Ben Franklin

POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC

	Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard’s Almanack (Dover Publications, 1999) is a collection of aphorisms from Ben Franklin’s famous Almanac, categorized by topic from “Aging and Youth” and “Anger, Revenge, and Forgiveness” to “Happiness,” “Money and Frugality,” and “Social Relations.”
	At the Internet Archive, see the full text of Poor Richard’s Almanack online.

SCIENTIFIC BEN

	In Stephen Krensky’s Ben Franklin and His First Kite (Simon Spotlight, 2002), ten-year-old Ben uses a kite to propel himself across a pond. For ages 4-7.
	See PBS’s Benjamin Franklin: Make a Kite for illustrated instructions for making a Ben-Franklin-style diamond kite.
	For many more kite resources, see GO FLY A KITE.
	Rosalyn Schanzer’s How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning (HarperCollins, 2002) is a charming picture-book account of Franklin’s many inventions and accomplishments, concentrating on his discovery of the electrical nature of lightning and his invention of the lightning rod to prevent fires. (“It’s true! The great Benjamin Franklin really did steal lightning right out of the sky! And then he set out to tame the beast.”) For ages 5-9.
	Mara Rockliff’s Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France (Candlewick, 2015) is a gorgeously illustrated account of how Franklin, armed with the scientific method, unmasked the dramatic Dr. Mesmer, who claimed to control a mysterious and powerful magical force. For ages 6-10.
	From the Franklin Institute, The Ben Franklin Book of Easy and Incredible Experiments (Wiley, 1995) is a great collection of hands-on projects and activities, variously categorized under “Using Your Head,” “Exploring the Weather,” “Exciting Electricity,” “Making Music,” “Paper and Printing,” and “Exploring Light and Sight.” For each project, there are instructions, explanations, and historical background from the life of Franklin. For ages 8 and up.
	Carmella Van Vleet’s Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Nomad Press, 2007) combines background information on the life and times of Ben Franklin with 30 Franklin-related hands-on projects. Among these: kids can make a hornbook, a paper mold, invisible ink, a kite, a personal mailbox, a quill pen, and a fur hat. For ages 8-12.

MATHEMATICAL BEN

	Frank Murphy’s Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Random House, 2001) is a Step Into Reading book about Franklin and his inventions, among them the mathematical “Magic Square” – a box of nine numbers arranged such that each row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same total. For ages 7-9.
	From K-5 Math Teaching Resources, Magic Squares has printable puzzles and activities involving magic squares.