Part of a series on inventors, innovators

The latest entry in the children's book series "Who Was" spotlights the life of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. The series, which has profiled figures like Walt Disney, Jim Henson and Dr. Seuss, illustrates Jobs' early life and eventual rise to found, lead, leave and then return to Apple. The story of Apple's mercurial CEO is obviously sanitized for younger readers, but covers the major events and Jobs' impact on the technology industry.

Who Was Steve Jobs is aimed at children age eight and older, and charts Jobs' life, career and accomplishments in 112 pages, featuring a caricature of Jobs on the cover as is traditional with the series. The book sells for $5 and is part of a series of similar books intended to encourage interest in historical figures. The series, which employs different authors for various volumes, also has a series of "Who Is" biographies for persons of interest to young people who are still living, such as Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling.

The book is not without some minor errors (calling the early name of the company "Apple Computers" instead of "Apple Computer" for example), and glosses over many details both for the sake of brevity and to keep the story straightforward and simple, but serves as an introduction to young people of a man who helped shape their future. The book is available now in stores both online and retail, and is also available on the iBookStore, Kindle and Nook online stores for the same $5 price.

by MacNN Staff