth and winning over others lol. i'll have to read this to them and see what they think after.
wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
Really interesting history and love the back matter. Very text-heavy, so I can’t imagine using it as a read aloud.
kalynwebb's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very interesting. I didn't know anything about the creation of Monopoly, and I love that after Lizzie Magie created it people made it their own using their own pieces, boards, and even rules. I also didn't know the politics behind the creation of the game, which was fascinating and very relevant to the present. It's upsetting she was cheated out of so much money, and ignored for most of the games history. I'm glad this book tells her story.
kendallbridgete's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting to learn the history behind this game...even if I rarely play it (fun fact: haven't played it since the days my siblings and I had sleepovers at our grandparents' house) because it TAKES SO LONG TO PLAY!
maakbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really interesting picture book about the invention of Monopoly. I really enjoyed learning the back story and reading about the woman that ACTUALLY invented the game.
shayemiller's review against another edition
4.0
The Miller family happens to be full of Monopoly lovers. I'm not even embarrassed to admit that hubby and I brought a game board on our honeymoon and played a 4+ hour game in our fancy-shmancy honeymoon suite to kickstart our life together (nearly 25 years ago!). So I was very interested to learn all about the invention of this game and how it eventually became the format we know, today. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Magie witnessed the dramatic shift in wealth distribution in the late 1800s and created the original game board to highlight the unjust landlord-tenant relationship. Many people had a hand in adding small changes and improvements over the years and when Lizzie took her game board to The Parker Brothers in 1909, they told her it was too challenging and educational. Fast forward to the 1930s when a man named Charles Darrow heard about the game through some friends. He took the idea, made a few updates, sold a number of hand made game sets, and took it back to Parker Brothers, claiming to be the inventor. But what about poor Lizzie?! Ah, you'll have to read this one to find out. While it's quite text heavy for a picture book, it was fascinating and quite fair to all sides in the battle for ownership. The artwork in this book was created with crayon, ink, gouache, and pastel on paper. After scanning the drawings, the artist layered them into the final compositions using Adobe Photoshop, with additional coloring applied.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
mmattmiller's review
4.0
Cool history that I didn't know, and I think this would be an interesting conversation starter with kids! (I like that the author poses questions at the end to get this conversation going!)