Extraordinary People: A Semi-Comprehensive Guide to Some of the World's Most Fascinating Individuals by Michael Hearst

Extraordinary People: A Semi-Comprehensive Guide to Some of the World's Most Fascinating Individuals Reviews

• 
  Kelli

  My kids are going to be tired of talking to me by the end of the month. It seems every book I bring home from the library lately is determined by their current interests and be it art, Star Wars, or this cool book that I couldn't walk away from, all are encyclopedic with a lot of room for discussion. This book is a random assortment of people that the author found extraordinary. With quizzes and unexpected stories, my kids fought over who was bringing it to bed each night...and this was after I read it to them cover to cover...more than once.
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  Shara Vitone

  I didn't realize this was a book for young readers since I checked it out in digital format. Despite this, it was a fun read full of interesting people. Many I had never heard of and some I only knew their names but was fascinated to learn more about their amazing stories. I've been trying to incoporate more biographies into my reading and this gave me some great ideas on who I would be interested in learning more about.
• 
  Christiane

  This was popular on my school visits. Brief, easy to read, short biographies of famous people. Really remarkable illustrations. I love that alongside well-known people there were also biographies of people I had never heard of like Edward Leedskalnin, Sergei Korolev, and Stagecoach Mary. Recommended!
• 
  Ms Threlkeld

  Really interesting information about a variety of accomplished individuals, from sports figures to scientists to writers. The text is accessible to upper elementary and middle school students, who will also enjoy the full-page illustration of each person and the trivia included under each biography. This is the kind of book that's fun to flip through and read a handful of pages at a time.
• 
  Heather

  fabulous book
• 
  Kristen

  I think some of the humor in here is not really kid humor and isn't really aimed at the intended audience, but overall these brief, page-long biographies of extraordinary people are fun and interesting. There's a good mix of people I'm guessing kids will have heard of and others (a lady pirate! the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie! the guy who [invented? or discovered?] the escape fire) that will be less familiar. I will definitely bring this on school visits--it's got some great little nuggets of information to share with the kids that I think will fascinate them.
• 
  Christy

  Inside this book, you'll find stories of 50 extraordinary people such as:
  
  Evel Knievel, who jumped his motorcycle over 14 Greyhound buses
  
  The Iceman, the most well-preserved human, found in the ice after 5,300 years
  
  Sam Patch, who jumped Niagara Falls for $75
  
  Helen Thayer, who walked to the North Pole alone
  
  Roy Sullivan, who was struck by lightning 7 times
• 
  Kermit

  
  4.4 stars
  
  So many interesting people from all walks of life and all periods of time. Fun to read. I liked all 3 books in this author's Uncommon Compendiums series.
• 
  Melissa Williams

  A fun non-fiction read. I learned about people who I probably should have known before now! Good for trivia night too.
• 
  Artie

  Targeted for kids but you'll learn new things about people you were familiar with and discover new people to learn more about.
• 
  Matthew

  For what it is, this should be available to All kids to read and a sort of inspiration to be extraordinary.
• 
  Siti

  Love the humour.
• 
  Theophilus (Theo)

  OK. I started this book knowing it is a children's book. I was however, I was disappointed in some of the selections as "extraordinary" people who I might consider daring or good. My definition of "extraordinary" differs from that of the author in some respects and agree on many. I was hoping to see Jackie Robinson, a multi-sport athlete and activist, rather than Deion Sanders. I thought Dr. Mae Jemison should have made the cut. No Joan of Arc? Why not Aitazaz Hassan Bangash in stead of Evel Knevel? No way I would have left Mohandus Karamchand Ghandi off of my list. Opinions vary though. For the most part there are some very extraordinary people in the book. There are many more who were omitted.
• 
  Rebecca

  Good booktalker w/great large-scale portrait illustrations. As the author notes, "extraordinary" is not necessarily the same as "role model." Lots of discussion potential here. Look at Bobby Fischer, p. 38, and his "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" columns. There are people most kids will know (Benjamin Franklin, Harry Houdini) as well as some they probably won't (Minakata Kumagusu, p. 68 -- a great chance to show a video of
  slime mold).
  
  Also of interest: Bruce Lee, p. 70 (everyone thought he was Jackie Chan)
  Ruth Wakefield, p. 104 (chocolate chips were invented by accident!)
• 
  Julia Mcknight

  My 11-year-old daughter read this book over and over again. We borrowed it from the library and renewed multiple times, even took it back and borrowed it again. She loves to read it on her own and it's also fun to read together. Makes for great bedtime reading with your school-age child. Each extraordinary person has a full colour two-page spread with a brief bio and bite-sized factoids. The illustrations are fantastic and will appeal to all ages. Very interesting and engaging stories that go back centuries as well as include contemporary figures.
• 
  Jamie

  What a great example of a collective biography that is engaging and dynamic and to the point. This is going to be an awesome addition to the 7th grade Humanities "agents of change" project for which we won an LBSS Read for Information grant.
• 
  Ally Goodwin

  The selection of people was diverse and interesting. I enjoyed learning more about some people I knew. Plus i met quite a few new people i liked.
  The only negative i have about this book is that the author, Michael Hearst, used many patronizing comments in an effort to be humorus.
• 
  Rebecca Saxon

  A fun book that profiles fascinating people. It spans human existence and is very international. A great diverse selection of neat people.
• 
  Debrarian

  Fun, almanacky format in an informal voice, with goofy poems and quizzes thrown in. Much heavier on men than on women.
• 
  Donalyn

  A diverse, odd collection of noteworthy people throughout history.
• 
  Lynn

  Very interesting presentation, but the illustrations don't do justice to the information.
  I enjoyed the little quizzes.