"It’s a special treat for readers who like their hard-edged business reporting leavened by celebrity guest appearances by Mr. Potato Head, G.I. Joe and the odd dollop of Flubber. A triumph!
-- Kevin Sullivan, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post Senior Correspondent and author of best-selling books 'The Prison Angel' and 'Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland.'
*****
Kid Number One is a compulsively readable and beautifully researched tour through one family’s impact on a world that has impacted us all: the toy industry. This is a unique and fascinating book.”
-- Daniela Lamas, author of the best-selling “You Can Stop Humming Now: A doctor’s stories of life, death and in between.”
*****
“Combining family and corporate history, Kid Number One reveals the deeply personal family story at the heart of Hasbro's corporate identity. From family business to a cornerstone of American popular culture, G. Wayne Miller's history sheds light on the family and the values at the heart of one the globe's most recognizable brands.”
-- Julian C. Chambliss, historian, scholar and author of “Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Essays on the Social, Cultural and Geopolitical Domains.”
*****
“Originally built upon the backbone of two immigrant brothers, take a journey with G. Wayne Miller and learn what truly defines the HASBRO name: Hassenfeld, Ambition, Success, Benevolence, Rhode Island, and Optimism. A must read for anyone who values family, creativity, and making a difference!”
-- Dan Klingensmith Jr., G.I. Joe historian and author of G.I. Joe books.
*****
"Kid Number One is an extensively researched, engaging collection of stories that follow the fortunes of one immigrant family - the family that created the Hasbro company which birthed such iconic American toys as Mr. Potato Head.
"G. Wayne Miller begins with a painful account of an anti-Semitic hate crime: in 1903, mobs in the modern country of Moldova rose up to massacre fellow Jewish citizens - men, women and children. As a result, two teenage boys flee to America and settle down in the German-Jewish quarter of New York City (the Lower East Side).
"Fighting against the odds, they rise to fame and fortune, and become the first "Hasbro" brothers - and they bequeath not just wealth but a legacy of commitment to living by the Judaic Tenet of Tikkun Olam (or "repaying the world" and giving back to the human community). This is not, however, an unstinting Eulogy - Miller unflinchingly discusses family strife and decisions that nearly proved distastrous to the business, even as he recounts the successes. When we meet Alan Hassenfeld, we are shown the gentle humor that infused his life and work.
"Yet this is more than a mere historical account of one successful man, family, or company - it is also a set of stories that forces us to examine our current attitudes toward immigration; indeed, in the chapter "Reach for the Stars", Miller explicitly connects his retelling with the politics of today - and this honest questioning, taken together with his tenderly painted portrait of Alan Hassenfeld, a quiet, hard-working, ambitious and yet socially conscious entrepreneur and philanthropist who embodied the American Dream, will leave a lasting impression on the minds of readers."
-- Padma Venkatraman is the best-selling author of The Bridge Home and many other critically acclaimed books.
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