Title: The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
Author: Maxwell King
Pages: Audiobook
Finished: April 9, 2019
First Sentence: Fred Rogers had given some very specific instructions to David Newell, who handled public relations for the PBS children's show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
Summary: Most Americans in their 30s and older know who Mr. Rogers was. They may remember watching his show. Perhaps they know him from all the memes discussing how amazing he was. But one thing is certain, many people can probably sing a phrase from "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Or maybe that's just me. But Mr. Rogers was more than just a man making a television show for children. He specialized in music and in child development for early childhood. This is his story.
Thoughts: This is a really tough review to write. First off, I love Mr. Rogers. I think the work he did was really amazing. I chose this book because I'm frustrated. It's 2019 and we have a president who seems to want to watch the world burn. Life feels pretty hopeless. I've brought one child into this world, and I'd like to bring another one in, but I regularly wonder if I'm doing them a disservice as climate change. I thought reading about Mr. Rogers would be a breath of fresh air. Here was a man who lived solely to help children navigate the crazy map of life.
And what I learned about Rogers was really interesting. He was deeply religious, but very authentic in that religious belief. Though a devout Presbyterian, he took spiritual teachings from all the world's religions and incorporated them into his life. He used many of those values in his television shows, but in such a way that it didn't feel prosylityzing. I am a life long atheist, and I deeply respect his religious views. I never once felt preached to.
I also had no idea that he was a music major in college who then discovered children's development. That's basically the same path I went on. I studied in school to be a music teacher ind the public schools, but quickly realized I couldn't do that and ended up in a library where I do a lot with child development. There was something really wonderful in finding that out about Mr. Rogers.
I also was very interested in the making of his television shows. The Children's Corner and then the various iterations of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Knowing how he managed to touch children so well. I even picked up a couple new skills to try myself in interacting with kids at work. They're amazing.
Because this was an audiobook, I'd like to review the narrator. LeVar Burton of Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Reading Rainbow fame narrated. He's a fantastic narrator. He keeps the book moving forward (necessary for this one) and he sounds super enthusiastic as he goes. I definitely appreciated having him as a narrator.
But then there's the writing. And this is where the book faltered for me. First of all, the author was super repetitious. Information kept coming back chapter after chapter that I already knew from earlier chapters. It almost felt as though each chapter was written separately and then at no point were they edited to avoid the repetition. On top of it, we were often given a lot of information about adjacent material that felt unnecessary to the book. For example, when Fred Rogers decided to go into television, we ended up with a whole lot of exposition as to how a television works, how it's made, and the workings of NBC. I just didn't care.
Because of this, I was grateful that I was listening to this book as it meant I could "zone out" when I didn't care about the material. That being said, even with his excellent narration skills, LeVar Burton couldn't fully keep the book moving forward.
The information of Fred Rogers life was fantastic, but it didn't outweigh the poor writing of this biography. Which is sad, because Fred Rogers deserved a much better biography than this.
Read for the family book discussion.
And what I learned about Rogers was really interesting. He was deeply religious, but very authentic in that religious belief. Though a devout Presbyterian, he took spiritual teachings from all the world's religions and incorporated them into his life. He used many of those values in his television shows, but in such a way that it didn't feel prosylityzing. I am a life long atheist, and I deeply respect his religious views. I never once felt preached to.
I also had no idea that he was a music major in college who then discovered children's development. That's basically the same path I went on. I studied in school to be a music teacher ind the public schools, but quickly realized I couldn't do that and ended up in a library where I do a lot with child development. There was something really wonderful in finding that out about Mr. Rogers.
I also was very interested in the making of his television shows. The Children's Corner and then the various iterations of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Knowing how he managed to touch children so well. I even picked up a couple new skills to try myself in interacting with kids at work. They're amazing.
Because this was an audiobook, I'd like to review the narrator. LeVar Burton of Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Reading Rainbow fame narrated. He's a fantastic narrator. He keeps the book moving forward (necessary for this one) and he sounds super enthusiastic as he goes. I definitely appreciated having him as a narrator.
But then there's the writing. And this is where the book faltered for me. First of all, the author was super repetitious. Information kept coming back chapter after chapter that I already knew from earlier chapters. It almost felt as though each chapter was written separately and then at no point were they edited to avoid the repetition. On top of it, we were often given a lot of information about adjacent material that felt unnecessary to the book. For example, when Fred Rogers decided to go into television, we ended up with a whole lot of exposition as to how a television works, how it's made, and the workings of NBC. I just didn't care.
Because of this, I was grateful that I was listening to this book as it meant I could "zone out" when I didn't care about the material. That being said, even with his excellent narration skills, LeVar Burton couldn't fully keep the book moving forward.
The information of Fred Rogers life was fantastic, but it didn't outweigh the poor writing of this biography. Which is sad, because Fred Rogers deserved a much better biography than this.
Read for the family book discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment