The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds

by Bernice Selden

When Walt Disney was a child, he loved to draw. It's no wonder he grew up to create such memorable and loveable characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.Walt Disney spent a lifetime entertaining and delighting millions of children and adults alike--on film, on television, and in his magical kingdoms of Disneyland and Disney world. This is his story.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[♥Booknerdswift♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much about this! Despite it being a kids book, it was a great read and informational. Well, it should be considering it's a biography...

[Theresa F.]

As an adult reader, I felt that the fact this book was published for children at the tail end of the 1980s, when the Disney company was experiencing a new peak in popularity, strongly influenced the overall structure of the work.
The Story Of Walt Disney was framed as that of a young dreamer, with little besides his dreams, working his way up and achieving those dreams through determination, perseverance, and hard work. While the book shared a number of Walt Disney's early set-backs as he struggled to establish himself, such as losing creative control over the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit character, once the story reached a certain point those setbacks were either omitted or glossed over. For example, the book mentioned how the studio had some financial troubles during World War II because their films could no longer be distributed in Europe, but didn't mention the many Disney employees who left the studio to join the armed forces and fight during the war. The book also mentioned the opening of Disneyland theme park without sharing the fact that opening day was a disaster, and how it took a little time to get the kinks ironed out. Walt Disney's ability to recover and move on from such setbacks had been highlighted earlier in the book, and the information about Disneyland's opening day and the subsequent work to get things running smoothly could have easily been summarized by the author in a single sentence.
Also, Ub Iwerks was mentioned repeatedly by the author but eventually stopped being mentioned altogether. Hardcore fans of Disney will know why.
With all that being said, given how the intended audience for this work are impressionable children being encouraged to follow their dreams and not give up, I don't think this is necessarily a bad book. But to me, it came across as a bit unbalanced as far as relaying the history of a real-life human being experiencing real-world problems. In my mind, that made it feel a bit dated to the time when it was written, a time when the future looked nothing but rosey for the Walt Disney Company.
However, being an adult, I'm also no longer in the target demographic for this book.
Did I like it? There were some enjoyable Disney anecdotes.
Would I reread it? No.
Would I recommend it? To a Disney collector, the fantastical cover image and the included black-and-white photographs are reason enough to have this book for display.

[The Unicorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest account of Walt Disney's life summed up in an impressive 87 pages.

This book covers events of Walt's life that I have never known before from any other source, particularly the hard labor of certain jobs Walt had in his young lifetime, such as losing the empty soda bottles in the train car [18] or having to sell his shoes when his Red Cross troop left him with the bar tab during his 17th birthday celebration [22].

Though published nearly 30 years ago, the facts within the text remains credible and understandable to young independent readers, making the book perfect as a biography source for an elementary school report.

[Naomi Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

right now I am on page 23. "These animals that Walt loved as a child were early inspirations for the unforgettable creatures that came to life in his animated movies." Some things that are going on in my book right now is that Walt wanted to go into the navy but he was to young, until he found out that seventeen year olds could work in the ambulance. but one problem was that he was only sixteen. his mom signed the paper with his real birth year but when his mom wasn't looking he changed it from 1901 to 1900 to make him seventeen.so far I have liked all of it but that might change as I get farther into the book. I have also read his autobiography and have watched the documentary.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

page 15 "the two walts" is what they called them self and i like this quote because of how it shows they were not always known as the creators of the disney guy and him and his brother had to start with newspaper and their horse ran away. but one thing i don't like is how when they were at a show with jokes they didn't say the joke they just said jokes and nothing else like i would like to know what the jokes are. last is i think here soon he will talk about how he made the little shows and comics that they made

[Lolo Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank book have made me rise up again

[matthew m mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic insight. Takes me back to my youth watching the wide world of Disney. Just recently went to Disney world for the first time ever and wanted to see what this all originated from.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story of Walt Disney, Maker of Magical Worlds
By Bernice Selden
90 pages/Reading Level 3.4

This biography of Walt Disney is interesting and informative. It begins with Walt as a young boy who has to work before school with no pay and ends with his vision of Disney World coming to life.

Young Walt and his brothers do not have an easy life. His father was very strict and his family did not have much money. But even as a young boy he loved to draw and make people laugh. His father often disapproved but he still went to theaters, left home at 16 to join the military and opened his own business drawing cartoons when the war was over. The rest, as they say, is history.

He was not always the famous man we think of today, but never gave up on his dreams. Selden does a wonderful job of telling his story. Children who have grown up watching Disney’s characters and movies will delight in knowing more about Walt.

Walt has had many successes, but also many disappointments and problems. He learned from his mistakes and never gave up.

I recommend this for children because it is a biography that reads like fiction. They can relate to what his story because Disney is known to almost everyone, young and old

I would also recommend this to teachers as a read aloud book. There are many opportunities to supplement the book with history, nature and art/theater.

Copyright © 2015 Laura Hartman

[Bonnie Chen]

I really enjoyed reading this book, as I learned a lot about an all time favorite legend: Walt Disney. He is the creator of many of my favorite Disney Characters, such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Alice in Wonderland and so forth. However, his road in becoming successful was not easy at all. In fact, he had to endure a lot of pain since he was a child. His family life wasn't great at all- his brothers escaped from home and most of them disliked their father, including Walt Disney. Walt Disney is very talented and gifted at drawing and due to his specialty,he was given many jobs. He worked for companies before, started his own companies, closed down companies and faced many hardships. On the other hand, he won a lot of recognition for his work and became a legend. He taught me to never give up and always be persistent. If you can face hardships, you can succeed. Do not be afraid of hardships. Hardships make you stronger and enriches your life. You might not think so at first, but eventually you will realize that everything happens for a reason.

[Melanie, Aaron, Annie, and Mary Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by: Melanie
Genre: Biography
Author: Bernice Selden
Interest Level: 3-5
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.5
DRA: N/A
Lexile: 870 L

Walt Disney grew up with many hardships that come with life on a farm, but was able to find happiness in drawing the likes of the animals along with enjoying their company. Even after moving to Kansas after his father sold the farm, he had to bear freezing snow filled day hand delivering newspaper. All of this hard work instilled a will to push on in Walt, even after losing his cartoon character Oswald the Rabbit Walt perservered and came up with Mickey Mouse who is still beloved to this day. This book is a great educational tool to teach students about the life of the man that created the Magical Kingdom. It may be interesting to kids to see where he started and how he had to work hard to get to where he did.

[Kendall Kraiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book about Walt Disney is perfect to have in a elementary level classroom to introduce children to biographies. This is a person that majority of the students have probably heard of at one time or another and it will give them a different perspective on the man. This would be a great book for 4th or 5th grade students who are doing a book report (biography) for the first time. This book is interesting and full of fun facts about the creator behind the magical kingdom of DISNEYLAND!

[May Ling]

I remember reading this book when I was 9 or 10 years old. My library had bought them and I was already in love with Disney, living so close to the Magic Kingdom. This was a fantastic biography for any curious young adult. It goes through the early days of how the unique individual dared to dream REALLY big. The entire series is pretty amazing for young children to read.

[Rebekah]

This is a kids book that Ryan and I were reading at bedtime. I learned many things I didn't know about Walt, mainly his childhood and what his parents were like (that was a shocker). I love Mr. Disney, he changed the world and came up from very trying circumstances. That is an inspiration.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote one of my first "research papers" based on this book when I was in elementary school. Then recently, when my boys were interested in learning about the life of Walt Disney, I read it aloud to them. The history of this famous man was fascinating to our whole family.

[Nicholas Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walt Disney is a great man he made two theme parks and a lot of movies, and shows. He inspired people that you're dreams can come true. I would recommend this book to everyone who likes dreams and magic.

[Frau Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book for its' level. Meant for upper elementary students, it gives an excellent biography of the life of Walt Disney. Most people do not know about his early life. He was definitely not a happy child for many reasons.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little book to read to young children as an introduction to biographies.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book for kids to read about the life of Walt Disney. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

[kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a book that as an overview of walt Disneys life. this book was exactly what I wanted.

[Kathryn Page]

Biography: How Walt Disney became Disney.