Benjamin Franklin for kids: a true picture book
Ben Franklin Fixes the Town. How one printer and his neighbors built things together 10 pages, fact-checked, at three reading levels, read aloud.
The lesson: Citizens do not wait for someone else to fix the town.
Read the first pages free
This is Ben. Ben has a printing shop. Clunk! Clunk! The press makes pages.
In 1728, Ben Franklin opened his own printing shop in Philadelphia. Clunk! Clunk! He pulled the heavy press. Out came fresh pages full of words.
In 1728, Benjamin Franklin opened his own printing shop in Philadelphia. A printer used a press, a machine that squeezes inked metal letters against paper to stamp words onto a page. Pulling that handle again and again was hard, sweaty work. But every pull turned out pages that many people could read. Ben was a builder from the very start, and his shop was the first thing he built.
Page 1 of 10
Ben prints a little book. Its name is Poor Richard's Almanack. Stack, stack, stack!
Later, Ben printed a book called Poor Richard's Almanack. Stack, stack, stack! He piled up copies so lots of people could read it.
After opening his shop in 1728, Ben later published Poor Richard's Almanack. An almanac is a book that comes out again and again, packed with useful information people can look up. Ben did more than print other people's words. He made something new and shared it widely. His printing shop helped him turn one good idea into many copies, a skill he would use again and again.
Page 2 of 10
Benjamin Franklin: a timeline of true facts
- 1728 He opened his own printing shop in Philadelphia and later published Poor Richard's Almanack. source
- 1731 He started the Library Company of Philadelphia, where members pooled money to buy books they could all borrow. source
- 1736 He organized the Union Fire Company, a volunteer group of neighbors who fought fires together. source
- 1752 He described the kite experiment showing that lightning is electricity, and invented the lightning rod to protect buildings. source
- 1776 He helped edit the Declaration of Independence. source
- 1787 At 81, he was the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention. source
3 reading levels
- Read to me (ages 3–5)
- Read together (ages 6–8)
- I'll read (ages 9–12)
The same true story, written three ways. Little kids hear short, bouncy lines; big kids get the details and the numbers.
Quiz time
What kind of shop did Ben open?
Show the answer
A printing shop.
Try this at home
- Make a family library: everyone puts a few books in one box, then take turns borrowing and bringing them back.
- Print like Ben: carve a simple shape into half a potato with a grown-up's help, dip it in paint, and stamp the same picture again and again.
- Be a neighborhood helper: with a grown-up, pick one small job for your street or park, like picking up litter, and invite a friend to do it with you.
More true heroes
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