Jim Thorpe

by Don McLeese

Book Overview

Describes the life of famous Native American Jim Thorpe, from his early years on a reservation in Oklahoma, through his school days in Pennsylvania, to his success at the 1912 Olympics and his professional baseball career

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589523059
• ISBN13: 9781589523050
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Rourke Publishing (FL)
• Length: 24 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.9" x 7.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 3

Customer Reviews

Introducing young readers to the great Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe was selected the greatest American athlete of the first half of the 20th century, but we are probably at the point where those who were raised watching athletes the likes of Muhammad Ali, Walter Payton, and Michael Jordan are probably unfamiliar with Thorpe's name. The reason Thorpe deserves to be remembered is captured in the first sentence of this juvenile biography, which declares: "No athlete ever played more sports better than Jim Thorpe." Don McLeese describes Thorpe's life from his early years on a reservation in Oklahoma, through his school days in Pennsylvania, to his success at the 1912 Olympics and his professional sports career. There is not a lot of detail here, but there is the famous story about Thorpe and the King of Sweden at the Olympics and hopefully young readers will understand how impressive it is to win the decathlon or the pentathlon, let alone both as Thorpe did. Each "chapter" is a two-page spread usually consisting of a black & white photograph of Thorpe and a paragraph of easy to read text. Words appearing in boldface are included in a Glossary at the back of the book that explains key words from "athlete" to "tribe." The book also touches on Black Hawk, the great chief who was one of Thorpe's ancestors, and "Pop" Warner, Thorpe's coach at Carlisle, so young readers will learn about other historic figures as well. When young readers are interested in finding out more about Jim Thorpe there are suggestions as to where they can go for Further Reading and a couple of Websites To Visit. Other books in the Discover the Life of an American Legend series include Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, Thurgood Marshall, Babe Ruth, and Oprah Winfrey, so there is a nice mix between famous Americans everybody knows about and those that they should.