Bright Path: Young Jim Thorpe - Hardcover

Brown, Don

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596430419 ISBN 13: 9781596430419

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2006

Synopsis

Jim Thorpe's childhood was a mix of hard work in the outdoors and a succession of military-strict "Indian Schools" that relentlessly imposed white culture on Native American children. Then in 1907, wearing overalls and a work shirt, he effortlessly broke his school high-jump record--a feat that launched a remarkable athletic career in track, football, and baseball, culminating at the 1912 Olympics, where Thorpe won the decathlon with a world record score that would stand for almost 20 years and the pentathlon with a points total that would never be beaten.

About this title

About the Author:

Don Brown is the author and illustrator of more than a dozen picture book biographies. His subjects have included explorers, scientists, astronauts, aviation pioneers, moviemakers, religious leaders, and many others. He lives with his family on Long Island, New York.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3–Born Wa-tho-huck (meaning Bright Path) in 1888, Thorpe preferred the open space of Oklahoma's prairies to the dreary Indian schools that his father believed provided the best opportunities for his son's future. Unhappy with the rigid lifestyle, Thorpe ran away again and again. Sent across the country to the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, he found himself preparing for a career as a tailor. Athletics afforded him his only real happiness, and he discovered almost by accident his outstanding abilities in track and field. Brown uses prose and paint to show the significant childhood events leading to Thorpe's victories at the 1912 summer Olympics, where he was called the greatest athlete in the world by the king of Sweden. Done in watercolor and pencil, the cartoon-style illustrations convey a sense of motion and the delight Jim took in playing, running, and training. Color and lines contrast the freedom he felt on the Sac and Fox Indians' land with the confinement and conformity of school. A two-page author's note provides additional information. Joseph Bruchac's Jim Thorpe's Bright Path (Lee & Low, 2004) includes more details and realistic artwork, but Brown's book offers a well-organized and visually appealing introduction that is well suited to reading aloud.–Julie R. Ranelli, Kent Island Branch Library, Stevensville, MD
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About this edition

• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1596430419
• ISBN 13: 9781596430419
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Brown Don