Summary:
This book is a quick overview into the life of Will Rogers. It starts out with him as a young boy in Oklahoma. He enjoyed roping and riding horses and had a horse named Comanche. The book talks about Will flying everywhere he could. He made friends everywhere he went. He flew coast to coast two dozen times even when flight was early. He returned from his travels to be a simple family man. Him, his wife and children moved to California and continue to raise their kids. He became known far and wide for his good natured jokes.
Personal Reaction:
I really enjoyed reading this book. Since moving to Oklahoma in the third grade I have heard about Will Rogers but I never knew much about him. This book gave me an insight into why Oklahomans love him so much. He is proof that a good heart and hard work can get you great places.
Classroom Extension Activity:
1. Presentation on famous people from Oklahoma
2. Introduction to learning about people from our state.

Will Rogers loved adventure from a very young age. He traveled from coast to coast reading and looking for new things to learn. Everyone he met became his friend because of his laughter and kind heart. ( )

Gorgeous paintings and strong book design. The text is *very* concise which means this book could be shared with chldren as young 5, I think. My amazing dad thinks WR was a great guy but I never knew more than scraps about the man - when I saw this on display at the library I grabbed it hoping for more - but I'm not satisfied and will have to find something a bit more thorough. Recommendations welcome... ( )

Summary
This is a very summarized biography of Will Rodgers. Clearly written and illustrated for a young reader. The book starts with Will Rodgers as a boy and explains that he was the youngest of eight children and was always a kid that loved adventure and dreamed of traveling across the world. The author spoke of Will Rodgers desire to read and become a person that would be intelligent. It spoke a lot of Oklahoma where Rodgers grew up and used the descriptions of the land to explain the love that Will had for his home state. Will Rodgers traveled across the world and made a name for himself everywhere he went. The author focused mainly on Rodgers simplicity as a man and that was made what made everyone love him.

Personal Reaction
I thought this was a wonderful book for a grade school student who perhaps needs general information on a real and historic figure. The illustrations in the book were wonderful and allowed the reader to read more than just the words on the page. Although the information was broad and lacking detail, I felt it was still appropriate and helpful to a student looking for a figure to study.

Classroom Extensions
1. This is a great book to have students write an essay about Will Rodgers. The information is concise and would allow for a great summarization exercise.
2. This would also serve as a great reference for a unit on Oklahoma History.

This beautifully illustrated picture book biography captures the spirit, as well as the depth and breadth, of Will Rogers, legendary comedian, entertainer, actor, pilot, politician, and philosopher of the early 20th century. The book begins with Will’s humble beginnings on his father’s ranch in Oklahoma and ends with an illustration of a newspaper clipping of the plane crash that tragically ended his life. The pages between briefly touch on the many aspects of Will’s life, from his love of learning to his love for his wife and children, from his passion for aviation to his ability to connect with all types of people and make them laugh.

The text, just a few lines per page, provides a sketch of the man, rather than a detailed history of his life. There are no dates or years in the text, however each page does include a quote from Rogers. The text is presented as typewritten notes on the left side of the page with detailed photo-realistic paintings on the right side of the page. Some illustrations are based off of famous photographs of Rogers, while others come from Wimmer’s imagination.

The only thing I would add to this book would be back matter with more information about Rogers, such as a chronology timeline of his life and a further reading list. However, the author does include a short bibliography of quotation sources on the copyright page.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-202-will-rogers-american-legend...