Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives

5 Comments

1. Alyice Edrich
   

   Review by Alyice Edrich for Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives
   Rating:
   If I had been given a history book written by Humphrey, I would’ve fell in love with History! She writes in a way that makes historical figures seem interesting, lively, and important. Not only does she include many personal attributes with each profile, but she explains why these people made significant contributions to history (past and present)!

2. Carol Spiegel
   

   Review by Carol Spiegel for Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives
   Rating:
   Dare to Dream: 25 extraordinary lives by Sandra McLeod Humphrey is so needed by our society, where violent solutions to conflict and demands for instant results are all too common.

   Because a wide range of personalities is featured, each reader will identify with some of the characters. The individuals, each described as a young person and then as an adult, include: Nellie Bly, who used journalism as a tool for social justice; Jim Thorpe, a Native American who endured physical and emotional hardship and was known as “The World’s Greatest Athlete”; Gloria Estefan who found emotional escape in music and became a successful performer as well as an advocate for abused children; Ben Carson who was ridiculed for failing grades, changed his learning habits, and became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

   How refreshing to find a source of inspiration which is so accessible to young people. Teachers will welcome this book, with its readable chapters which are brief enough to be included within class periods. Dare to Dream comes at a time when we need real heroes and reasons for hope.
   

3. ReadingTub Reviews
   

   Review by ReadingTub Reviews for Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives
   Rating:
   This collection of twenty-five short biographies introduces us to heroes in all avenues of achievement: invention, medicine, arts, science, education, sports. Each story is a testament to perseverence and self-determination. Whatever a child’s dream (science, education, sports, invention, performing arts), there is a hero AND heroine who made their dream come true. The collection ran the gamut of great achievers. Some I knew about, others were new. The stories were too short for my taste. Although balanced in numbers, some of the selections puzzle me. For example, why Sammy Sosa and not Roberto Clemente? The stories have enough information to potentially inspire a child to research and learn more about a person of interest. Great balance of men and women for all fields of achievement.
   
   The mini-biographies were choppy at times. The collection may be too heavy with sports figures (24% are athletes, all but one male), including Michael Jordan, who left school early to go pro? The biographies celebrate personal triumphs, despite others’ judgments and roadblocks. A great book for talking about being true to one’s self!
   

4. Laura M. Ramirez
   

   Review by Laura M. Ramirez for Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives
   Rating:
   In today’s fast-paced, media-driven world, we have plenty of celebrities, but few heroes. While celebrities are famous (in many cases, for questionable behavior), heroes are esteemed for character, courage and achievement. In other words, a celebrity does not a hero make.

   As parents, how do we teach our children to see the difference? How do we teach them that the actress who gets attention for taking off her clothes or the athlete who gets media coverage for punching a fan are merely celebrities, not heroes?

   Sandra McLeod Humphrey’s latest book, “Dare to Dream! 25 Extraordinary Lives” provides a solution to our dilemma. Humphrey, a retired psychologist and author of the series of “What Do You Do?” books (which foster moral development in children), has done it again with her latest book. “Dare to Dream!” reveals the struggles of real-life heroes and how tough choices led to development of character, moral fiber and social change. Reading about how these people led their lives will give your children role models after which to pattern their behavior.

   “Dare to Dream!” has something for every child. Sandra McLeod Humphrey has carefully selected heroes from every ethnicity and walk of life, from sports to science, from music to poetry. Humphrey chronicles hero development during each person’s life, from child to adult, so kids can begin to see how choices shape a life. Included in the book are current heroines (like Maya Angelou) and historic heroes (like Abe Lincoln). Although the characterizations are information-rich, they are brief-most are no more than two or three pages-which makes the book a great summer read. While reading the engaging stories from “Dare to Dream!” your children will be sharpening their literary skills and learning how to rise above time, place and circumstance to become heroes of their own lives.

   Laura Ramirez
   
   Author of “Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting”
   
   http://www.walk-in-peace.com
   
   Publisher of Family Matters Online Parenting Magazine
   
   http://www.parenting-child-development.com

5. Karl L. Kruger
   

   Review by Karl L. Kruger for Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives
   Rating:
   This book is a wonderful Who’s-Who of influential people of world history. Humphrey lists childhood heroes from Abraham Lincoln to Maya Angelou and from Albert Einstein to Michael Jordan. The author even introduces the reader to some lesser known heroes such as Nellie Bly and Chien-Shiung Wu. Each profile is succinct, focusing on each person’s life as a child, then their life as an adult, and finally ending with a moving quote. In this world, where children’s heroes are all too often imaginary, Humphrey gives us an impressive list of true heroes from whom children can find real inspiration.

   Karl L. Kruger for the American Author’s Association