cover image Benjamin Franklin’s Wise Words: How to Work Smart, Play Well, and Make Real Friends

Benjamin Franklin’s Wise Words: How to Work Smart, Play Well, and Make Real Friends

K.M. Kostyal, illus. by Fred Harper. National Geographic Children’s, $16.99 (128p) ISBN 978-1-4263-2699-8

The team behind George Washington’s Rules to Live By returns to present 50 phrases coined by Benjamin Franklin that provide glimpses into his temperament, beliefs, morals, and intellect. Kostyal translates the sayings into contemporary language—“When you hang around with someone, their ways and ideas will rub off on you,” she writes, explaining, “He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas”—while using them as springboards to discuss Franklin’s life. In a chapter devoted to the theme of “resolution,” Franklin’s advice to “Learn of the skillful: He that teaches himself, hath a fool for his master” leads into a discussion of the custom of undertaking apprenticeships in Franklin’s day—in his case, learning how to be a printer. Harper works in an exaggerated cartoon style that balances the biographical and aspirational aspects of the book with big doses of physical comedy. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)