Michael Rosen

Young Benjamin Franklin wants to be a sailor, but his father won't hear of it. The other trades he tries—candle maker, joiner, boot closer, turner—bore him through and through. Curious and inventive, Ben prefers to read, swim, fly his kite, and fly his kite while swimming. But each time he fails to find a profession, he takes some important bit of knowledge with him. That tendency is exactly what leads him to become the astonishingly versatile...