On a Beam of Light is a Kid Friendly Einstein Story

For some reason I have a lot of students fascinated by Albert Einstein.  I'm not sure why this is, it may be the popular picture of him with his tongue out and wild hair, but for whatever reason they love the guy.  The little that I've read about him it seems he loved kids too and was quite child like in the way he loved jokes and laughter.  Until now, though, finding a book about Albert Einstein that is as kid friendly as he was has been difficult.

On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne portrays the great scientist in very human ways.  The author spends several pages on his growing up and not speaking until he started school and his parents loved him just the same.  When he finally did start to speak it was to ask endless and difficult questions of the teachers, they said he wouldn't amount to much and still his parents loved him.  As Albert went through life it became obvious that he had a lot to say and it was all very important in the advancing of science and math and then, the world loved him.  Jennifer Berne even manages to make his greatest discoveries, accessible to kids.

The illustrator is Vladimir Radunsky whose pictures I love.  So simple yet so detailed and perfect for a book about Albert Einstein. 

With the push toward non-fiction, I can't wait to get the wonderful, short biography about a fascinating man into the hands of kids.