January 1, 2010
Stretching across the centuries, from the first printed volumes (1400s) to today's realm of bookselling in cyberspace, these biographies portray the lives of achievers who have shaped the world of books. The writing is bland but accessible; students will come away with an appreciation of the far-reaching social impact of each individual's innovations. Sidebars, period illustrations, photographs, and maps augment the texts. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
December 1, 2009
Grades 5-8 Remember the first time you used Amazon? It was probably word of mouth that sold it, and its that belief in the enthusiasm of the masses that colors this insightful bio on billionaire CEO Bezos. His is not a hard-luck story (Bezos is a Princeton grad and former financial planner), but he did take riskshe put most of his money (and his parents) into a Web venture at a time when dot-coms were imploding. With succinct prose, Robinson describes the inquisitive child who became the visionary leader and offers up irresistible details of Amazons early days when Bezos packed up orders in his garage. Technological asides into advances like the Mosaic browser, book recommendation via artificial intelligence, 1-Click shopping, and more are well integrated. Though the overly regal design feels stodgy, plenty of bright photos provide relief. The crushing impact Amazon has had on physical bookstores, as well as the content-ownership concerns over the Kindle, are totally glossed over. That aside, this entry in the Publishing Pioneers series is a wonderful intro to a paradigm-shifting e-tailer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)