Linking back to Olympic Picture Book Posts

As the 2016 Summer Olympics play out on multi-media stages, let's not overlook important offerings on the subject in the world of picture books. An important aspect of these competitions every two/four years is that deep histories and traditions are reported and repeated, embedded in the records and the lives of those who set those records. 

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2016

A recent release is NADIA, THE GIRL WHO COULDN'T SIT STILL, written by Karlin Gray and illustrated by Christine Davenier. Click on the author's name above to read an informative Q/A about this book.

In past Olympic years I've recommended other titles, including this post about diver Sammy Lee and runner Wilma Rudolph. Click on the names to learn more about the individuals, and click HERE to read my comments on picture books that share their stories.

The two weeks of the summer Olympics are CERTAINLY NOT the only time to share books like these. Just last spring I wrote a post about the balancing act between fiction and nonfiction in writing picture books or novels that weave verifiable facts throughout compelling and realistic stories. 

In it, HERE, I featured several titles ranging from Pat Zietlow Miller's QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE to the graphic biography, WILMA RUDOLPH: OLYMPIC TRACK STAR, by Lee Engfer.

Whether you check out my previous posts linked above, explore new titles like NADIA, or search out others involving your sport of choice, tap into the magnetic and irresistible draw of picture books on sports themes all year long, every year. They offer inspiration as well as mentor text for fiction, nonfiction, biography, and figurative language. And sports fan will confirm that no text is more dense with metaphor and simile than sports writing is. When looking for books featuring diverse characters and obstacles overcome, this topic/genre provides a rich resource. With back-to-school just around the corner (or already begun) there's no better time, at home or at school, to make a trip to the library and fill a bag with a selection of winning titles.

If you have others to suggest, please add them to the comments so we can add them to our lists before that library trip!

Navigating Tough Turf: Fiction/Nonfiction

At a recent school visit I worked with sixth graders on the craft of writing historical fiction. In that genre a writer's goal is to know and share facts through storytelling that SEEMS as real as history. Only then can a story achieve its goals of entertaining, educating, and stimulating curiosity while not misleading or confusing readers. Most historical fiction books offer back matter resources to verify sources, indicate points of accuracy/divergence from facts, and suggest further explorations. 
That requires research. 
Extensive research.

Chronicle Books, 2016

This challenge is even important in picture books. 
Perhaps especially important. 
The youngest readers have limited background knowledge and are, developmentally, less able to sort out reality from imagination. Both the author and the illustrator must apply their best talents in order to bring to life the time, place, and social forces of history within a powerful and appealing story. 
This challenge was well-met in the recent picture book written by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by Frank Morrison, THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE.  
In a recent interview with TIME FOR KIDS, Pat indicated she did extensive research on her subject  even though the only direct text references to Wilma Rudolph involved just a couple of lines in the book.

I encourage young readers to "reverse engineer" the writing process by reading this recent book, then other nonfiction titles on the subject. Insights can be found into comparing sources, sorting details, and decision making about what is the "just-right" amount of factual content within historical storytelling to enrich but not overwhelm.

Harcourt Children's Books, 1996

On this subject, the book I'd recommend above all others is WILMA UNLIMITED: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's fastest Woman, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz. During the 2012 summer Olympics I wrote about this book (and others, here) and will undoubtedly do so again at some point. 
The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin have been the focus of literary and film attention in recent years. In 1936 the Olympics were politicized and orchestrated by Hitler in an attempt to prove his theories of white supremacy. The talent and dedication of Jesse Owens and others denied Hitler his national sweep and false claims. The movie trailer for Jesse Owens's story, RACE, is here.

Wilma's story in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome played out in high drama, too. Even so, her first-time-ever triple GOLD MEDAL for a woman can't outshine the drama of the personal story revealing how she reached that international stage. WILMA UNLIMITED captures that perfectly. This narrative and  fully illustrated picture book makes Wilma's story seem as if it could be entirely fiction, a tall tale, or a superhero story. That's why comparison to more traditional sources allow young readers to verify and answer questions.

Teacher Created Materials, 2010

 WILMA RUDOLPH: Against All Odds, by Stephanie E. Macceca is, is an excellent example in traditional nonfiction-information text format. This easy-to-read biography sets Wilma's life in context of the times, incorporating information about polio and politics. Its design includes the expected elements of photography, archival images, picture captions, simple illustrations, table of contents, index, and direct-to-reader back matter.
Readers could easily compare the books point-for-point with very kid-friendly text.

Capstone Press, 2006

Graphic text provides another approach to nonfiction for young readers. WILMA RUDOLPH: Olympic Track Star (Graphic Biographies) written by Lee Engfer, illustrated by Cynthia Martin is an excellent example. The accessibility of paneled text and illustration format has been proven successful with the youngest readers and with older, established readers. 
Dismissive attitudes toward "comic book" content has been receding among teachers, librarians, and parents as the quality of information and literary prose in this format steadily rises.

Opportunities to read and discuss a variety of research materials like these examples offers readers a digestible version of the process writers use to make history come to life. This exploration might lead to writing a fictional story incorporating  historical characters and events. In the realm of nonfiction, athletes have been the subject of a wide variety of books in various formats. A project like this just might hook some otherwise reluctant writers.
Why not give it a try?

Non-fiction Notes: KID ATHLETES and Other Biographies

We've reached the final stages in our CYBILS fiction picture book evaluations. From now until the first of the year, when finalists are announced, I'll limit posts to nonfiction and poetry. There are plenty of titles to praise and celebrate in those categories, but I'll start here:

Kids really have a hard time picturing adults as babies, or even as kids. How could a mom, dad, teacher, coach, or any adult driving a car, mowing the lawn, or cooking dinner, ever have been a kid? Could they have hated homework? Pouted, teased, been bullied, or caused trouble? It stretches the imagination, to say the least.

It’s even more difficult to picture famous adults as kids. Sports stars are perhaps the hardest of all. Weren’t they just born into the world talented, superior, poised, confident, popular? Rich?

Nope.

Quirk Books, December, 2015

Just in time for holiday gifting, here's a book that will reveal some childhood truths and hook young readers in the process: Kid Athletes: TrueTales of Childhood from SPORTS LEGENDS. (Quirk Books, December, 2015). Kids will love discovering the details of REAL kids who grew up to become famous athletes in this thoroughly researched new book for middle grade readers.:

The stories are written by David Stabler,  with illustrations by Doogie Horner. This pair also created Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America’s Presidents.

At two hundred pages, KID ATHLETES is meaty but accessible for even reluctant readers: large font, wide line spaces, text packed with wry humor and action, and nearly every page featuring colorful, comic illustrations.

The athletes span two centuries, many sports, both genders, and the globe. Although primarily focused on American athletes, even those won't all be familiar to young readers. The childhood experiences and societies these athletes inhabited provide real exposure to historic periods and changes. For kids who can't imagine a world without portable screens, these biographies are valuable opportunities to take steps back through time.

The stories of athletes are grouped by themes: Not Easy Being a Kid, Family Matters, and Practice Makes Perfect. They offer examples of hardships overcome, but also depict troublemaking kids, bullying, pranksters, frustrations, and failures. Each takes only a short time to read, with additional resources and readings provided in back matter.

This blog focuses on picture books, but this two hundred page, non-fiction picture-ish book offers intriguing biographies that pair well with picture books.

My favorite picture book pairing is featured among the recommended titles. It's by award-winning biographer Kathleen Krull:   Lives of the Athletes: Thrills,Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). 

Some of the same individuals are featured, offering a great opportunity to compare and enhance the details of their lives from the two sources. It offers additional names to learn and lives to explore. 
Krulls website includes an introduction here, and a page with links to further information here.

Kathleen Krull is the author of one of my all-time favorite picture books (review here), illustrated by none other than award-winning David Diaz. WILMA UNLIMITED: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman. 

I'll slide two steps back from my pledge to stay with nonfiction when I tell you about a book that will release in February, 2016. Wilma Rudolph is the legendary figure who inspired THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE, by Pat Zietlow Miller. Truth be told, I haven't read this one yet, but a story created by Miller and about the inspiration provided by Wilma Rudolph to a kid in Clarksville will be in my hands the minute it becomes available.

After all, every legend started off as a kid. And every kid can grow up to become a legend. Reading these books could be just the inspiration they need to make it happen.

Olympic Inspirations

With much of the country sweltering through the hottest summer in memory, and many of us enduring a punishing drought, it's refreshing to turn our thoughts to London and the summer Olympics. The opening ceremonies are less than two weeks away, and I still haven't packed. 

Oh, that's right, I'll be viewing the events and festivities virtually, so I have plenty of time to prepare with picture books, instead.

 

The last time the Olympics were held in London, in 1948, Sammy Lee was 28 years old. By then he had fulfilled his father's dream by becoming a doctor and was working in the US Army medical corps. The story of how he overcame racial discrimination and restrictions to achieving his own dream of becoming a championship diver is told in SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS - THE SAMMY LEE STORY, by Paula Yoo, illustrated by Dom Lee.
Dr. Sammy Lee won the US National diving gold in 1946 and qualified to represent the USA in London in 1948.
Yoo and Lee do full justice to Lee's inspiring story of personal vision and persistence, with additional information about Dr. Lee's further accomplishments provided in the author's notes. He continued diving, repeating his ten meter gold medal in 1952, and coaching notable divers to win gold medals, including Greg Louganis. Scroll down this link to view a video of the ten meter platform dive by Louganis in the 1988 Olympics. Notice the final frames in which Dr. Lee congratulates him on his win.

An excellent and detailed review, additional links, and a video interview with Dr. Sammy Lee can be found at Maw Books Blog. Apart from the remarkable sports achievements of Dr. Lee, the story is even more inspiring in depicting the discrimination and restrictions that he experienced and overcame without giving up, retaliating, or reflecting back the hatred he experienced. Instead, he used those barriers as motivation to prove his father's words true: "In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it."
**Winner of the 2005 Lee and Low New Voices Award.

WILMA UNLIMITED: HOW WILMA RUDOLPH BECAME THE FASTEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz, was featured in a post earlier this year, but deserves mention here in connection with outstanding Olympic achievements, overcoming limitations of health and society, and service to her community. (In addition, if think you're feeling overheated, the Rome Olympics in which she won her medals took place during a record heat wave.) This title was also featured on the Sports Heroes blog, where you can click to read the text in Spanish.

If you are weathering the summer heat under a shady tree, a breezy porch, a blistering beach, or an air-conditioned library, here are more links with inspiring Olympic stories and other sport titles you'll enjoy:

• Reading Rockets page featuring  Sports/Olympic picture books
• Heather Lang Books blog post of favorite Sports biography books.
• Mr. Ken the Librarian blog post featuring books about London.

You can view a video biography which includes interviews with Dr. Lee.


As always, I welcome comments about what inspires you, especially if it is in a picture book!