Book Review: The Good Guys; Rob Kemp & Paul Blow.

This was a bit of an odd choice for me actually. Especially considering the fact that the original premise made me roll my eyes! That being said, I'm glad I picked it up.

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: The Good Guys
AUTHOR: Rob Kemp & Paul Blow
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Wren & Rook
PAGES: 128
GENRE: Non-Fiction, Reference

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
What if we celebrated boys for their kindness as well their strength? For their generosity as well as their success? For their loyal friendship as well as their charm? The Good Guys introduces us to 50 heroes who have showed that changing the world doesn't require a sword or a corporate jet. Readers will find stories of extraordinary men including Muhammad Ali, Professor Green, Patrick Stewart and Lionel Messi, as well as unsung heroes such as James Harrison, who has spent fifty years donating his rare blood to save millions of babies. There's even a section celebrating ten boys who didn't let their young age stop them from helping others, such as Matthew Kaplan, who responded to his brother's bullies by setting up an anti-bullying programme for schools. The Good Guys celebrates the feats of heroes and everyday men, and will show kids that it really is cool to be kind.

What I Liked:

• Despite having heard of most of the people in this book, I still felt like I learnt a lot! Kemp highlighted a lot of thinks about his chosen 'heroes' that they are not famous for: compassionate acts of kindness. We need to read more about that, especially regarding historical men who are usually famous for bloodthirsty battles or conquests.

What I Disliked:

• I have to say, I don't particularly think we need more books about men's accomplishments. It's what originally made me aggravated when I read this book's title. Having read it, that niggling thought remains, though I do think that Kemp provided a bit of a twist here.

Overall Conclusion:

I liked the focus of this book a lot. The illustrations were great, with some nicely chosen quotes to accompany them. There were some really interesting choices too! I think that while the book was very male-orientated, it actually focused on something not necessarily considered to be masculine. Compassion, kindness and sensitivity. I learnt a lot about famous figures I thought I knew a lot about, which was pretty cool!