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Publication Date: August 31, 2010 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Did you know that what you do today can change the world forever?
The Boy Who Changed the World opens with a young Norman Borlaug playing in his family’s cornfields with his sisters. One day, Norman would grow up and use his knowledge of agriculture to save the lives of two billion people. Two billion! Norman changed the world! Or was it Henry Wallace who changed the world? Or maybe it was George Washington Carver?
This engaging story reveals the incredible truth that everything we do matters! Based on The Butterfly Effect, Andy’s timeless tale shows children that even the smallest of our actions can affect all of humanity. The book is beautifully illustrated and shares the stories of Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, Vice President Henry Wallace, Inventor George Washington Carver, and Farmer Moses Carver. Through the stories of each, a different butterfly will appear. The book will end with a flourish of butterflies and a charge to the child that they, too, can be the boy or girl who changes the world.
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Hailed by a New York Times reporter as “someone who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,” Andy Andrews is a best-selling novelist, speaker, and consultant for the world’s largest corporations and organizations. He has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents and recently addressed members of Congress and their spouses. Andy is the author of three New York Times bestsellers. He and his wife, Polly, have two sons.
Product Details
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson; Gift edition (August 31, 2010)
What could this one man possibly have to say that is important enough for the Commander of the Allied Air Forces to ask his help? Why did every senior leader the United States Air Force has in Europe and the Middle East recently assemble in one room at one time to hear him speak?
Who is this man, that he would walk the golf course with Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez as she played her last tournament as a touring professional? Why was he invited to spend an afternoon with General Norman Schwarzkopf and his son, who was about to depart for college? What would he be asked to discuss with a ninety-one-year-old Bob Hope alone by the swimming pool in the entertainer's back yard?
Hailed by a New York Times writer as a 'modern-day Will Rogers who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,' Andy Andrews is an internationally known speaker and novelist whose combined works have sold millions of copies worldwide. He has been received at the White House and has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents.
Andrews'best-selling book, The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success, is an international sensation, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for four and a half months and being translated into nearly twenty languages. Featured on ABC's Good Morning America as a book-of-the-month selection, The Traveler's Gift is the stunning story of one man's search for meaning and success in life by traveling back into time and conversing with seven historic individuals. Its message of hope, faith, and perseverance is transforming thousands of lives worldwide every day, spawning a teen version, The Young Traveler's Gift; The Traveler's Gift Journal; a home study audio program, Timeless Wisdom from the Traveler; and life-study curriculum's in high schools, mental-health organizations, and prisons nationwide.
Andrews lived a relatively normal life until the age of nineteen, when both his parents died, his mother from cancer, his father in an automobile accident. 'I took a bad situation and made it much worse,' Andrews says with a rueful smile, referring to choices he made during this tragic period of his life. Within a span of several years, the young man found himself literally homeless (before that was even a word!' he says), sleeping occasionally under a pier on the gulf coast or in someone's garage.
It was at that time when Andrews asked the question that would focus his search for what would ultimately affect millions of people. The question? 'Is life just a lottery ticket, or are there choices one can make to direct his future?' To find the answer, he first went to the library. There, over time, he read more than two hundred biographies of great men and women. How did they become the people they were? he wondered. Were they simply born this way? Or were there decisions made at critical junctures in their lives that led to such success? The young Andrews finally determined that there were seven characteristics that each person had in common. 'What will happen,' he mused, 'if I study these seven common denominators and harness them in my own life?
The rest is history. 'The Seven Decisions,' as he calls them, were the engines used to carry Andrews' life in a different direction. And twenty-plus years later, these same Seven Decisions became the outline around which he built the story of The Traveler's Gift and the basis of his PBS Special.
- Andy's Latest Work -
Since the success of The Traveler's Gift and Mastering the Seven Decisions, Andrews has released an array of well-received literature, including the New York Times bestseller The Noticer. Offering a fresh and insightful perspective on how people can change their view of the world, and their place within it, The Noticer has succeeded tremendously in furthering Andrews' prevailing message of finding hope in the face of adversity. Based on the remarkable true story of Andrews' own life, the book teaches its readers that, "Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective."
Released in the same year, Return to Sawyerton Springs features Andrews' trademark wit and humor as he weaves tales around an enchanting town that can be found in the hearts of those who long to take a deep breath, relax, and find time for the humor and meaning in everyday life. "I dare you to read the first chapter aloud to a friend and not fall on the floor laughing," said Mark Victor Hansen, creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. By reflecting on the seemingly ordinary aspects of everyday life, Andrews reveals them for what they truly are--extraordinary aspects of something much greater.
Released in 2010, The Heart Mender has created a stir in literary circles. Elegantly blending a riveting story, extensive research, and a powerful message of hope, the novel is a true adventure set against the warm waters and white sand of the America's Gulf of Mexico during World War II. Lieutenant Josef Landermann is a German U-Boat officer betrayed and left for dead. When he washes ashore in a sleepy coastal town, he looks to a young war widow for survival. Robert Silvers, executive publisher of The Saturday Evening Post calls The Heart Mender an "unforgettable experience."
2010 also saw the release of two more books, The Butterfly Effect, a book exploring a scientific theory based on physics within the context of our own lives, and The Boy Who Changed the World, Andrews' first children's book. The Butterfly Effect shows readers that every action, however big or small, matters. Andrews accomplishes this by introducing historical examples that illustrate how one person can set off a spark that, in turn, ignites the lives of unforeseen others.
The Boy Who Changed the World illustrates this same principle to children, enabling them to see how they can have a meaningful impact on the world around them. It is full of vibrant, full-page illustrations by Philip Hurst and chronicles the true story of the young Norman Borlaug--the boy who grew up to change the world. Children will be delighted by the illustrations and excited by the story as they learn that they too can change the world, just like Norman.
On April 12, 2011, The Final Summit, the long-awaited follow-up to The Traveler's Gift, was released. The Final Summit finds David Ponder, the hero of The Traveler's Gift, at a completely different time in his life. Now older--and with the wisdom of the Seven Decisions he discovered in The Traveler's Gift--David Ponder and a cast of historic figures have been charged with the task of discovering the one principle that will save all of humanity from dire consequences. And the answer they seek is only two words.
Andrews' latest book and New York Times Bestseller, How Do You Kill 11 Million People?, arose from a question Andrews asked himself several years ago: Where do we being to find common ground in regard to what we want (or don't want) for the future of America? From the question came a challenge: Is it possible to write something that doesn't use the words Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, yet conveys a message with which everyone could agree? Can it be written in a concise fashion allowing anyone to read it, clearly understand the message, and be empowered in less than fifteen minutes? How Do You Kill 11 Million People? is his answer to those questions.
Driven by his own personal moving story, Andy Andrews communicates to his audience through the heart--an uncommon style in today's media-driven world. Arguably, there is no single person on the planet better at weaving subtle yet life-changing lessons into riveting tales of adventure and intrigue--both on paper and on stage.
I love to read children's books, especially ones that have real history woven throughout the story. "The Boy Who Changed the World" by Andy Andrews does just that.
He begins the story with a boy named Norman Borlaug who loved playing in his father's cornfields. Then one day his father told him how blessed they were to have such an abundance of corn and how many people in the world don't have enough food to eat. Right then and there Norman decided to change the world. And that he did. He grew up to develop disease resistance wheat varieties with exceedingly high yield potential - also called "super seeds." (I won't get into my views on how that opened the door to genetically modified foods.) It is said, however, that Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other man that has ever lived.
The book does a brilliant job at explaining how each child can make a difference in this world. It is beautifully illustrated and has a different butterfly on each page symbolizing the "butterfly effect" which shows how one person can have an effect on another. It also includes Henry Wallace, George Washington Carver, and Moses Carver and how they were all connected to Norman Borlaug in some way.
I would highly recommend this book for any aged child. It's simple enough to read to a 5 year old and yet the historical content is complicated enough to have made my 10 year old have to really think about how all the characters connected.
Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255
I love the premise of these books (the Boy Who Changed the World and The Butterfly Effect), that everything you do matters, that even the smallest insignificant things can have a profound effect.
I loved the first story in The Butterfly Effect about how a action done almost 150 years ago effects us still today.
I love Andy Andrews' writing that is engaging and fun to read.
Honestly though, the story about the wheat and corn turned my stomach. A book making the persons responsible for GMO wheat and corn out to be heroes is just something that I can't support. I try not to get political in reviews but since the 1940s when they first started with the GMO wheat and corn the rates of celiac have multiplied, the rates of autism have soared, allergies are sky-rocketing, among other things. We are tweaking our environment too much and a book that celebrates this is just too much.
I wanted to love these books, and honestly if I could tear out a section of Butterfly effect, I would still love it. If it wasn't a book to inspire and to change lives the politics wouldn't matter. If it wasn't a children's book, the politics wouldn't matter as much. But I can't recommend this book at all because of the GMO issue.
This children's book is a summarized version of Andy Andrews' book, "The Butterfly Effect". The illustrations do a great job of following the story and explaining concepts that help children understand ideas and terms that may be foreign to them. The story highlights examples of how one person's actions create a chain of events that effect people generations later. Although this is technically a children's book, I found it very difficult to follow the story line and chain of events that were described. The story seemed to bounce around quite a bit and mentioned quite a few different characters and job titles that were hard to follow and connect. I found myself partway through the story and flipping backwards to try to figure out how someone that was mentioned was connected and why they were involved. The concept is very interesting and if a child can grasp it, it could be very inspiring. This book is probably best suited for middle school students though the graphics are better suited for kids in the 4-12 age range. The illustrations in the book are fabulous. I'd love to see more of Philip Hurst's work. The cover image is a great representation of the images in the rest of the book; intricate details, bright colors, and they help explain the story line for those unfamiliar with the terms that were used. While reading the "The Boy Who Changed the World" I kept trying to think of who I could share the book with when I was done reading it. It's too far over the head of my 4-year old and I thought I might donate it to a 5th grade teacher friend or to our middle school library. There is not a strong spiritual message to the book, but God is mentioned at the end of the book so I'm not sure how it would be received in a public school library. I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. It has potential but was too confusing to reach it. I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
