The Children's Book of Heroes

Rating:
Summary: My Kids are Enthralled
Review: Bennett has edited another fine book that introduces young children to values and charactor while making reading interesting.

This book of heros combines mythical and historical figures with everyday folk (moms and dads) whose actions and charactor speak to the better values that should be taught to children. The book is fairly accessible to ages 4 and 5 -- the gist of the story will usually be understood and there are enough new concepts / words to prompt meaningful discussion. The illustrations are rich and invite children into the story by providing an attractive visual introduction to each vignette.

Bennett continues to provide a great service to parents and children with the series of which the Book of Heros is a part.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Blend of the Old and New
Review: Bennett's compilation offers a nice mix of the very familiar (to older listeners) and the new. As a panorama of the many faces of heroism, the anthology works well dealing with duty, physical bravery, inspiration and integrity.

There were instances where the audio quality of the presentation tended to be a bit uneven, especially the difference between the volume of the musical breaks and the performers' readings.

Mr. Bennett's introduction, targeting the youngest readers, seemed redundant for older readers. The delivery by the female performers lacked some of the strength and vibrancy of the male performers.

Even though excellently performed by Mr. Scott, "A Prayer at Valley Forge" was by far the weakest of the stories. Strongest among the stories were "Knights of the Silver Shield", "The Minotaur" and "David and Goliath".

Despite some minor problems, the collection offers a good variety of stories that touch on the same moral lesson. Children should find it entertaining and instructional, while adults can enjoy the storytelling skills of fine performers retelling well-remembered tales.

Rating:
Summary: A must for all parents, forget the politics, buy the book
Review: Has the old with the new, learned along with my children, great book

Rating:
Summary: My kids really love these stories!
Review: I know some of these stories but not all. My 3-year old and 5-year old really sit and listen. They even ask questions about them later.

Rating:
Summary: My second grade class was enthralled with this book.
Review: I used this book as a read aloud in my second grade classroom and the children begged me to get it out each day. There was a great variety of genre and the stories inspired the students to aim for courage, duty, honesty and loyalty. Each classic tale was exciting and held the children's interest while providing a hero who truly was a positive example. The realistic, colorful illustrations were outstanding.

Rating:
Summary: More Cultural Bigotry from a Drug War-Criminal
Review: It's not surprising that Bill Bennett has ignored some of the more marginalized of society. Here's some folks YOU WON'T find in Bill Bennett's "heroes"

Saladin: who gave Christians in his domain greater tolerance than the Christians did the Muslims

Ashoka: whose (real) legendary beneficient government is sitll to be matched by the West

I could go on... but suppose, just suppose your "real mom and dad" is a child abuser.

Not all real moms and dads *can or should* be looked up to, and Bennett expresses is profound lack of humanity with such jingoistic nonsense. To suggest that simply because 2 people are have a contract that is ratified at an atavistic ceremony, and have sexual intercourse resulting in the birth of life human somehow makes them "heroes" (when in reality they may be *Republicans*) is obscene.

I wouldn't let my kid near this man's work.

But this isn't surprising- the policies carried out on his watch have needlessly imprisioned *thousands* of real people.

Now there's some heroes he could have put in- the people who are standing up to the tyranny created by Bennett's "War on Drugs."

Rating:
Summary: More Cultural Bigotry from a Drug War-Criminal
Review: It's not surprising that Bill Bennett has ignored some of the more marginalized of society. Here's some folks YOU WON'T find in Bill Bennett's "heroes"

Saladin: who gave Christians in his domain greater tolerance than the Christians did the Muslims

Ashoka: whose (real) legendary beneficient government is sitll to be matched by the West

I could go on... but suppose, just suppose your "real mom and dad" is a child abuser.

Not all real moms and dads *can or should* be looked up to, and Bennett expresses is profound lack of humanity with such jingoistic nonsense. To suggest that simply because 2 people are have a contract that is ratified at an atavistic ceremony, and have sexual intercourse resulting in the birth of life human somehow makes them "heroes" (when in reality they may be *Republicans*) is obscene.

I wouldn't let my kid near this man's work.

But this isn't surprising- the policies carried out on his watch have needlessly imprisioned *thousands* of real people.

Now there's some heroes he could have put in- the people who are standing up to the tyranny created by Bennett's "War on Drugs."

Rating:
Summary: An interesting mix of historical and fictional heroes
Review: William J. Bennett and Michael Hague, having teamed together to produce the national bestseller "The Children's Book of Virtues," now offer up "The Children's Book of Heroes," which celebrates heroic deeds, both historical and fictional, as appropriate inspiration for children. Certainly it is interesting to see the dozen-plus heroes, from Christopher Columbus and Jackie Robinson to the legendary Sir Roland to a young girl named Tashira, who are presented in this volume.

People might be surprised as to how few religious and political figures are included in this volume given that Bennett is the editor. For the former there are just the Biblical story of "David and Goliath," the story of "Father Flanagan" of Boys Town, and "Mother Teresa" as the epitome of the modern-day heroine. The only political figures, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, appear in episodes well before they each became president with "A Prayer at Valley Forge" and "Honest Abe" respectively. However, one of the better aspects of this book is that some of the stories and poems are not about famous people but rather about a mother ("About Angels"), dads ("Only a Dad"), and even how kids can be heroes by putting themselves on the line for someone they love ("The Hero of Indian Cliffs") and showing moral courage in order to avoiding temptation ("Our Heroes").

Because of my academic interest in mythology I was especially interest in the two classical myths that were selected. The story of Theseus and "The Minotaur" is given as an example of doing the right thing even when afraid of danger while the story of Oedipus and "The Sphinx" is used to remind us that heroes use their brains. This is certainly an interesting pair given what happens to each hero after their defeat these monsters: Theseus and Ariadne never make it back together to Athens and as for Oedipus, well, you probably know what happened to him once he became king of Thebes.

"The Children's Book of Heroes" does indeed present a diverse collection of role models, which at the very least, should expand a child's notion of what constitutes a hero. Each story begins with a brief comment on what the particular life lesson is from that story, for example Jackie Robinson represents "keeping your cool and doing the best you can in a bad situation," which arguably present values that transcend the ideological spectrum.