Book Tour and Netflix Show! Who Was Pablo Picasso and Who Were the Wright Brothers

What do you get when you cross The Electric Company, Zoom, and Schoolhouse Rock? Oh that’s easy, you get Netflix’s new show “The Who Was? Show.  First, I’ll start with a little background.  Random House Penguin has a fantastic series of biographies on famous people called Who Was…  My student’s love them.  The books are filled with interesting facts and illustrations.  They are age appropriate, but they don’t shy away from serious details. 

Luckily for us Netflix decided to highlight these books with a hilarious show. Two famous (actually three this time) people are show cased in each episode. I got to spend a little time with Pablo Picasso and The Wright Brothers.  The difference between the books and the Netflix show is enough that a student can’t watch the show and learn everything in the book.  The show is almost a teaser for the book.  “Hey kids wanna learn about a famous person?  Here is a bit of information.”  Hey kids want to learn more? Great! Here is a book that will teach you so much more!”

Thank you Penguin for the Books! 

In the episode I watched one of the Wright brothers is annoyed that they each didn’t get the same amount of time as Picasso.  I, also, don’t think it is true that the Wright brothers tried to invent clothes for cats.  But, you never know!   

Earlier, I commented that the books don’t shy away from serious details.  For example, in the Who Was Pablo Picasso

book it talks about the death of his sister and best friend and how this loss dramatically impacted his art.

Combining the humor and seriousness of life is what makes for an interesting watch and read.  I look forward to continuing to share the books with my students, and now I can share this wonderfully delightful show.