A Child's Book of Wisdom

A CHILD'S BOOK OF WISDOM is a book of quotes specially edited for children. The book is very short (around 122 pages) and is divided into 12 different sections, ranging from quotes about "being kind to others" to those about "telling the truth" to "having fun" to "minding your manners" and to "words to the wise." The quotes are very short and come from a huge variety of sources: Sir James Barrie (the guy who wrote Peter Pan), Philo, Ben Franklin, Aesop, Samuel Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt, Davy Crockett, Babe Ruth, James Thurber, Aristotle, Barbara Jordan, Leo Tolstoy, and the Bible are just a few of the sources quoted from. Each section in the book includes a page introduction about the value being extolled. Also, almost every quote has a short sentence or two describing the person who said or wrote the quote. The book has only one flaw. The editor/author mentions at the beginning that some of the quotes have been slightly altered so that children can understand them better. I am totally against modifications like this. We underestimate children far too often and I though there are some things that they simply cannot comprehend, I don't believe we should dumb down other people's works. This is supposed to be a book of quotes, so it should have the original quotes regardless of the age group that the book is aimed towards. Despite this, the book is put together fairly well and would make a great small gift or stocking stuffer for a young child already fascinated by words.

I purchased this book, the only one they had, in a gift shop as a stocking stuffer for my 10 year old grandson who loves to read. After browsing through the book I felt the content was excellent guidance for children of his age and something he would keep and refer to on occassion. My husband was so delighted with the book that he carried the name and author for a year looking for additional copies for other grandchildren.