Amazing Feats With Feet

There is something indescribably wonderful about running.  It's like flying with your feet.  When your legs and arms are rhythmically moving to a beat with your breathing you have to marvel at the beauty of the human body.

We did not have official sport teams for girls when I was in high school but I loved watching the track meets.  When I was in my early thirties I started racing in earnest in the 5K runs.  I knew if I kept at it I would place in the top three eventually.  When I was fifty-two years old I accomplished this in one of my favorite races, The Dinosaur Dash at Michigan State University.

For those runners attempting and finishing marathons, you have to admire the miracle of running every one of those twenty-six plus miles.  The Wildest Race Ever: The Story Of The 1904 Olympic Marathon (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 1, 2016) written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy describes the trials of the runners in this race and for some of the spectators.  It was a crazy day!

 The first Olympic marathon held in America happened on August 31, 1904, in Saint Louis, Missouri.  It was part of the World's Fair exhibition.  At the World's Fair many people experienced their first hot dog, first Dr. Pepper, first ice cream cone, and first Olympics.

Can you imagine what an amazing event this must have been for celebrating firsts?  As a result of torrential rainstorms the route for the marathon had to change.  It was not a change for the best.  Thirty-two runners decided to stick with their plan to race.

We are introduced to ten of those runners; six Americans, one Cuban, one Frenchman, and two South Africans.  As the race proceeded their fates unfolded in unbelievable forms when you think of racing marathons in 2016.  To complicate the entire situation the temperature at three in the afternoon on the day of the race was ninety degrees.

To begin the runners ran around the inside of the stadium five times before continuing down a road outside.  The dust generated by cars and bicycle riders made it difficult for the runners to breathe and see.  After the first mile one runner was violently ill.  There were only two water stations and the water was contaminated.  YIKES!

What was that runner doing hopping into a car?  Carvajal the racer from Cuba chatted with spectators and pilfered fruit more than once.  Oh no!  Something caused Len Tau from South Africa to go off the designated course.  Did he make it back?

Instead of water the English born American racer was given a concoction by his trainers which could have been deadly.  A medical doctor took a wrong turn resulting in an unexpected scenic tour.  At the finish line there were tears, a collapse, a cheater and someone a little too bit refreshed.  It was and is a race to remember.


The passion Meghan McCarthy has for marathons is evident in her dedication and in the care she has given to her research.  Specific facts and actual quotes are part of her narrative causing readers to feel as if they are reading the latest news reports about the events of the day.  As we get farther into the race the things happening border on the incredible.  How did these men manage to live through the day?  As the end gets closer and specific runners are battling for position the pace of the writing matches the excitement.  Sentences are shorter.  Pauses are inserted, questions are asked and the use of the word, meanwhile, is more prevalent.  Here is a sample passage.

Albert Corey and William Garcia were neck and neck.
Although Hicks had been behind, he was catching up!
"The streets were inches deep in dust," Hicks's trainer remarked, "and every time an auto passed it raised enough dust to obscure the vision of the runners and choke them."


As soon as you look at the dust jacket and the matching book case, you know you are holding a Meghan McCarthy gem in your hands.  The eyes on her characters are a signature piece of her artwork.  The facial expressions on her humans and her animals declare their exact moods.

To the left, on the back, is a collage of picture postcards from the World's Fair exhibition and a corresponding map.  McCarthy continues this theme on her opening and closing endpapers using a background in the same shade of blue as found on the jacket and case.  These postcards contain script handwriting with messages to the addressee.

Rendered in acrylics most of her images span two pages with the exception of a few smaller insets on two pages together.  For the most part her perspective is more all-encompassing than close-up giving us the sense of the expanse of this race.  With that being said she does bring us into the scenes of the dust overwhelming the racers, the close encounter for racer Len Tau and the win.

Her color palette is indicative of the time of day, temperature and place.  The clothing, cars and bicycles mirror the historical period.  Regardless of the astonishing events of the day, McCarthy depicts people in such a way as to cheerfully inform her readers.

One of my favorite illustrations is of a group of four runners coming toward the reader.  The road is in the center of two pages with the countryside to the left and the right.  There are fields and trees on either side with a couple of older buildings on the right.  Bystanders are along the road on the left.  Two bicyclists, one a policeman and the other a woman, are following the racers along with a dog.  It is clear that runner Lorden is not going to finish the race.


The Wildest Race Ever: The Story Of The 1904 Olympic Marathon written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy documents in informative, spirited text and pictures the truly astonishing moments of this day.  The perseverance of the finishers is to be commended along with the sheer gumption of many of the spectators.  Meghan McCarthy has a lengthy author's note about the marathon runners, the 1904 World's Fair, the Pike and a select bibliography at the end.  This is the kind of nonfiction readers will read over and over.  History, reality, can really be stranger than fiction.

To learn more about Meghan McCarthy and her other books, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  McCarthy has eight individual pages dedicated to this title.  At the publisher's website you can view seven interior illustrations including one of my favorites.


Please take a few moments to enjoy the titles selected by the other bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge as linked at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher.

Cozy Clothing

In the midst of a winter day, sun or no sun, snow or no snow, or wind or no wind, it's not as if you are going to stand still savoring the moment.  It's simply too cold, especially in the northern climates.  You will definitely be moving around; shoveling snow, snow shoeing, skiing, ice skating, snowboarding, running, walking or building snow figures or forts.  Most folks will be dressed in layer upon layer of clothing including boots, gloves or mittens and hats.

In my way of thinking though, hats, with an assortment of tops and bottoms combined with whatever activity you may be doing, will have you working up an unwanted sweat in no time.  The perfect solution is something to cover your ears only.  Earmuffs for Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, January 6, 2015) written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy gives us a fascinating look at a man's life and his relationship with earmuffs.

The word "muff" has been around since the Middle Ages.  Starting in the 1700s, people wore muffs on their hands to keep them war, like this:


From hand muffs (I actually had one of those as a little girl...and no I'm not that old.)  From then we skip ahead to 1858, 1873, 1877, 1878 and 1883 noting the types of inventions to keep our ears, cheeks and chins protected from the chilly weather.  A gentleman, Isaac Kleinert, whose company is still in business today designed and promoted

ear muffs, waterproof baby pants and dress guards 

for women's clothing.  He renewed his patent several times for those ear muffs.  Why is it then that most people believe Chester Greenwood is the inventor of earmuffs?

True be told Chester Greenwood got a patent too.  He was only nineteen years old!  His patent was not for the invention of earmuffs but the improvement of earmuffs.  (In case you are wondering what a patent is and how it works, several pages, at this point, are devoted to a definition and a comparison is made between the work of Greenwood and Thomas Edison.)

Having built a good mind for business beginning with his childhood, Greenwood was able to promote and expand his earmuff success, landing him a prominent spot in his community.  The man's creativity branched out to include other items.  I'm pretty sure I could be comfortable in his

"portable" house.

What happened after Chester Greenwood passed away in 1937 is a testament to people's perceptions of history.  A prominent magazine named him as the inventor of earmuffs several years later.  As little as thirty-five years ago a businessman advocated for a Chester Greenwood day which was eventually passed by the legislature of Maine in 1977.  It is still celebrated today each December in Farmington, Maine.  Who could ask for anything more?  It's a tribute to ingenuity.


If Meghan McCarthy's name is attached to nonfiction, readers can expect solid research and a captivating narrative.  Her sentence structure is conversational with asides to the reader.  She takes nothing for granted, offering additional explanations.  In her pursuit to discover the truth about earmuffs and Chester Greenwood she uncovered many similar inventions leading her to conclusions which she shares with us.  Here is a sample passage from this book.

Obviously, the story isn't quite true, since earmuffs had already been born many years earlier---four months before Chester was!  And there is another story that says Chester didn't like the woolen earmuffs that most kids wore, so he fashioned something else.


Rendered in acrylic paint the full color illustrations of Meghan McCarthy have the same spirit as her writing reaching out to her audience saying, "Look what I've found.  I can't wait to share it with you."  All of the children on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case are wearing an assortment of earmuff styles looking toward the title.  On the left, back, a dachshund sporting a pair of red and white plaid earmuffs is looking straight at the reader.  McCarthy's opening and closing endpapers feature men and women, boys and girls, wearing traditional and outlandish earmuffs in a series of ten geometric frames.  A page turn takes us to the verso and title page with a series of snapshots highlighting earmuff-wearing people.

It's McCarthy's signature portrayal of her character's eyes which draw our eyes to her images.  Her ability to convey a full range of emotion with a black circle, white paint and a dot is amazing.  In depicting her history of earmuffs, patents and Chester Greenwood's life her attention to accurate detail is not just informative but fun to see progress.

A liberal amount of white space is used to accentuate her smaller pictures on single pages.  Five of the seven double-page visuals are at the end of the book as her narrative builds momentum.  If McCarthy wishes to make a point, further tying the illustration to her text, the perspective shifts.

I've been thinking about whether or not she's placing humor in her pictures too.  I wonder about the horse freely walking on the street in front of the US Patent Office.  Is it Seabiscuit from one of her earlier titles?

One of my favorite illustrations is the inside of the newsstand where Mickey Maguire worked.  The items displayed for sale, products and magazines, are right out of 1970s history.  You can't miss the Star Wars posted taped to the counter.


Our classroom, library and at-home bookshelves need to contain books like Earmuffs for Everyone!:  How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy.  This is the kind of nonfiction which entertains and informs readers.  It makes us excited to know the whole story.  At the end of the book Meghan McCarthy includes a Note about this Book, All about Patents, a Bibliography and Acknowledgments.  This title along with these notes tells readers about the research process and the different twists and turns which need to be followed.  I highly recommend this book.

Please follow the link to Meghan McCarthy's website attached to her name.  There her other nonfiction titles are listed with extras.  This is an interview of Meghan McCarthy at Publishers Weekly about her work and this title which is a must read.  Here is a pdf of the 2014 brochure for Chester Greenwood Day in Maine.


Please read about other nonfiction titles featured by bloggers participating in the 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by educator Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.

And The Rest of the Story Is...

Students at Charlevoix Elementary School know that March is a special month for several reasons---It is Reading Month and...it is when The Last Great Race, the Iditarod is run from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.  Preparation for the race begins a month in advance within the walls of our library media center through fiction and nonfiction books.  Spreading outside the walls of our LMC via the Internet research on the event expands our knowledge until it starts.  A day by day following of the mushers and their teams from the official web site, using the GPS units attached to the dog sleds, keeps everyone on their toes moving pins across the map tracking their favorite men or women and their athletic canines; especially Mrs. Culver who in the evenings and weekends is glued to her computer screen. 

Most students are aware that the Iditarod was begun to keep the sport and art of dog sledding alive as much as it is a commemoration of the Serum Run in 1925.  My students know from books, online sources, movies and television that Balto is known to be the hero of delivering the diphtheria antitoxin as the lead on the team to bring it to Nome.  But they also know that Togo was the lead dog that traveled from Nome and nearly back again logging the most miles of any team in the relay. 

What they don't know about Balto, what happened after the run to Nome, has been written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy in her newest book, The Incredible Life of Balto.  Let's begin at the beginning.  Front and back endpapers display a simple understandable map comparing the Iditarod route with that taken during the 1925 Serum Run.  The title page, as well as the cover, feature carvings by McCarthy's uncle interspersed with her acrylic paintings.  Balto is on the left; eyes shifted to read the title.

Within the next few pages readers travel back in time to that horrible winter when a deadly disease struck the community of Nome along the Bering Sea.  Their only hope for help was across Alaska in Anchorage. The only means to bring the medicine due to extreme cold, fifty below zero, was by dog sled.

Balto's team driven by musher Gunnar Kaasen successfully ran to Nome.  McCarthy does not gloss over the dangers of the trip including the deaths of dogs due to their lungs bursting from cold.  She relates the extreme weather conditions that both man and dogs faced.

Balto, his team and Kaasen are instant heroes.  Boarding a ship to California their tour of fame starts.  Sculptor, Frederick Roth, designs a statue of Balto which to this day can be seen in New York City's Central Park.  Kaasen and Balto were there for the unveiling.  Balto was a star in a black and white silent movie titled Balto's Race to Nome.  He was a guest at the famous Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.  He even had dog food that bore his name. 

Something happened along the way though involving a disagreement over money.  The team was sold to a vaudeville act, then sold again to a sideshow where Balto and his mates were all but forgotten.  Fortunately a businessman from Cleveland, Ohio, George Kimble, saw Balto in that sideshow despairing over his negligence. The negligence is implied as Balto's ribs are now showing; he is much thinner.

People began to give money, including Garnet Bielfelt's kindergarten class, to purchase Balto from that sideshow to help Kimble raise the two thousand dollars.  After their purchase Kimble placed them in the Brookside Zoo.

In my opinion while that is a much happier ending than being in the sideshow, it would have been better if they could have run free with other sled dogs in their native Alaska.

There are numerous reasons that readers will come away from their perusal of this book with a deeper understanding of the dog Balto and more importantly they will want to read it again as well as recommend it to others.  The acrylic illustrations convey, through the use of color, layout, and the inclusion of hand painted original artifacts from that event and time, an aura of urgency, heroism, fame and resolution.  McCarthy's use of large wide eyes on all, humans and dogs alike, project a range of emotions.  Are not the eyes the window to the soul? 

The final two pages of the volume include a conversation called Detective Work.  Research methods used by Meghan McCarthy to verify the truth presented in this work of nonfiction are shared.  Activities in which readers may engage expanding their understanding of fact versus opinion and its role in history are also added.  An inclusive Selected Bibliography of books, newspaper articles and a radio show finish up her work.

With out a doubt The Incredible Life of Balto is a work of nonfiction that will be read and re-read in the form of multiple copies in our LMC; information that flows like fiction creates a following.