The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur…

This book has strong moments, like when it explains how difficult it was for Pasteur to keep trying when people made fun of him, and weak moments, like when it describes a vaccine as being "magical soldiers" and shows a picture of soldiers disturbingly pouring out of a needle. Oh, and weird parts, like when the trees and wheels are supposedly telling the family to go faster while traveling to Pasteur. It definitely made my children more interested in Pasteur and way more confused/terrified about shots. ( )

I rate this book a five. I gave it this rating because the book is informational and engaging for students about someone very famous in our history(Louis Pasteur). I feel students can really understand how important and helpful his findings were to all human beings. At the end of the book it also gives more historical facts on his life which is also very important. In my classroom this book would be great to introduce nonfiction books especially about famous people in our history. I would also use it to possibly teach cause and effect. Finally, it is a very good book that models to students how to question and monitor themselves while reading , which are two important skills of comprehension. ( )

This is a children's picture book about the invention of the rabies vaccine. I blame it for my phobia of needles. It is explicitly detailed about the horrific dog attack. It contains totally inadvertent sexual innuendo ("can you be brave while my magical soldiers march into you?"). The illustrations follow no logic whatsoever. In short, it is awesome, but maybe not for kids. I read it at parties a lot, though.