Think Smart, Be Fearless: A Biography of Bill Gates

This addition to the Growing to Greatness series focuses its beam on Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who helped spur the personal computing revolution. Mentyka’s lengthy biography recounts how Gates voraciously played games and consumed books, and was inspired by the 1962 World’s Fair as well as a Teletype machine. From high school and Harvard to Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, the text spotlights its subject’s intense pursuit of his interests and his appetite for risk: “If someone told him he was too young, too inexperienced, or something was too difficult, it only made him work harder and think smarter.” Mildenberger renders her naïf illustrations in muted hues, and relevant visuals—zeroes and ones, computer keyboards, and myriad worries—ribbon through spreads. Extensive back matter offers a glossary of computer terms, a timeline of Gates’s life until 2017 twined with computer history, and more details about the entrepreneur. Ages 5–9. [em](Oct.) [/em]