*****= An all-time favorite
**** = Outstanding
*** =
Above average
**
= Enjoyable
*
= Good, with reservations
***Leonardo
Beautiful Dreamer
by Robert Byrd
Reviewed December 6, 2003.
Dutton Children’s Books, New York, 2003. 48 pages.
Available on Amazon.com for $17.99 in hardcover.
Available at Sembach Library (JB LEO).
Here’s another beautiful children’s biography. It was remarkably
similar to the book Confucius.
Both men had amazingly versatile lives and the inside covers of both books
are sprinkled with their wise sayings.
Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer tells the story of the life
of Leonardo da Vinci. The book uses a style borrowed from Leonardo’s
own notebooks, with amazing detail on each page. The book highlights
Leonardo’s incredible diversity and curiosity about the world.
This is a fascinating book to read, and you could spend hours simply studying
the pictures, finding new details.
As Leonardo said:
“Study the science of art and the art of science.”
“Anyone who argues by referring to authority is not using his mind but
rather his memory.”
“The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.”
“Knowledge is the mother of love. The love of anything is the fruit
of our knowledge of it, and grows as our knowledge deepens.”
“To enjoy: To love a thing for its own sake and for no other reason.”
Book Reviews by Sondra
Eklund