Recommended Reads: Benjamin Franklin

"But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of..." - Benjamin Franklin

Hailed as the quintessential Renaissance man Franklin makes an ideal subject for any recommended reads list but especially for the month when we honor those who brought about independence of this nation.

Recorded cassette (RC), braille (BR), and large print (LT) copies of these books are available from the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.

A Dangerous Engine: Benjamin Franklin, from Scientist to Diplomat by Joan Dash
RC 62841
Biography of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) depicts his constant curiosity and love of science. Features Franklin's scientific interests, inventions, experiments with electricity, and role as a founding father of the United States. Discusses Franklin's skills as a diplomat in France and his contributions to the American Revolution. For grades 5-8.

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America by Stacy Schiff
RC 59682
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer reconstructs Benjamin Franklin's seven-year sojourn in France. Chronicles the political and social intrigues of eighteenth-century Paris. Claims Franklin's negotiated French-American alliance led ultimately to the colonies' independence from Britain and a bond with France that lasted two centuries.

The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin by James Cross Giblin
BR 13192
Biography of the renowned eighteenth-century printer, inventor, and statesman. Traces his career from ten-year-old apprentice up to his service as a delegate to the Constitutional convention at eighty-one. Discusses his civic contributions and scientific experiments as well as his fateful decision to support the colonies' revolution. For grades 3-6.

An Experiment in Treason by Bruce Alexander
RC 57163
London, 1773. Blind Sir John Fielding and his assistant, Jeremy Proctor, investigate the burglary of the house of the secretary of state for the American colonies. The crime, the theft of a packet of letters, and subsequent murder of one of the culprits, leads to the famous Dr. Benjamin Franklin.

Ben and Me: A New and Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin as Written by his Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson
RC47613
In 1745 Amos, a church mouse, leaves his home to find a better place to live. He ends up with Benjamin Franklin and becomes his confidant and traveling companion. When Franklin dies, many writers extol his achievements, but Amos decides to set the record straight with his own accounts. For grades 5-8.

Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life by Candace Fleming
BR 15237
Biography of Benjamin Franklin, who lived from 1706 to 1790, emphasizing his many accomplishments as a writer, printer, statesman, and inventor. Includes amusing stories and anecdotes, excerpts from his autobiography and other papers, family letters, and newspaper articles that reveal the breadth of Franklin's interests. For grades 5-8 and older readers.

Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case: The American Agent Investigates Murder in the Dark Byways of London by Robert Lee Hall
RC 29188
In London in 1757, as an agent for the Pennsylvania colony, the 'real' Benjamin Franklin visits an old printer friend, Eben Inch, fallen on hard times due to weakness for drink. When he arrives, Inch has been discovered dead. The only person to mourn Inch is the much-abused hired hand, Nick.

Benjamin Franklin by Edmond S Morgan
RC 54936
Yale historian presents a character study of the foremost eighteenth-century American printer, diplomat, and inventor, Benjamin Franklin. Discusses his beliefs, scientific curiosity, and political leanings and his decision to "devote his life to usefulness in public service."

Benjamin Franklin by Thomas Fleming
BR 2317
A biography which shows both the public and private Franklin through his folksy wit, his personal relationships, and his achievements in literature, statesmanship, and science.  For grades 6-9.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
RC 56501, LT 3891
Bestseller. Chronicles the life of founding father Benjamin Franklin from his shopkeeper beginnings to his dealings with Europe's aristocracy during the American revolution. Examines Franklin's ability to continually reinvent himself as scientist, diplomat, writer, and political thinker and considers how his vision of a national middle class identity is significant in twenty-first-century America.

John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith
BR 17028
Print/Braille. Describes five little lads before they became founding fathers -- John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Were their special personality traits annoying, even mischievous -- or were they valuable in American history? A true-or-false section sets the record straight. For grades 2-4.

Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta
BR 17002
Print/Braille. Discusses inventions of Benjamin Franklin that are still in use today, such as bifocal glasses, lightning rods, rocking chairs, and flippers for swimming. Mentions Franklin's establishment of public services like libraries and his written documents, including the Declaration of Independence. For grades 2-4.

The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon S. Wood
RC 60821
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author traces Benjamin Franklin's conversion from fervent British loyalist to American patriot. Highlights Franklin's decades of living abroad, role as a diplomat, shift in allegiance, and efforts to shed his humble beginnings.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Selections from his Other Writings by Benjamin Franklin
LT 8356, RC 56823
Memoirs of the early American newspaperman, scientist, philosopher, and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, addressed to his son. Describes his intellectual development, wide-ranging interests, and diverse enterprises. Includes selections from his newspaper columns and journal. With an introduction by Stacy Schiff.

The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius by Joyce E. Chaplin
BR 16941
Harvard professor highlights the scientific discoveries of American founding father Benjamin Franklin that enabled his involvement in political affairs. Describes the transatlantic community of Enlightenment scientists and Franklin's international renown due to his pathbreaking research on electricity, asbestos, the Gulf Stream, and other topics.

The Hatmaker's Sign: A Story by Benjamin Franklin by Candace Fleming
RC 47286
Thomas Jefferson finishes writing the Declaration of Independence and thinks he has created a perfect document. But members of the Continental Congress have different ideas and start rewriting it. To make Jefferson feel better, Benjamin Franklin tells him a story about a hatmaker and a sign he wanted to put above his store. For grades 2-4.

The World's Greatest Speeches by Lewis Copland
RC 20649
Collection of 278 speeches by famous figures in history from ancient Greece to the present. Includes well-known speeches by Socrates, Julius Ceasar, Martin Luther, Napoleon, Lenin, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, et al.

The Most Dangerous Man in America by Catherine Drinker Bowen
BR 9265
Bowen writes of Franklin's experiments with electricity, his involvement in the 1754 Albany Congress, the Dogood Papers, his London years, and his Privy Council humiliation.

The Many Lives of Benjamin Franklin by Aliki
RC 30934
Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, the tenth of seventeen children. Although he loved to read and study, his parents could afford to send him to school for just two years. During his long life he became a very famous writer, inventor, diplomat, and statesman. For grades K-3.

To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders by Bernard Bailyn
BR 14752
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian analyzes the contradictory nature of key figures and documents of the American Revolution. Bailyn's five essays discuss cultural influences on political creativity, different sides of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin's idealism and realism, and the "Federalist" papers.