Module 12: Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

Photo taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Boy-Out-Albert-Einstein/dp/054701435X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321125238&sr=1-1

Summary:

Albert Einstein did not have an easy childhood; he didn’t talk until he was almost three, he didn’t  enjoy socializing with his peers, had no interest in sports, and didn’t particularly like school. Albert Einstein really was the odd boy out. But Albert loved math and science and excelled at both subjects. This book tells of the struggles young Albert Einstein had to go through to become the great man of math and science he would someday be so famous for. 

Citation:

Brown, D. (2004) Odd boy out: young Albert Einstein. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Impression:

This book does a great job of giving a different view of Albert Einstein. The readers can see Einstein as an awkward and odd little boy trying to find his own way. This book is great for children who are also trying to find their own voices as it tells of a well-known and great man who struggled to find himself and succeed in a very unforgiving world. This book gives hope to those who dare to be different.

Reviews:

Brown maintains a delicate tension between his accessible presentation (a straightforward text and uncluttered illustrations) and his extraordinary subject (the legendary twentieth-century physicist). . . . Albert Einstein's early years were far from auspicious. Brown carefully and effectively summarizes events, choosing telling details to paint a portrait of an introspective child who struggles in school. . . . In the somber watercolor and ink illustrations, young Albert's physical separation from other figures emphasizes his psychological disconnection from the goings on around him (as do his almost-always-closed eyes). Brown introduces Einstein's famous theories with a light touch, keeping the focus on the boy/young man. The book's message about different ways of and approaches to learning is clear and will surely be appreciated by the intended audience. An author's note debunks a few myths surrounding the man and his work, and a short bibliography rounds out this inspired picture-book biography.

Citation:

[Odd boy out] [book review]. (2004). The Horn Book, 80(5), 604-605. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

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Brown (Mack Made Movies) shapes an impressionistic portrait of Einstein in his early years, opening with comments of family members gazing upon the newborn (his grandmother says he is "much too fat" and "his mother fears his head is too big"). Writing in the present tense, the author shares anecdotes that reveal young Einstein's character: his temper tantrums scare away his tutor; he brings "a single-minded attention" to such pastimes as building elaborate houses of cards; his parents so encourage his independence that they allow him to wander the streets of Munich alone at the age of four; and the boy early on displays an extraordinary skill at and fascination with mathematics (though other schoolwork bores him). True to the book's title, Brown emphasizes ways in which Einstein fails to fit in with his peers. He dislikes sports, is disturbed rather than excited at the sight of soldiers parading in the street and, as the only Jewish student in school, is taunted by his classmates. The writing occasionally becomes muddy when discussing Einstein's scientific thinking and discoveries ("He says that everything is in motion and when something moves very fast, as fast as light, strange things happen, like clocks running slower and objects becoming shorter"), targeting the book more to kids who identify with the hero's personality traits than to those interested in the man's ideas. But Brown's narrative and appealingly quirky pen-and-ink and watercolor art effectively illuminate the eccentricities and intelligence of Einstein the boy and the man. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Citation:

[Odd boy out] [book review]. (2004). Publishers Weekly, 251(42), 63. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com

Uses:

• Use Odd Boy Out as part of a display that highlights books about the childhoods of great people.
• Have an Einstein month at the library and watch documentaries about him and have a book club with both children’s books (Odd Boy Out) and adult books.