Inspirational Stories from Real Life Icons

Interesting Stories for Curious Kids – Fascinating Tales of Real-Life Heroes, Remarkable Events, and Historical Wonder to Ignite a Passion for History and Lifelong Learning by Finn Manning; 91 pp

Modern day media is full of reports of disturbance, crime, pop culture, natural disasters, climate change, etc. One would get an idea that everything is gloom and doom and people are just being entitled, ungrateful, selfish, and hastening the demise of the world as we know it. There are few and far between positive stories about people who have overcome great odds to succeed, help, inspire entire populations, and set examples for everyone else to emulate.

In this kind of scenario Finn Manning presents a new inspirational volume titled Interesting Stories for Curious Kids, a compilation of inspirational stories of real-life heroes, incidents in the past that have changed the course of history, people who have changed the world with their simple determination, goodness, and character. “Throughout history, incredible people and cultures have risen who stood out as inspiring. Their stories are carried on to everyone with a curious mind to listen to the tales of their glory,” writes Manning introducing the tone of the rest of the volume.

The book is choc-a-block with 91 pages of brief, interesting, and engaging stories that seamlessly combine historical personalities, and events with current scenario to drive home the lessons that will shape people’s lives. It is obvious the author aimed this book at kids as evidenced by the title, I think everyone can benefit from this book. Children, adolescents, and adults can get inspired from the stories about people who overcame great odds to change the world.

The compact 91-page volume starts off with a chapter on courageous explorers who ventured out of the comfort of their homes and explored the deep oceans, distant lands, and mapped the world. Today with a GPS, fast transportation, and global positioning systems one can go anywhere across the world, but a few centuries ago it was almost impossible. A chapter on innovators and dreamers follows in which people like Nikola Tesla, Thomas Alva Edison, Marie Curie, and many other scientists are profiled and their life journeys explained.

Each personality is introduced in a fun, relatable manner, even children will find this interesting. Young readers learn important history lessons in a fun, exciting, story telling format. The entire book is written in a very accessible tone, which shows a certain amount of respect to the reader. The book stimulates young minds to wonder, ask questions, and dig deeper, be it about science, historical events, or about people. The variety of topics this book covers is something that no text book can do. Encyclopedias would cover them but then they are usually verbose and voluminous. I would recommend this book for every family with children over 8, schools, libraries and any place where people with a curious mind are often present.

Inspiring Story of Soccer Legend

Ronaldo Built for Greatness by Max Reed

I like to read biographies to learn about how some people were able to achieve greatness. The stories of triumph against odds, childhood traits that sets these people ahead of others in their generation is what makes for a learning filled read. One such book I recently read is Ronaldo Built for Greatness by Max Reed.

This book chronicles the inspiring life story of Cristiano Ronaldo the soccer great who has become a household name across the world. Born as Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro in a small island Madeira, far from the big cities, into humble beginnings, he started playing soccer barefoot on the streets. Ronaldo had dreams of becoming the best soccer player in the world, people constantly discouraged him and told him it was impossible. But Ronaldo persisted, the more discouraging words he heard the stronger his resolve became to play better. 

In the introduction to Ronaldo itself Reed makes it clear that this soccer great had some qualities that set him apart like his work ethic, not giving up on his dream, self belief, among others. Further the book leads into 10 chapters each detailing a different anecdote from Ronaldo's life; his wild childhood; leaving home at 12; early struggles in England, etc. Each chapter has a subtle lesson to the reader a inspiring message something that everyone can aspire for. 

The book ends with two amazing sections a chapter on Ronaldo Trading Cards which features 25 fun illustrated cards that detail fun facts and trivia. Then there is the 25 question trivia quiz which soccer fans can check their knowledge with.

Inspiring Biography

Inspiration to go above and beyond our normal life and achieve something great comes from various sources. It could come from nature, literature, poetry, and often from other people around us, those who have overcome great odds to become the best version of themselves.

One such individual that overcome almost insurmountable odds and became successful is Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi. Born into a middle-class family of steel factory manager father and magnet manufacturing workshop employee mother Messi developed a passion for soccer from an early age. He suffered from a growth hormone deficiency at age 10, when he started treatment a year later, his parents could barely afford the $1,000 per month price tag. Eventually he was able to overcome this health condition and become an internationally admired soccer player.

This compact 152-page volume by Max Ryan captures the life story of Messi with each chapter chronicling the struggles and how he triumphed. The book culminates with a journal section on how to replicate strategies to overcome your own personal challenges and rise like a phoenix. To enhance the legitimacy of this volume Ryan has provided a list of references for further reading and/ verification, much like a researched piece of work.

While the content of this book is well presented and easy to read, the typography can use some expert/ professional touches. The layout of the book is currently very busy and verbose can be interspersed with the pictures and graphics to provide relief and information to the reader.