Leonardo Da Vinci for Kids: His life and Ideas, 21 Related activities

Leonardo Da Vinci for Kids: His life and Ideas, 21 Related activities -Reading Map, Literacy Reading, Grade 2 leaners

Leonardo da Vinci for kids is an interesting book written by Janis Herbert. It is basically a description of Leonardo da Vinci’s life as a renown scientist, painter, inventor and sculptor. As a scientist and inventor, da Vinci designed and invented military vehicle designs and diving suits. Although he is famous for these famous inventions, the most important point of focus expected for these learners is his life as an artist, famous for his paintings and sculptures. It is necessary to note that Leonardo is the one who painted Mona Lisa.

The text is divided into four sections, beginning with Leonardo’s life as a youth. The second section deals with his apprenticeship years while third deals with the most productive years of his life in Milan. Finally, the last section describes Leonardo’s last years in Venice and France. The book has a great deal of illustrations and pictures, some of which are Leonardo’s own paintings and sculptures.

Other than the biography, the book includes 21 related activities, which work like art lessons to help children who may want to do the same things as Leonardo. This is a greatly motivating factor to children because at this stage, they are generally attracted to visual information and they can respond to them with a personal opinion (Annandale et al., 2004).

 (Annandale et al., 2004), Also suggest that by the time learners are in this level, they can already recognize text organisation. Such concepts as introduction, paragraphs, chapters, contents, conclusion, page index, etc are already recognisable to them. Leonardo Da Vinci for Kids is an excellent book to reinforce this knowledge in children because it is itself well organized.

According to (Harris, Pauline 2006), to read is to understand written text. As such, the selection of this text for readers in grade two is justified. Much of the content in the text is understandable for readers at this level. It is in consideration of the level of vocabulary use, complexity of the sentence construction and the whole concept in general.

Another consideration in the choosing of this text for learners is its presentation in terms of print size, which is appropriate for the children. The book’s layout is also appealing and well thought. In addition, I considered the presence of a variety of diagrams and photographs, which can supplement the reader’s understanding of written text and difficult or unfamiliar words.

Finally, this text does not have very difficult concepts. As such, learners at this stage can decipher much of it and appreciate it. Some of them may already have some knowledge about Leonardo Da Vinci and arts such as paintings and sculptures. It is therefore an interesting topic of consideration to the students, considering that some of them may be interested in the arts of the science of invention and discovery.