Ben Franklin, His Wit, and Wisdom From A-Z

Ben Franklin, His Wit, and Wisdom From A-Z is an unconventional nonfiction book that alphabetizes facts about Franklin’s life and splices them with the wisdom of Poor Richard’s Almanac. O’Brien employs ink and condensed watercolors in a muted color palette reminiscent of days gone by to create highly textured full-bleed, double-page spreads that are as rich and diverse as the subject himself and serve as a backdrop to vignettes and frames of text. Moreover, the informality of the text’s arrangement--weaving around and dallying with the illustrations--complements and extends the everyday wisdom proffered by Poor Richard’s Almanac. In conclusion, each opening’s wealth of detail encourages the reader to savor the beauty while warring with the subtle use of diagonal lines that urge a forward progression and results in the audience’s internal struggle to linger over the minutiae yet race to the end of this fascinating book.

Ben Franklin, His Wit, and Wisdom From A-Z by Alan Schroeder; illus. by John O’Brien
Intermediate
Holiday House
32 pp.
Published 2011
978-0823419500
$16.95
Alphabet Book

Comments

Decloaking Wakanda: Creating Space for BIPOC Nerds

On February 9, 2023, at the fourth Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC), I had the exhilarating experience of guiding a discussion that focused on the need to connect with nerd culture and create a welcoming environment for the BIPOC fandom. The soul of this session had been several years in the making and built on countless heart-to-heart moments. So, I couldn’t imagine a better venue for seeing it actualized than my first JCLC. Furthermore, for this session, I had the honor of being in conversation with fellow nerds and comics librarians Jean Darnell and Deimosa Webber-Bey . To my eternal amazement, our talk was met with a standing room only reception, and afterward we were repeatedly regaled with tales of being turned away at the door. In hopes of capturing a small portion of that day's magic, this post grew out of that discussion. *** For the past 30 years, BIPOC nerds have existed in the cringe-worthy shadow of Urkel. What if, instead, they’d had portrayals such as

Standing TALL: Choosing to Apply to the Texas Library Association's TALL Texan Leadership Institute

After having attended the Texas Library Association's TALL Texan Leadership Institute, another library worker reached out to me with questions about my experience. Below are the answers that I provided in response to her questions. *** Why did you apply to Tall Texans? Originally, I heard about TALL Texans as a new school librarian - within my first five years - and at the time it was described to me as an opportunity to gain meaningful leadership training in the field of librarianship that was specific to the Texas Library ecosystem. Thus, it was something that I'd aspired to for quite awhile. However, as time went on I made my way toward leadership without having attended the institute and began to second guess the value of the investment. However, when I mentioned to my supervisor that I was mildly interested in attending, she strongly encouraged me to apply - stating that not only would the library pay for my tuition but that she believed I would particularly benefit from

This Barbie is a Comics Librarian: My 2023 Comic-Con International Recap

Although we did NOT pull up in a pink convertible, Russell and I DID arrive in sunny San Diego mid-morning on Wednesday, Preview Night. After leaving the airport, we quickly dropped off our bags at the hotel and took the ferry over to Coronado Island for lunch and a cycling adventure. Since my fellow panelist—Jana Tropper—and I had coordinated Barbie lewks for a grand first time in-person meeting, Russell and I entertained the locals looking like real life Barbie and Ken on our day of leisure before launching into the heart of the fandom. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to connect with Jana until the following day. The next two days were a whirlwind of learning from and networking with my fellow comics educators and information professionals at the lovely San Diego Central Library. Thursday was full of library panels that ran the gamut from discussing libraries and the challenges they currently face to comics pedagogy; whereas, Friday was a parade of publisher panels showcasing a pleasa

CET Writes

Search This Blog