Customer Reviews

Leonardo Da Vinci: Giants of Science #1 (Giants of Science (Viking))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

One of the things I spend oodles of money and time on is previewing books for my kids. I so value books that can tell a story in something more than an informational tone. I thought this would be a promising book for my "middle" kids - out of picture books, but not ready for high school / adult material.

The write up above states ". . this book will change children's ideas of who Leonardo was and what it means to be a scientist." The cover has an attractive illustration, and I went for it.

I scanned the first 3 chapters, and they were well written for the upper elementary/middle school age group. Vocabulary was understandable, spacing of the type and size of print not intimidating. Then I got to Chapter 4, "Nothing But Full Privies" The whole chapter is about homosexual activity. "This was the office that summoned Leonardo in 1476. Someone had anonymously accused four men - Leonardo, a goldsmith, a tailor, and someone related to Lorenzo de Medici - of having sex with a male prostitute." There is further text on his story, what Florence laws and views were on homosexuality, and then, "Historians disagree about Leonardo's sex life, or whether he even had one. But most think he was probably homosexual. . . . Various writings show he shared the common male attitude of his time: women were less intelligent than men and full of "useless chatter." He described the act of procreation as 'repulsive.' Homosexuality was illegal . . . The authorities in Florence generally fostered a don't-ask-don't-tell policy. In fact, homosexuality there was so widespread that the German word for homosexual was Florence. But being discreet was crucial . . "

Okay, I already knew this, but . . . do my children have to get into THIS level of detail of Leonardo's history to understand why he was a Giant of Science?? I do read classical works to my kids without censorship, and there are references they may or may not understand. But they are not highlighted and focused on gratuitously. I have forgiven a passing, non-highlighted reference in some books that my kids don't even seem to notice. The Parrot's Theorem is an example of a book with a few adult references, but they are not so pronounced as to color the whole book for moderate families. I felt this book's chapter on homosexuality was WAY more than necessary and ruined this book for the purpose I purchased it. For a high schooler or adult, it may be appropriate, but do not hand it to your child unless you are ready to explain adult sexual issues in detail.

I DID find a WONDERFUL da Vinci book for the middle set that has no such references, and it is truly wonderful: Leonardo da Vinci: Genius Of Art And Science by Jennifer Reed.

I am a big fan of Kathleen Krull. She has written so many wonderful books, but LEONARDO DA VINCI is a book that I do not feel comfortable recommending or sharing.

In addition to focusing on some issues which might be controversial to introduce to a younger audience, the book lacks end notes or source notes to validate the material in the book. Although Krull is always using quotes, she never tells specifically where she is getting her information. A long bibliography is essentially useless for doublechecking facts since I have no intention of reading twenty books (two specifically speculating on Leonardo's sex life) to find out where she learned that Leonardo hated having dirty fingernails, for example.

Doing everything from dissecting humans to painting beautiful paintings, Leonardo da Vinci really was a man of wonder. Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in Tuscany, Italy. Throughout his life he had wondered about everything. He always kept everything he saw and observed in notebooks. He worked in art during his childhood and then mostly researched for the rest of his life. He did everything to gain knowledge including dissecting humans, looking at bugs, and staring at water for hours. After a long life, Leonardo da Vinci died in1519 at the age of sixty-seven. I liked this book because it contained many interesting facts, it included artwork, and it told of the many characters in Leonardo's life.

One reason I liked this book is that it contained many interesting facts. For example, Leonardo used to stare at water for hours until he came up with the theory that everything travels in waves. Another example, is that he dissected forty different human corpses in order to find out more about the body. Lastly, he wrote down everything he discovered in notebooks. At his death there were more than 10,000 pages. Half were lost throughout history.

Another reason I like this book is because it included vast artwork. For example, when the book said that he built a model of the solar system it included an interesting picture. Another example is that when it said that Leonardo used to buy birds just to let them go and study their flight, it included a picture. Lastly, when it said that he dissected bodies it included a picture of him leaning over a body.

One other reason that I liked this book is because it told of many characters in Leonardo's life. For example, the book described the characteristics of his mother and father. Another example is that the people he worked with were described. Lastly, all of his friends were described.

The last and most important reason that I like this book is that it covers Leonardo's life very well. This book has his birth date, his death date, the dates of most of his achievements, his friends, his parents, and his many interesting facts. I liked this book because it contained many neat facts, it included artwork, it told of the many characters in his life, and this book sums up Leonardo da Vinci's life up very well.

C. Copeland

My 8 year old read this for a school biography assignment. Told me he was confused about why Leonardo was thrown into prison. The book talks about how he was accused of having homosexual sex and how there was a special group which was formed to round up people accused of sex crimes. Thank you scholastic - I had been wondering how to broach the subject of homosexual sex with a boy who still covers his eyes when people kiss on TV. Don't buy this for your kids unless you want to have this special talk with them.

Reading a boring story is one step short of wasting one's time. Amusing, insightful and an ending that is truly the definition of 20/20 hindsight! Da Vinci himself was a misunderstood genius, waaaaaayyyy ahead of his time. This "biography" is a product of mature speculation and takes a reasonable stab at his life. Who would enjoy this book? Mostly people who enjoy Science and want to know more about the development of the field. Definitely some of Leo's lesser qualities rise to the surface, intertwined with a historical timeframe.

I find that, as a teacher, relating some of the bizarre assumptions in the field of Science (before it was even named), mesmerizes students. This book, however, is not for a student under 7th grade. If you're infinitely curious, it addresses: Homosexuality, menstruation, dead bodies and the study/dissection there of. The details of this subject matter are not too deep, mostly one or two sentences for the first two. The latter would be covered, but not grotesquely. All in all, it is an outstanding book, definitely a worthy read.

Please be careful before purchasing this book for elementary or even early middle school children. The first half of the book's topics of being illegitimate and homosexuality are absolutely not necessary for a child to focus on in order to understand and appreciate the art and scientific achievements of Da Vinci!

This book was purchased for my grandson who will be 13 this year. I found the book to be very interesting and hope that it will stimulate my grandson's interest in famous scientists and inventors.

Overall, we found this to be an excellent resource for our homeschool. The text points out much to be admired in this fascinating man - his skills of observation, practice of nature study, willingness to question and experiment. It did an excellent job of making frequent reference to OTHER people or events of the time, helping to tie things together in our children's minds. In other words, it wasn't just a good biography of Leonardo da Vinci; it was a good introduction to or overview of the Renaissance as a whole.

HOWEVER, with that said, the reason I didn't give it five stars is that a little bit of the content is very inappropriate for young children, in my opinion. The end of one the chapters (four or five) is several pages all about a lawsuit involving sexual allegations. Although matter-of-fact, it's unnecessarily explicit. There is one other, passing reference to da Vinci's supposed (but unproven) homosexuality later in the book, along with an incorrect statement that we don't know what purpose the appendix serves. (It's part of the immune system.) As a result, I wouldn't just hand this over to a student until middle school or later. I read it aloud to my children, though (9 and 4), and just reworded those parts when I got to them, so we could benefit from the rest of the book.

There are several books in this series featuring different scientists. We listened to this one on CD. Very well done... but this, unlike the others in the series, has caused some controversy. Some parents are not comfortable with the inclusion of Leonardo being accused of homosexuality and imprisoned temporarily. I was actually glad it was included; it gave me a chance to broach the subject in a healthy way with my son. I thought it was very tastefully handled. Kudos to the author for having the courage to deal with the subject matter in a respectful way and not shortchange kids from an honest and frank discussion of a difficult subject. (My son was 8, and he handled it well; though I think that will vary depending on both the maturity of the child and the comfort level of the adult reading the book. I personally think one of the advantages of broaching uncomfortable subjects with my kids is having the opportunity to walk them through it, and give them the chance to develop healthy skills for dealing with difficult subjects.)
I respect that some parents may feel differently, but I am glad that there are books like this on the market for the rest of us.

Again, my thanks to both the author and the publisher for making a decision that may not have been advantageous marketing wise, but added to the quality of the book!

Lest people get the idea that the book is all heavy or depressing material, on the contrary, the section discussed above is not long, and both my son and I found the book very inspiring. He now flocks to any information on da Vinci he can get his hands on, with excitement!

This could have been a great book if chapter 4 had been left out. There was some great and easily accessible information that would make it an enjoyable read for children from ages 9-14.

My daughter chose this book for her biography book report. She was extremely upset when she came upon the adult theme of homosexuality and didn't want to read past page 36, the 1st mention of the allegation. And to the previous reviewer, Colleen, you should have been more honest when reviewing...his alleged homosexuality and the investigation is the theme of chapter 4, not just page 38 as you said. This was very upsetting to my 10 year old daughter who didn't want to read about that kind of stuff. Why must children have to deal with these issues? This book is definitely NOT for middle grade age students! I'm very disappointed in the author's choice to include this in a children's book.