Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates [Hardcover]

M. D. Usher (Author), William Bramhall (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

Greek philosophy for kids

"I know that I know nothing."

With this classic statement, uttered over two thousand years ago, Socrates set the standard for the future of Western philosophy. By day, he soaked up the sun in the Athenian marketplace, where he'd converse for hours on end about the meaning of wisdom, right and wrong, courage, justice, and love. By night, he feasted and danced with friends. He was charming, but not handsome, happy, but not rich. Unfortunately, his method of thinking did not sit well with everyone. In the end, his fellow Athenians punished him with death.

The story of Socrates' life unfolds through cheerful illustrations and a two-tiered text, one layer quite simple, the other full of juicy additional details about the philosopher's life and times. The ending assembles a "School of Athens," showcasing thinkers, from Erasmus to Martin Luther King, Jr., who have been inspired by Socrates' philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–This ambitious attempt to present the life and thinking of this ancient Greek philosopher to young readers does so with mixed results. The text has two tiers. The first layer (presented in a larger font) is, according to the book jacket, quite simple, while the second (presented in smaller print in a scroll-shaped box) is full of juicy additional details. Both sections contain statements that are oversimplifications of complex ideas and require further background or explanation. In one particularly confusing section of the book, the first tier states that Apollo, god of wisdom, loved Socrates dearly. 'No one is as wise, or good, or brave as he,' Apollo said. The other gods agreed. The line between Socrates's beliefs and fact is blurred here and elsewhere. There are, however, many instances where Usher distills the essence of Socrates's thinking into approachable terms, such as in his discussion that compares the idea of the blueprint for a bed to a blueprint for larger concepts: Just as a carpenter with vast knowledge and experience can make a good bed, and in turn be a good carpenter, a person who has studied the blueprint of right and wrong can be a good person. With the exception of some fictionalizing in terms of his subject's childhood, Usher has been careful to use documented sources, and the writing style itself flows reasonably well. Bramhall's amusing cartoons greatly enliven the presentation. Anyone wishing to introduce the field of philosophy to students would find this offering a useful starting point.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. This cheerful picture-book biography of Socrates has two concurrent texts: the story of his life, which is freely fictionalized and unconvincing in its description of the early years, and, in smaller print, an introduction to the philosopher's ideas, which is actually quite good. As Usher states in the appended notes, "Socrates' adult interests have been imaginatively read back into his youth." The result is a child character who sounds utterly unchildlike. In a sudden growth spurt shown in the illustrations but unexplained in the text, Socrates grows from a scruffy child on one double-page spread to a scruffy man on the next. The accessible style of the sophisticated ink-and-watercolor artwork is reminiscent of that of a cartoonist or caricaturist. And on the closing pages, there are caricatures of later thinkers, from Erasmus to Gandhi, who comment on Socrates. A note on sources and a short bibliography (labeled "For Further Reading" but clearly aimed at adults) are appended as well. Parents who can't wait to introduce their elementary-school progeny to Socrates will find this an original, but not wholly successful, choice. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (September 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374312494
• ISBN-13: 978-0374312497
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Philosophy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not another mafia story, December 1, 2005

By 

Bill Koch, DDS (Barre, Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates (Hardcover)

All those days of torture came back to me-- the "Socratic Method" they called it... THEY being my oral surgery profs. They just kept asking questions until we ran out of answers. Mark Usher brings the father of philosophy to life in Wise Guy, an easy-to-read, well-illustrated primer for kids. The book is appropriate for two age groups, 6-8 and 9-12, as it is written and illustrated for the younger readers in the main frames, with more dissertation on sidebars for the pre-teens. The book covers Socrates' early life as he attempted to pin down the basic concept of the idea. It continues along, with Socrates picking up disciples as he developed the dialectic-- his framework for the logical analysis of ideas. The etermal question of the nature of good and evil prompts him to spawn the logical basis for ethics. Finally, as his enemies bring him to trial for his teachings, it is the ethics he deduced that left him no alternative but the cup of hemlock.
In a world of post-modern cultural and ethical relativism, it is precisely Socrates who can offer our young people an anchor in the form of logical analysis of ethical dilemmas. The pursuit of wisdom is the pursuit of truth, which is in reality the search for an absolute. Contrast this to our modern culture's use of phrases such as "my truth" and "what's right for me", and the book offers its best lesson.
Written in a lighthearted, storybook fashion, one is hard pressed to be saddened at the demise of Socrates. His death marked the notion that no man is above the law, despite its imperfections. This is important to note for parents concerned about the appropriate time to introduce literature with death involved. It is definitely not frightening as presented.
More could have been mentioned about the Socrates-Plato-Artistotle continuum, but for the intended reader this may be more dialogue than needed to get the message across. All in all this is a good work

Bill Koch, DDS
Barre, Vermont

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For kids from 1 to 92, November 1, 2005

By 

Augustine (West Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates (Hardcover)

"Wise Guy" is possibly one of the cleverest children's books I have ever come across. Although the main text is ostensibly targeted at "juveniles," the delightful illustrations will nevertheless appeal to the youngest kiddies in the crowd (my 4-year-old was ROFL at Socrates' antics), while the sidebar commentary offers adult-level background info on the thinking, history, and legend behind Socrates and ancient Greece. The storyline itself is captivating, and the end of the book deftly ties in the impact of Socrates' legacy on our modern world, linking the ancient "Wise Guy" to later Wise Guys (including Gandhi, Hannah Arendt, and MLK)-a gentle and good-natured debunking of scoffers who would dismiss Socrates as just another Dead White Male. The author, a university professor, does his own homework too: the end pages provide handy sections entitled "The Ancient Sources" and "Further Reading," which will surely be useful for those whose interest in the classics is piqued by this marvelous book. Let us hope for many additional works in this vein by the duo of Usher and Bramhall.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Wisdom and Kids, November 18, 2005

By 

Wishful Thinker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates (Hardcover)

With "Wise guy" Professor Usher and artist Bramhall have brilliantly captured the ancient sage, Socrates, growing from childhood through adulthood always asking those simple questions that through the ages have always had hard answers. These are questions that each person must grapple with. The clever text and extraordinary illustrations comfortably link the reader to the person, Socrates, and ancient Greece. The sidebar text on each page provides more depth that enables an advanced young reader or an adult to probe more deeply into the ideas and concepts presented. This is a must-have book for kids with an inquisitive mind. Bravo to Usher and Bramhall for their engaging book. Let's have more!