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First Biographies Nelson Mandela
A biography of the son of a Thembu chief who became a civil rights activist, political prisoner, and president of South Africa.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published April 1, 1997
About the author
Gini Holland
46 books2 followersLong-time educator for Milwaukee Public Schools, both in the elementary classroom and as staff development instructor for special ed and general ed teachers. Lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband and is a devoted fan of her son's bands.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 24, 2020
Another good Junior Book about my hero. I like the brief history of South Africa that starts this book so young readers see the gold and diamond mine power struggle that set the stage. The book writing is a very objective in its tone. Since this was published in 2002, his legacy is not covered. However, even his presidency is covered a bit lightly in this book.
I liked the separated green-colored extra topics scattered in the book, since they had depth. (I'm usually not a fan of short, bright-colored, tilted blocks of data inserted that might look 'artistically' nice, but breaks up my reading) For example, on page 26 is a nice full page green-panel on Helen Suzman, a South African Jew representing the liberal Progressive Party - the only elected white liberal.
However, Mandela's famous quote about "It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" is only found at the bottom of a green-panel titled "A Stake in Society", whereas I believe this quote belongs in the main text of the book.
Good collection of color pictures. Nice appendix with timeline, glossary, more books and internet sites.
What I find while reading through a collection of Mandela biographies, is that I appreciate even the outdated ones such as this one: it obviously HAD to focus on his early life based on publication date. I get more bits-and-pieces about his earlier life by reading these "outdated" books. As another example, I've read some WWII books written right after the war, that have been superseded by more accurate accounts. Yes - it is best to read the more accurate account - but by reading the earlier accounts, you see just how the world was really thinking. I am not a History major, but I am better appreciating the need to keep these books on our library shelves.
I liked the separated green-colored extra topics scattered in the book, since they had depth. (I'm usually not a fan of short, bright-colored, tilted blocks of data inserted that might look 'artistically' nice, but breaks up my reading) For example, on page 26 is a nice full page green-panel on Helen Suzman, a South African Jew representing the liberal Progressive Party - the only elected white liberal.
However, Mandela's famous quote about "It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" is only found at the bottom of a green-panel titled "A Stake in Society", whereas I believe this quote belongs in the main text of the book.
Good collection of color pictures. Nice appendix with timeline, glossary, more books and internet sites.
What I find while reading through a collection of Mandela biographies, is that I appreciate even the outdated ones such as this one: it obviously HAD to focus on his early life based on publication date. I get more bits-and-pieces about his earlier life by reading these "outdated" books. As another example, I've read some WWII books written right after the war, that have been superseded by more accurate accounts. Yes - it is best to read the more accurate account - but by reading the earlier accounts, you see just how the world was really thinking. I am not a History major, but I am better appreciating the need to keep these books on our library shelves.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews