Game Maker: A Creative Kid Becomes The Father of Basketball

Game Maker’s inspirational message is based on historical insights that Author Brian Hanni learned while interviewing Jim Naismith, the grandson of the Father of Basketball. With a young boy’s competitive spirit and enthusiasm for all sports, James Naismith made up games working on his family’s farm in Canada and mastered “Duck on a Rock” a popular schoolyard game. Believing that becoming a physical education teacher would be the way he could make a difference in people’s lives, after graduating from college, James Naismith moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. At his job at the YMCA, he was asked to create an indoor game because the winters were so cold. Naismith drew upon his childhood experiences and education – and basketball was born! Told in an appealing rhyme with a vocabulary for adults and children, Game Maker will delight every reader!

Brian Hanni is a sportscaster in Lawrence, KS where he broadcasts for his alma mater, the University of Kansas, as the “Voice of the Jayhawks.” Hanni has long had a passion for inspiring youth and serves many youth-based charities including his own pediatric cancer organization. Game Maker – A Creative Kid Becomes the Father of Basketball is his first children’s book and was inspired by time he spent with Dr. Naismith’s grandson, Jim Naismith. Hanni hopes these true tales of young James’ ambition and creativity as a child inspire future generations to dream big just as Naismith did.

Rob Peters has illustrated over 30 children’s books. Other books illustrated by Rob include Go Cars Go!; ‘Twas the Night Before Tipoff―The University of Kansas Jayhawks; Go Chiefs Go! The Championship Season of the Kansas City Chiefs; and Unhitch the Wagon - The Story of Boomer and Sooner. He lives with his family in Topeka, Kansas.