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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
When I was a little boy, before I knew I was a little boy, I was a neighbor. Ever the painfully rigid kid, I knew it didn’t matter that I was inside my great great grandmother’s living room. It didn’t matter that she had actual tangible neighbors and my neighbors were the furniture in this space. When Mister Rogers addressed his neighbor, I felt directly spoken to. It was one of the few times I remember not feeling self conscious for doing something that could have been thought of as silly. In this room during this time, it didn’t matter. I also remember it was one of the few times I ever felt myself. I wasn’t someone’s kid or sibling here - I could be just me with no job. I’d never had that and I still feel like I never have had that like I did in front of the tv.
My network of providers was filled with different folks - grandparents, great great grandparents, parent, aunts. Anyone who could help usually did. There was a lot of movement, a lot of frustrations, and not a lot of money. As an adult, I can sympathize with the frustrations that must have been felt. At the time though, all I knew was that I was a kid nobody really had time for. Anything involving me was something that had to be accounted for. Someone had to pick me up and bring me somewhere for someone else to watch me. Someone had to feed me. Someone had to pay for me. When you’re carted around as a responsibility, it’s hard not to feel that personally. Long way to say - I didn’t feel like anyone was slowing down and talking to me. I didn’t feel like anyone was taking the time to consider me. There certainly wasn’t an abundance of patience, except for here - in the neighborhood.
This has been the first time since I’ve been young that I’ve revisited such a significant piece of media from my formative years. It cracked me open much more than I thought it would. I chose to listen to the audiobook thinking it would be good background while at work. I didn’t expect it to be narrated by LeVar Burton and I didn’t expect them to open the book with the theme song from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. They also closed the book that way, and I did cry both times. I talked to my therapist about how I had such an uncontrollable reaction to the audio I hadn’t heard in years. It was the first time outside of concerted therapeutic effort that I felt connected to my younger self.
I could say a million things about this book but I think if you’ve ever had anything touch your heart as a kid, anyone who believed in you, give this a listen. I think the audio gives a little something else special and I think it’ll remind you of who you used to be before things got so adult. If you take the time, it’ll also remind you that you can go back if you slow down and take the time.
I miss my grandmother, who is no longer with me. I miss Fred Rogers, who is no longer with us. I miss my younger self, who I know is still in there somewhere. This helped me peak at all of that. It felt like holding a shell up to your ear and hearing the ocean of the past and having a good cry.
I LOVED Mr. Roger's Neighborhood as a kid. When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed! Mr. Rogers was the real deal. What you saw is what you got with him. It was a privilege to learn more about him.
Mr. Roger's goodness had me tearing up during many parts of this book. His message of kindness and believing the best in people is more important now than ever. I was impressed with his generosity of spirit and his love for children.
One of my favorite stories was how after talking on the phone to a child who was about to have surgery, he then decided to fly out to see her after her surgery. I also loved that he gave $100 to a person after witnessing that person getting beat up. He then related this important message, "I want you to know that somebody loves you."
I was very impressed by his great kindness in thinking of others as he suffered from cancer. So much of his goodness was through daily little acts. I loved that he took pictures of people instead of giving them an autograph and how he thoughtfully responded to fan mail. His work ethic was incredible.
This would easily be a five star book if not for the writing, which wasn't great. There was lots of repetition and a lack overall. One thing I did appreciate is that it was clear that Maxwell King thought the world of Mr. Rogers and that made up for some of the weak writing. It makes me sad because I think you would have to already be a fan of Mr. Rogers to slog through some of this. I'm glad that I did because I left the book feeling inspired to be a better person, to be more like Mr. Rogers.
4 Stars
*I read a little over 30% of this last year with my eyeballs. I picked up the audiobook this year and was ecstatic that LeVar Burton was the audiobook narrator. PERFECTION! The nostalgia was on full blast.
Mr. Roger's goodness had me tearing up during many parts of this book. His message of kindness and believing the best in people is more important now than ever. I was impressed with his generosity of spirit and his love for children.
One of my favorite stories was how after talking on the phone to a child who was about to have surgery, he then decided to fly out to see her after her surgery. I also loved that he gave $100 to a person after witnessing that person getting beat up. He then related this important message, "I want you to know that somebody loves you."
I was very impressed by his great kindness in thinking of others as he suffered from cancer. So much of his goodness was through daily little acts. I loved that he took pictures of people instead of giving them an autograph and how he thoughtfully responded to fan mail. His work ethic was incredible.
This would easily be a five star book if not for the writing, which wasn't great. There was lots of repetition and a lack overall. One thing I did appreciate is that it was clear that Maxwell King thought the world of Mr. Rogers and that made up for some of the weak writing. It makes me sad because I think you would have to already be a fan of Mr. Rogers to slog through some of this. I'm glad that I did because I left the book feeling inspired to be a better person, to be more like Mr. Rogers.
4 Stars
*I read a little over 30% of this last year with my eyeballs. I picked up the audiobook this year and was ecstatic that LeVar Burton was the audiobook narrator. PERFECTION! The nostalgia was on full blast.
I'm giving this a 5 because it's Mr. Rogers. I thought the writing was kind of clunky and didn't flow well. I'm surprised the author was a journalist
I haven't gotten around to seeing Won't You Be My Neighbor, a 90-minute documentary on Rogers' life, but I have made the time (while doing other things) for this 14-hour audiobook on the same topic. Life is weird. I have the movie on hold, don't worry, guys.
The book is pretty decent, with a few strange Fun Facts to Share: Rogers was part owner of the Vegetarian Times magazine! He weighed 143 pounds every day of his adult life! His non-profit production company was required to pay him more money than he wanted to be paid, for tax purposes! His sons and my husband attended the same elementary school (not at the same time)!
Mostly there's nothing hugely surprising here. Rogers was a good dude who did good things, was a little strange/wacky/unusual in various life situations, was selfless to the very end, changed a lot of lives. I'm not sure I needed 14 entire hours of audiobook to tell me that, but I didn't mind it, because the narrator is LeVar Burton and when he tells me the exact same story twice in a row I'm just like, well, that's all right, I guess.
I'm definitely glad I listened to this, but now I'm even more interested in watching the documentary, if only to see if it gets the same job done in less time.
P.S. An accomplishment: I had to make a "biography" shelf to put this book on because apparently I haven't read one in the nine years I've been on this site. Will that shelf ever have two books?
The book is pretty decent, with a few strange Fun Facts to Share: Rogers was part owner of the Vegetarian Times magazine! He weighed 143 pounds every day of his adult life! His non-profit production company was required to pay him more money than he wanted to be paid, for tax purposes! His sons and my husband attended the same elementary school (not at the same time)!
Mostly there's nothing hugely surprising here. Rogers was a good dude who did good things, was a little strange/wacky/unusual in various life situations, was selfless to the very end, changed a lot of lives. I'm not sure I needed 14 entire hours of audiobook to tell me that, but I didn't mind it, because the narrator is LeVar Burton and when he tells me the exact same story twice in a row I'm just like, well, that's all right, I guess.
I'm definitely glad I listened to this, but now I'm even more interested in watching the documentary, if only to see if it gets the same job done in less time.
P.S. An accomplishment: I had to make a "biography" shelf to put this book on because apparently I haven't read one in the nine years I've been on this site. Will that shelf ever have two books?
I feel so much better about the world. I feel like it’s possible to root everything in kindness. Thank goodness this man existed. I just feel… so… GOOD. GAH. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
What should I say about this book? It is well worth the read if you have the time and the patience. Meaning no offense to the author, I found myself struggling through some of the background and repetition. However, I also found myself using over thirty bookmarks from the middle of the book forward. Reading this biography as a mama, an educator, and one of Mr. Rogers's "television friends" all grown up, I remembered to like people just the way they are and most definitely the importance of slowing down. It is hard to say who I learned the most about from this book...Fred Rogers, people in my life (past and present), myself, or the me that is yet to be.