Walt's Imagination: The Life of Walt Disney by Doreen Rappaport

Walt's Imagination: The Life of Walt Disney Reviews

• 
  Calista

  Doreen does a great job with her biographies for kids. They aren't like Brad Meltzer who is aiming at a younger audience, these are meant for a bit older child and they are a little more serious. It is a longer story and she gives plenty of stories and facts about the man who create an empire on imagination.
  
  John Pomeroy does a great job of taking his drawings and then adding in Walt's beloved characters into the story in a whimsical way. It's a lovely dedication to Walt.
  
  Walt was a very hard worker and he wouldn't let anyone tell him he couldn't do something, he always found a way to make his dreams come to reality. Mostly, it all worked. I don't think I knew that he was in the Red Cross in WWI stationed in France. He was only 17. That is a new bit to me. He would draw his cartoons on tanks and anything to bring levity to those around him.
  
  I also find it so amazing that he made it through the depression. How did people have money to go see movies during that time, but he continued making movies. I mean he made so many during that time. His studio was a busy bee.
  
  I still love Disney and I love the studio's modern musicals. I can hear the first few notes to Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Frozen, or Aladdin and I can sing the whole thing. I would say that he helped to shape the modern world we now live in. He shaped our imagination and kids began dreaming big. What a gift to the world.
  
  The kids love Disney and so they thought this was long, but interesting. The book mentions the silly symphony of the 3 little pigs and that is one of my nephews favorite shorts to watch. He started singing with it. It also mentioned the skeleton Dance short, the 1st silly symphony and both kids knew that short too and had to watch it after that. The nephew gave this 3 stars.
• 
  Tara

  Walt Disney's life story is told in this picture book featuring long textual passages (which include actual quotes from Mr. Disney) and beautiful illustrations. The story begins with Disney's childhood in Marceline, Missouri and continues to his creation of Disneyland. The story mysteriously ends before Disneyland opens, Walt Disney World is even mentioned, or Walt Disney passes away. There are author's and illustrator's notes in the back, as well as suggestions for further reading in case you, too, realize the book didn't give you the whole story.
  
  My initial excitement for this book was quickly dampened as I started reading it out loud to my kids. Not only is the text fairly long, its also pretty dry and for all that--incomplete. The story ends so abruptly I can't help but suspect they've forgotten the last two or three pages. The only saving grace to this book is the beautiful illustrations. The writing leaves more than a little to be desired. And ending the entire thing with "Today there are twelve Disney theme parks around the world with many rides and stores" is insulting to the memory of Walt Disney and its embarrassing to realize the Disney publishing house is behind this.
• 
  Melissa

  A lot of info was given that I didn't know. My biggest complaint was how they explained he didn't have money for all the things he was making (even though they were winning awards) and then suddenly he was building Disneyland. There was something missing there.
• 
  RWaggoner

  Somewhere between a kid’s book and a biography, this book had lots of facts but not much magic. Like that it included Walt’s quotes. The other text was boring though- short, simple sentences and very little detail.
• 
  Katherine

  This condensed story of Walt Disney's life gives young readers a glimpse into his history. The illustrations are vibrant and keep the reader's interest as one travels through Walt's journey from boyhood to global success.
• 
  Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*

  Rappaport, Doreen Walt's Imagination: The Life of Walt Disney, illustrated by John Pomeroy. NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK. Disney Hyperion, 2018. $19. 9781423184706.
  
  BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL
  
  AUDIENCE APPEAL: EL, MS - AVERAGE
  
  Walt Disney's life story is told in this picture book featuring long textual passages (which include actual quotes from Mr. Disney) and beautiful illustrations. The story begins with Disney's childhood in Marceline, Missouri and continues to his creation of Disneyland. The story mysteriously ends before Disneyland opens, Walt Disney World is even mentioned, or Walt Disney passes away. There are author's and illustrators notes in the back, as well as suggestions for further reading in case you, too, realize the book didn't give you the whole story.
  
  My initial excitement for this book was quickly dampened as I started reading it out loud to my kids. Not only is the text fairly long, its also pretty dry and for all that--incomplete. The story ends so abruptly I can't help but suspect they've forgotten the last two or three pages. I feel like appeal for this topic will be high no matter what--people of all ages continue to be interested in and fans of Walt Disney--and the illustrations are beautiful here, thus the OPTIONAL rating instead of a NO.
  
  Reviewer: TC
  
  https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...
• 
  EMMANUEL

  I was first exposed and introduced a biography about Walt Disney in my junior year in high school. It was in my AP USA HISTORY class. I was shown the socially controversial animation. I didn’t care much of the “hateful” realities that it caused then, because it wasn’t relevant to my reality today. I couldn’t get myself to be angry about something that I had no clue or I understanding about. My classmates were so avid in being so socially conversed of the socially “unacceptable” products they Disney created than. It was “unethical” they would say. I would disregard what their whole social account was, because I didn’t have any clue of why they wanted to put that out for the people to see, and I still “don’t”. Until I definitively learn “why”... than cool. I learned. Quite honesty I don’t care. It doesn’t affect me in anyway. Keep creating animations Disney. Just stop with the trashy “live action films”. Your literally doing an injustice to Walt Disney by putting out such trash product. He always put out quality products. Shows that “imagination” is gone from the world, which means the world of Disney will be a distant memory of the near past.
• 
  Becky

  First sentence: Walt wandered the family farm and saw rabbits, foxes, raccoons, bobwhites, crows, and cardinals. He bottle-fed his favorite pig, Skinny, and rode hogs into their muddy pigpens.
  
  
  Premise/plot: This is a picture book biography of Walt Disney. Though Disney movies might appeal to young toddlers and preschoolers, this picture book biography is best shared with elementary-aged readers with a good-sized attention span. It is TEXT-HEAVY.
  
  
  My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I loved, loved, loved, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the illustrations. There is a lot of text--as I mentioned above--but it packed with interesting details and not tedious ones. I also love the inclusion of quotes. The first quote is shared on the opening end pages, "I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty." I think children's authors often have the same philosophy.
  
  
  
  They sure didn't publish biographies like this when I was a 'young reader.'
  
  
  Text: 4 out of 5
  
  Illustrations: 5 out of 5
  
  Total: 9 out of 10
• 
  Becky B

  A picture book biography of Walt Disney that covers his life from childhood to death, highlighting the highs and lows of his professional life.
  
  I like that this book did a fair representation of Disney. It admits that some people who worked under him didn't like the way he did things, gives credit to many unsung heroes who helped him succeed, but also celebrates his vision and major accomplishments too. It is fantastic that they were able to get a former Disney animator to do the illustrations. Pomeroy's illustrations meld a historical and Disney feel perfectly. Recommended to Disney fans and art lovers.
• 
  Jillian

  A nice book, but a bit dry and wordy - and it ends abruptly. It's almost like this is just the first half of what the author turned in, but the publisher decided it was too long and just tried to find the best stopping point for the page limit. (And the stopping point they picked is about merchandising, of course.)
  
  Also....why is the book....backwards? The title and author/illustrator information are on the back cover, and the front cover is just a portrait of Walt Disney with no text at all.
• 
  Jana

  For all the fans of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, here is a gorgeously illustrated biography of Walt Disney. I've loved all of the other biographies by Doreen Rappaport, and this one is awesome, too. This book takes readers all through Disney's life in a way that makes him so relatable. There is a time line and list of resources at the end of the book, making this an awesome nonfiction resource to have on the bookshelf.
• 
  Andee

  I adore Rappaport's Big Word Biographies and was so excited Walt Disney made the series. It is a very basic biography - but that's to be expected in a book written for elementary kids.
  
  The best part of this book, for me, was the illustration. John Pomeroy has his own story of following his dreams and that did lead to working for the Walt Disney Company. His drawings in this book are frame worthy. I'm glad this is I book I own rather than borrowed.
• 
  Sarah

  Walt Disney's life story for younger readers- I like that his imagination/cartoons are mixed in the paintings of his biographical life story- like his imagination is coming to life. I also like that every page has actual Walt Disney quotes. My favorite being: " I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us., whether we be six or sixty." Finally, I can stop making excuses for loving Disney :)
• 
  Rachel

  Decent kids biography, although a little dry. The alternate colored text for direct quotes from Walt was a nice touch and they are interspersed with the text in such a way as to seem natural, as though the author was having an interview with him and the reader was in the audience. The illustrations are beautiful.
• 
  Shelley

  Straightforward bio of Walt for kids 5-8. The art was lovely, with gorgeous nods to Walt's characters and families of all races depicted. I really liked how each page included 1-2 quotes from Walt about that page's information. Nice book.
• 
  Nicki Roller

  Biography, 2018
  As a Disney lover, this book was so fun to read and taught me new things that I haven’t known before about Walt Disney! The illustrations were also beautiful! I plan on buying this book to have in my own future classroom one day!
• 
  Kelly

  Kid friendly biography about the life of Walt Disney.
• 
  April

  a bit long and wordy for a picture book but very interesting telling of his life in business
• 
  Brenda Kahn

  Beautifully illustrated picture book biography of Walt Disney with nice backmatter.
• 
  Ms Threlkeld

  Packed with information and good balance of positive and negative opinions of Disney. The writing could’ve been stronger.
• 
  Amber

  3.5 Stars
• 
  Kelly

  This would have been a 5 star book, but the omission of Oswald brought it down to 4 stars.
• 
  Deb Shambrook

  This was a nice fun book to read. The illustrations are lovely. People of all ages would enjoy this book.
• 
  Camie

  Beautiful illustrations. Good overview but brief (meant for children).
• 
  Misbah

  A brief history of Walt Disney's life, from his simple beginnings and all the struggle and imagination that led to the empire we know today.
• 
  Leslie

  “Of all the things I’ve ever done, I’d like to be remembered as a storyteller.”
  I enjoyed this picture book biography of Walt Disney. Such an interesting, creative man who changed entertainment for children through his animated films. I grew up in Southern California and was lucky to visit Disneyland throughout my childhood and as an adult, too. I also remember every Sunday night having dinner at the card table in the den while we watched The Wonderful World of Disney.
  
  This picture book biography gives an overview of Disney’s childhood, getting started as an animator, and gives highlights of his many accomplishments. It also touches briefly on some of the challenges with the artists who worked for him. He was far from perfect, but he vision and creativity has touched so many lives.
  
  I enjoyed reading the backstory of the author and illustrator.
  
• 
  Anna Carpenter

  Genre: Biography
  Grade Level: 3rd
  
  When I was in elementary school I did so many projects over Walt Disney and his life- I would’ve loved this book! I remember watching documentaries, reading books and of course, watching all of his well known movies. I enjoyed that this specific book included his quotes on every page as well. Seeing Walts profess from when he was a young boy in Missouri, to making the first full length traditional animated film, to helping create Disney Land is so amazing!
• 
  Makaela

  I personally loved this book because I love Disney shows and movies. This goes through the beginning of his life from living in Missouri to becoming an illustrator. While he was a child he did daily chores on the farm. He then worked for his father delivering mail. He started drawing more and more. He then got into a school of art. He then started making drawings of Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney started a business. He made multiple movies. He even had help from a friend named Ub Iwerks. They start making movies with each other. They made movies that we still watch today. Snow White and Fantasia were the movies that we still watch.