CBR15Passport, Different genres (A non-fiction book/biography in picture book format not “novel”)
My reading of Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession made me realize that, well duh someone had to invent video games, but as a very much non-gamer (I mean, my Mario Cart went into the water! My friend I was with didn’t even realize you could do that) I had no idea who that person would be. Kate Hannigan’s picture book biograph of Ralph Baer was fantastically done. I might not have understood a word of the technical stuff, but Baer himself was a fascinating person.
You think you’re OG Gamer? With you Pac-Man and Donkey Kong? Sorry, even you Pong people ain’t got nuttin’ on the real and the original OG player. Baer figured out how to put a blip here, a blip there, stick something over there, and BAM! You got a game. Play it on that new invention called the TV and golden! The life of Baer was not easy. He was a child in Nazi Germany, family escaping just in time. The family changed their names to less German sounding names and Baer found ways to get ahead in business. He took his talents and eventually worked on televisions and would keep adapting to the changing times. Finally, he and several other men would put all the blips and dots and stuff and make video games.
Zachariah Ohora’s signature style of less than realistic looking images and lots of muted but not washed-out colors paints this picture. We see all sorts of history and the mechanics behind it. We also see a man’s personality with his Mr. Rogers sweaters and glass (that was probably some of my favorite art as you see the fashion of a scientific man of the times).
Afterwards include photographs and information about him, the inventions and his family (some of the first kid gamers). Best for probably ages five and up, it is a fun all ages title.
