Book Review: 365 Days of Wonder

365 Days of Wonder:  Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts

by R.J. Palacio

My Rating: ***** 5 out of 5 stars

Why Did I Read?

I read this book because it goes along with one of my all-time favorite books – Wonder, also by R.J. Palacio.  (You can see my review for Wonder here.)

Summary (from Goodreads)

In the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Wonder, readers were introduced to memorable English teacher Mr. Browne and his love of precepts. Simply put, precepts are principles to live by, and Mr. Browne has compiled 365 of them—one for each day of the year—drawn from popular songs to children’s books to inscriptions on Egyptian tombstones to fortune cookies. His selections celebrate kindness, hopefulness, the goodness of human beings, the strength of people’s hearts, and the power of people’s wills. Interspersed with the precepts are letters and emails from characters who appeared in Wonder. Readers hear from Summer, Jack, Charlotte, Julian, and Amos.

There’s something for everyone here, with words of wisdom from such noteworthy people as Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., Confucius, Goethe, Sappho—and over 100 readers of Wonder who sent R. J. Palacio their own precepts.

What Did I Think/Recommendation

I loved this book!  I loved that it was a VERY quick read, with one precept per page and a short essay written by Mr. Browne at the beginning of each month.  I loved the way it tied into the book Wonder (which I think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime).  I loved all of the precepts.  I have been writing down quotes I love since I was a little girl, and I had always wanted to compile them all in one place.  365 Days of Wonder contains many of my favorite quotes, and I found the book and all of its precepts to be very inspiring to me.

I love Mr. Browne’s character.  He is a wonderful teacher filled with wisdom, and he passes it on to his 5th graders.  I think he is one of those teachers that makes a huge impact on his students’ lives.  He doesn’t teach just for students to pass a test…he teaches them much more important things, such as kindness, wisdom, justice, etc.  I loved these lines from Mr. Browne’s December essay:  “Teachers need the freedom to teach — freedom they can’t have if they’re only teaching so their students can pass tests.  I’m pretty sure my students won’t find anything about Hector on the Common Core tests.  I’m equally sure that what they learned about Wisdom, Justice, Courage, and Temperance may stay with them for the rest of their lives.” ~Mr. Browne

I would absolutely recommend reading this book, although I would suggest reading Wonder first.  Now that I have read Wonder and I’ve read Mr. Browne’s perspective in 365 Days of Wonder, the next book on my list to read is The Julian Chapter:  A Wonder Story.  I’m looking forward to reading Julian’s perspective.  In this Wonder story, I love the whole concept of getting the different points of view from all the different characters.  It really reinforces the idea that we should not judge others because we have no idea what they are going through, and people act the way they do for a reason.

For more reviews on 365 Days of Wonder, or information about author R.J. Palacio and her books, check it out here on Goodreads.