Both the story and the illustrations for this book seem AI generated. We enjoyed The Oldest Student by the same author, which was a VSBA nominee and part of our book awards unit, but this book doesn't read the same AT ALL. The first pages are very corny and do not even slightly sound like real discussions in a classroom. The beginning does not "hook" you or make you want to read more. The teacher and the class aren't fleshed out as characters, and most of the time the dialogue doesn't even tell who's speaking. Once the class gets to the museum, is the teacher or a docent presenting the information? I can tell you on an actual field trip, the class would be split into groups with parent volunteers and the teacher does not present. The Battle Buddy term is unnecessarily introduced because the students don't break into pairs and it never comes up again. There are way too many undefined words such as integrity, citizenship, etc. They are great concepts for kids to learn, but this text doesn't help readers understand them at all. Which brings me to the biggest issue of this book- it relies on kids having way too much background knowledge to follow along. Each Medal of Honor recipient is skimmed through. Random information is thrown onto the page but not explained. There are lots of holes in each description that kids would just be expected to fill in. For example, it doesn't even mention where any of the wars/battles were fought. I know where the person went to college, but I don't know anything about the setting of their service or the wars they fought in. Maybe this would be better as a longer nonfiction book without the guise of presenting the information on a field trip in a picture book? Something with sidebars and other nonfiction text features such as a glossary, timeline, and maps. I'm an elementary school librarian in TN (where it says many of the men are from), down the street from a Navy base, with over 100 students from military families, and I still don't feel like this book is worth adding to our collection. I wanted to love it so bad. I think it would be great for students to learn about brave acts of service to our country. It seemed like exactly the type of thing that my students would fawn over. But I really think it needs restructuring as a fun interactive nonfiction text. Bellwether Media has a set of war books that come to mind that could be referred to as an example. There are good quality collective biographies out there for kids, and I feel like that's what this should have been.

Thanks to NetGalley and National Center for Youth Issues for allowing me to read this today. This was definitely written in a kid friendly way and a great way to leave about important military hero. From a military veteran and military family, thank you for this book.

A good children's book to help the youth of today understand the sacrifice of past generations for their freedom. The stories are short and do a great job of explaining the facts and history. A good read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The Making of a Hero" is a good story about some amazing heroes who saved lives. The language is a bit advanced for young readers, but it's still a great read about bravery and heroism.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this with my history obsessed 9 year old and we both really enjoyed it. We learned new things and enjoyed the illustrations a lot.

I always love using picture books to teach children important life lessons. The Making of a Hero uses stories from our nation's history to teach kids about courage, sacrifice, and leadership. This book would be perfect in the classroom setting for a history lesson and would spark great conversations about what qualities the students believe embody a hero. Very inspiring with great illustrations!