An authorial debut for illustrator Barretta, Now & Ben aims at the youngest readers, limiting its purview to Franklin as a slightly tubby, jolly inventor and innovator. Each left-hand page describes and illustrates one of Franklin’s contributions as we know it (“Now…our newspapers are filled with illustrations”); the opposite page goes back in time to reveal the Franklin connection (“Ben…was the first to print a political cartoon in America”). Most young children won’t grasp the play on the phrase now and then but will zero in instead on the well-chosen examples, which include bifocals and lightning rods as well as lesser-known notions (a rocking chair that churned butter!), all appealingly rendered in Barretta’s relaxed, cartoon-like watercolors. This will be a punchy read-aloud to lighten up American history units, though teachers wanting more details will need to look elsewhere as the book’s biographical context is scattershot and no end matter is provided.

-Jennifer Mattson