Product Description

Babe Ruth was the greatest slugger ever--and off the field snacked on pickled eels and chocolate ice cream. Johnny Weissmuller swam to Olympic fame--and on land practiced the Tarzan yell. “Krull hits another home run.”--American Bookseller

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #578321 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-10?This talented author and illustrator team once again use their tried-and-true formula, this time to produce a book about some of the world's greatest former athletes. While readers will find out about the subjects' most prodigious physical feats, it's what else they'll learn about them that propels this title above most other books published in this subject area. Where else can one be entertained with tidbits such as Babe Ruth's penchant for public demonstrations of his loud digestive noises, or the fact that Red Grange liked to make friends with baby alligators after retiring in Florida? Home runs, touchdowns, and world records take a back seat to information about what these athletes liked to wear, eat, and drink, and the superstitions they held. The 20 sports stars featured in four-to-six page spreads excelled in a wide variety of endeavors including golf, swimming, volleyball, surfing, and the martial arts. Six women are included in this ethnically diverse group. A substantial bibliography featuring 38 titles for further reading is provided for those who will want to find out more about one or a number of these athletes. As in Lives of the Artists (1995), Lives of the Writers (1994), and Lives of the Musicians (1993, all Harcourt), Hewitt's watercolor and colored pencil caricatures and other drawings add immensely to the fun.?Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-7. The newest addition to Krull and Hewitt's series of offbeat collective biographies, this lively book discusses the public feats and private lives of 20 athletes. Each section begins with a colorful, full-page portrait of the person with significant objects or surroundings: clad in a one-shoulder leopard skin and an Olympic gold medal, Johnny Weissmuller swings on a tree branch over a swimming pool with the Hollywood hills in the distance. His character, career, and athletic feats are covered in a few pages of data, descriptions, and anecdotes. Other athletes profiled include Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Sonja Henie, Jessie Owens, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Wilma Rudolph, Arthur Ashe, and Bruce Lee. Hewitt's watercolor-and-colored-pencil artwork combines fact and fancy to create a series of entertaining and meaningful illustrations. Another winner in a consistently fine series. Carolyn Phelan

Review
Grade 4-10 This talented author and illustrator team once again use their tried-and-true formula, this time to produce a book about some of the world's greatest former athletes. While readers will find out about the subjects' most prodigious physical feats, it's what else they'll learn about them that propels this title above most other books published in this subject area. Where else can one be entertained with tidbits such as Babe Ruth's penchant for public demonstrations of his loud digestive noises, or the fact that Red Grange liked to make friends with baby alligators after retiring in Florida? Home runs, touchdowns, and world records take a back seat to information about what these athletes liked to wear, eat, and drink, and the superstitions they held. The 20 sports stars featured in four-to-six page spreads excelled in a wide variety of endeavors including golf, swimming, volleyball, surfing, and the martial arts. Six women are included in this ethnically diverse group. A substantial bibliography featuring 38 titles for further reading is provided for those who will want to find out more about one or a number of these athletes. As in Lives of the Artists (1995), Lives of the Writers (1994), and Lives of the Musicians (1993, all Harcourt), Hewitt's watercolor and colored pencil caricatures and other drawings add immensely to the fun.-Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI (School Library Journal )

Gr. 4-7. The newest addition to Krull and Hewitt's series of offbeat collective biographies, this lively book discusses the public feats and private lives of 20 athletes. Each section begins with a colorful, full-page portrait of the person with significant objects or surroundings: clad in a one-shoulder leopard skin and an Olympic gold medal, Johnny Weissmuller swings on a tree branch over a swimming pool with the Hollywood hills in the distance. His character, career, and athletic feats are covered in a few pages of data, descriptions, and anecdotes. Other athletes profiled include Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Sonja Henie, Jessie Owens, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Wilma Rudolph, Arthur Ashe, and Bruce Lee. Hewitt's watercolor-and-colored-pencil artwork combines fact and fancy to create a series of entertaining and meaningful illustrations. Another winner in a consistently fine series. (Booklist - Carolyn Phelan )

Customer Reviews

The Lives of the Athletes
This book was filled with humorous, little-known trivia andanecdotes about famous sports figures. I was especially impressedwith the wide variety of athletes that were included-Sir Edward Hillary, Bruce Lee, Gertrude Ederle, and Babe Didrickson Zaharias to name a few. As a classroom tool, this book is tops! Students in my class were entranced and could hardly wait to learn more about the other figures in this book! I highly recommend this and other Kathleen Krull books!

Lives of the Athletes
The Krull and Hewitt series of books is wonderful. I'm an adult and I find them fascinating reading. There is a great amount of information about each character in only a couple of pages. The description of each athlete is informative, interesting and witty. Hewitt's illustrations are chock full of information. I found myself turning the page to look at the illustration as I read the text because I had missed some of the details when I first looked at the pictures.