Steven Spielberg

Get to Know the Extraordinary Filmmaker

De: Judy Greenspan

Narrado por: uncredited

Steven Spielberg has changed the cinematic world with his hugely popular films. Testing out new technology, telling dramatic stories, and collaborating with successful directors, actors, and producers built Spielberg's reputation as a director and producer.

©2020 Judy Greenspan (P)2024 Capstone Publishers, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

This basic thirty-two-page biography opens with the challenges Steven Spielberg faced while making the movie Jaws and continues with a description of his childhood growing up in a Jewish family in Cincinnati, Ohio and how he broke into Hollywood as a teenager. It then discusses Spielberg’s most popular movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The final chapter covers Schindler’s List and explains Spielberg’s personal connection to the Holocaust. Text boxes provide additional material including information about Spielberg’s Russian-Jewish family and his animated film An American Tail, and his involvement with the Shoah Foundation. Full cover photographs, “Did You Know?” facts, and definitions of terms are also included on each page and a glossary, index and “Critical Thinking Questions” are appended. Biographies of Spielberg are numerous and while this one is nicely done, it is likely an additional purchase except where demand is high. Irena Sendler, Anne Frank, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are also included in this series. (Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL)

Although short in length (only 32 pages each), these text-heavy biographies are full of information with plenty of details for report writers and casual readers alike. The series title aptly brings some interesting people under one umbrella, including contemporary political figures, entertainment moguls, and historical individuals. Difficult or controversial aspects of the subject’s life are addressed (as in the bios for Malcolm X and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), ensuring that the text is balanced and not purely complimentary. VERDICT The appealing layouts, insets, sidebars with extra details, and color photographs on nearly every page will keep readers interested and engaged. (Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA)