Review by jrbrady -- Bedu: Bedouin Boy, Poet King
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Review by jrbrady -- Bedu: Bedouin Boy, Poet King
Bedu: Bedouin Boy, Poet King: A Profoundly Simple Journey by David W Sutherland and Paul McEllips, is a story that follows Bedu, a young man living around 30 AD as a Bedouin with his family. Bedu works hard to tend his father’s flocks, all the while creating beautiful spoken poetry reflecting the composition of his daily life: beauty and struggle. He shares his word-crafting skill with his family and inspires them with the wonder of life. An encounter with King Melchior interrupts Bedu’s seemingly peaceful life and he develops a deep resentment. He makes a choice to lash out against the King. The King responds to Bedu’s antagonism by sending him on a quest to discover the secret of the seven stars. Bedu’s adventures shape him into a better man, and guide him into a leadership role he never expected.
I love that this story succeeds in illustrating the character requirements of an exemplary leader. I have never read such a simple, charming story that also taught me some valuable lessons. There are seven chapter titles that create the acrostic; “culture.” Collaborate, Understanding, Leadership, Treat, Unleash, Respect, Evolve. Each of Bedu’s adventures illustrate one these character traits. Both authors are retired from the U.S. Army. According to the author biography at end of the book, Sutherland is a “nationally recognized speaker and vocal advocate for transformational change that is driven by visionary, ethical and engaged leaders.” I believe the authors faithfully accomplished their goal of teaching leadership principles within the fictional adventure. As a reader, I was invested in Bedu struggles and successes!
This book is a quick- read, giving only glimpses into Bedu’s life at various times. This is great for readers who enjoy shorter stories. However, I found Bedu’s character to be very interesting, and would have loved a fully-fleshed novel filling in the details. In my opinion, this is the only somewhat negative aspect to the book.
I give Bedu: Bedouin Boy, Poet King: A Profoundly Simple Journey 4 out of 4 stars. The book is professionally edited. The flow of the story was not marred with grammatical mistakes and the content was engaging.
I highly recommend this book to various audiences because of its wide range of appeal. This would be a great required read for employers and employees to read as part of a character- building exercise. The target audience is mainly teens and adults, but appropriate for all ages. Even older children might enjoy it as a family read-aloud. This book does include spiritual Christian themes woven within the setting of the story, but people of any religious or non- religious background can enjoy this story.
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Bedu: Bedouin Boy, Poet King
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