Marie Curie, Albert Einstein
Reviewed by Ron Stinson, Instructor

The Real Lives books are about famous people from the worlds of sport, film and music, and politics and history. These true stories contain lots of wonderful photographs, and interesting information about people who have changed the way we live today. The authors introduce the reader to famous people and are able to capture the feelings of discovery, love, sadness, and achievement in such a magnificent way that students can't put the books down. In fact, students who read these books wanted to read more selections from this series that contains 131 titles.

The high interest and easy but exciting vocabulary make these books a welcome addition to literacy classrooms, and the large print and abundance of white space make them easy to read. Students in our fundamental level literacy program found this material wonderful for personal recreational reading. In their evaluations, students liked the photos, the true stories and learning about the lives of interesting and famous people. Also, these books generated lots of interest and enthusiasm when used by students for classroom discussion. Some students wanted more information about Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. As a result, this thirst for more knowledge led them to the college library where they researched and gathered more information that they brought back to the classroom to share with their classmates.

Finally, the positive instructor and learner response to these books has prompted their inclusion in our fundamental literacy curriculum. We will use this material to design structured individual and group learning activities that develop students' basic literacy skills and enrich their lives through learning about famous people.