Customer Reviews

The Man Who Made Parks: The Story of Parkbuilder Frederick Law Olmsted

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The Man Who Made Parks is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book for children. It tells the story of a brilliant and complicated man in words that children can understand. Olmsted's love of nature, his childhood illness, his mixed feelings about school, and the convoluted path that led him to his special place in American history are all described in the book, as well as his triumph in Central Park and much of what came after that. Mary G. Dabbs marydabbs@hotmail.com

The Man Who Made Parks is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book for children. It tells the story of a complicated man who found his way into American history by way of a convoluted path, but it tells the story in words that children can understand. Olmsted's love of nature, his health problems, his mixed feelings about school, and the difficulties he had finding his special calling are all covered in the book, as well as his triumph in Central Park and some of the highlights of what came after that. Mary G.

For some reason, I'm not sure why, I expected this book to be uninteresting. I knew who Olmsted was and read some of his works and walked through some of the parks he built. But for whatever reason, I thought a children's book on the subject wouldn't be interesting. I was wrong, wrong, Wrong! This is a story that children (and adults) will find very interesting, with a sympathetic hero and great information about the times he lived in, including why people needed parks and why Frederick Law Olmsted wanted to build them. The "beating green hearts" that Olmsted built do live on.

Instead of once again summarizing the contents of Wishinsky's book, which I would highly recommend I prefer to convey this addendum.
My own life seems to have revolved around the architecture of this gentleman of whom this delightful comprehensive book is composed. Do peruse the following:

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