Dare to be different : Inspirational words from people who changed the world by Ben Brooks

Author Ben Brooks has added another book to his Dare to be Different collection. This latest book, Dare to be Different: Inspirational words from people who changed the world, contains an eclectic mixture of 100 people who have made a difference in their own lifetime, both past and present. Many of them may be familiar to some readers eg Jane Austen, Dolly Parton, Anne Frank, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Desmond Tutu. However, many of them may be unfamiliar. For example Bambi, who is not the baby fawn, but a present day famous anonymous graffiti artist whose inspirational words are, “I want to save the world and that’s why social commentary is always present in my work. It's easy to live with your eyes shut but that’s not fulfilling or helpful to the world.” Another possibly unfamiliar person is Nezahualcoyotl (1402-1472) who appears on the Mexican hundred-peso note and was a prince and a poet. His inspirational words are, “Stand up, Beat your drum, Give of yourself, Know friendship.” One of the surprise inclusions is Yoda (896 BBY- 4ABY). This little green alien’s inspirational quote is quite long but begins with “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?...” Fans of Star Wars will no doubt be aware Yoda is the Grand Master of the Order of Jedi Knights.

Each and every story shared in this book is unique and interesting to read. Each entry has a coloured double page spread with text on one page and a full-page illustration on the other. The information is easy to follow and understand and will appeal to both children and adults who enjoy reading biographies.

Themes: Biographies.

Kathryn Beilby