Starring Steven Spielberg: The Making of a Young Filmmaker

by Gene Barretta, Craig Orback (Illustrator)

Overview

★ "Inspiring text and illustrations evoke the journey of an iconic filmmaker. Recommended for all collections." —School Library Journal, starred review

Steven Spielberg is the legendary director and producer behind many of the most popular films of all time—now, discover where did it all began with this exclusive look into his life.

Before Steven made films, he watched them. Naturally inventive with a vivid imagination, he was known for creating stories inspired by the world around him. But his passion wasn’t driven just by entertainment—as the only Jewish boy in his neighborhood, he was often bullied and felt the sting of antisemitism. He also suffered the pain of his parents’ divorce. Films, and the magic they contained, became a necessary escape.

From his younger years to his first days on a movie set, this biography captures the unique ways Steven’s memories influenced his career, helping him to become the celebrated filmmaker that he is today. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316338981
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	415,627
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Gene Barretta is the author and illustrator of Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin, Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, and Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives, which was the recipient of a Cook Honor from Bank Street College of Education. He holds a B.F.A. in Film Studies from New York University, and has worked for many years in film and television production. He lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania with his son and invites you to visit him online at genebarretta.com.

Craig Orback has illustrated many books for young readers, including Born to Draw Comics: The Story of Charles Schulz and the Creation of Peanuts, as well as Gifts from the Enemy and The Can Man. He lives in Seattle and invites you to visit him online at craigorback.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2022

Budding film buffs gain insight into the work of Steven Spielberg (b. 1946) in this play-by-play account spotlighting his school-age cinematic efforts and first amateur feature-length film. Opening with Spielberg’s early experience as a moviegoer in the 1950s, the book shines a particular spotlight on the way that experiences from his youth, ranging from anxiety to his parents’ divorce, shaped his sensibilities as a director. Through filmmaking, the creators present Spielberg as finding solace from trouble at home, bullying, and antisemitism—themes the title readily identifies in his movies. Italicized quotes from the subject and references to his box-office creations trace a clear path to Hollywood acclaim, while Orback’s painterly digital illustrations depict him at work alongside re-creations of relevant film reels. Back matter includes a filmography and references. Ages 5–9. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Starring Steven Spielberg:

* "The story adeptly links the boy’s fears and hardships to his most celebrated movies and focusing on the filmmaker’s own conviction that even the most fantastical of his stories is based on his own life.... Inspiring text and illustrations evoke the journey of an iconic filmmaker. Recommended for all collections."

—SLJ, starred review

"Scenes from a famous director’s childhood.... Panoramic, colorful, action-packed spreads give the book a cinematic feel.... Educational and entertaining."—Kirkus Reviews

"Budding film buffs gain insight into the work of Steven Spielberg….Opening with Spielberg’s early experience as a moviegoer in the 1950s, the book shines a particular spotlight on the way that experiences from his youth, ranging from anxiety to his parents’ divorce, shaped his sensibilities as a director."—Publishers Weekly

"Starring Steven Spielberg fills in young cineastes on important technical aspects of the art—from staging and editing to watching both popular movies and audience reactions with analytical eyes…. The dramatic lighting and vivid colors in Orback’s illustrations of the young Spielberg in various settings, usually with a camera, and some of his iconic characters are properly cinematic."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2023

Gr 3–6—Life stories that focus on an individual's childhood are particularly appealing to young readers, and the focus of this picture book biography ensures that it will inspire kids who feel familiarity with Spielberg's early experiences. Enchanted by movie magic from an early age, Spielberg was lucky to be born into a creative family. Realistic, painterly illustrations capture the 1950s era when he was growing up in New Jersey, his fertile imagination beginning to take root through drawing, dressing up, playing pranks, and making music. His camera skills developed after a move to Arizona, though he struggled with anxieties, antisemitism, bullies, poor grades, and tension between his parents, who eventually divorced. The story adeptly links the boy's fears and hardships to his most celebrated movies and focusing on the filmmaker's own conviction that even the most fantastical of his stories is based on his own life. The narrative concludes with Spielberg becoming the youngest director at a major studio at the age of 21; a few facts about his later life are also presented as a sequence of images on an old-fashioned filmstrip. The book includes quotation sources, fun facts, and suggestions for age-appropriate viewing of Spielberg's movies. VERDICT Inspiring text and illustrations evoke the journey of an iconic filmmaker. Recommended for all collections.—Gloria Koster

School Library Journal

2022-07-13
Scenes from a famous director’s childhood.

A young boy watches a train wreck on the big screen in 1952, and it inspires a life of “movie magic.” Steven Spielberg’s story moves from New Jersey to Arizona and then California as he deals with bullies, antisemitism, and his parents’ divorce. Through all these hardships, he found solace in storytelling, whether scaring his sisters with creepy stories or using his dad’s handheld camera to record original scenes. The director once said that “hardly a single one of my films isn’t based on something that happened in my childhood” (one of several quotes from Spielberg incorporated in the text), and many iconic scenes from his movies are situated in the context of his life, like when young Steven let out the science-class frogs before they could be dissected or his father’s recounting of stories from World War II. Panoramic, colorful, action-packed spreads show these details and more, giving the book a cinematic feel. This would be challenging to read aloud—it’s on the longer end, and the prose uses the more complex writing style common for picture-book biographies. It would be ideal for a slightly older audience who want to sink their teeth into a biography but aren’t quite up for a chapter book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Educational and entertaining. (fun facts, recommended viewing, quote sources) (Picture-book biography. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews