Review of BRIGHT PATH: YOUNG JIM THORPE

Bibliography:

Brown, Don. 2006. Bright path: Young Jim Thorpe. Illustrated by author. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 1596430419

Review:

At birth, Jim Thorpe was named Wa-tho-huck which means Bright Path. Little did he or anyone know how accurately this name would fit the boy who would grow up to be known as the “World’s Greatest Athlete.” In Bright Path: Young Jim Thorpe, author/illustrator, Don Brown, presents the story of Jim Thorpe’s early life in an easy to read and entertaining picture book format. Told from a third person point of view, the story includes a couple of documentable quotes from Thorpe, revealing his feelings about specific events of his life. Readers will be intrigued by the young boy who “seemed to spend all his time in the open” either working hard on his family’s farm or playing on the Oklahoma plains and who, later, attended various military-style boarding schools for Indian children. Thorpe hated these schools where he was “taught to act and dress like white people” and frequently ran away until he was sent to school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It was at this school that Thorpe, dressed in “a pair of overalls” asked if he might try the high jump and “cleared it on the first try, breaking the school high-jump record.” Coach Pop Warner immediately invited Jim to join the track team, an event which completely changed Thorpe’s life. Brown’s pen and ink and watercolor illustrations provide a wonderful backdrop for the story, depicting the wide open “playground” Jim enjoyed as a young child, the discipline of the schools he attended, and the various athletic feats Thorpe accomplished. The large illustrations, along with the interesting tale, make this book perfect for sharing out loud. Although the story ends when Jim receives the gold medal for winning the decathlon, Brown includes a two-page author’s note providing additional information about what happened to Thorpe after he won the gold medal in 1912. This section is interspersed with actual photographs of the athlete which serve to remind young readers that Thorpe was an actual person who survived a difficult childhood to become a world-class athlete. For readers who would like to learn more about this talented athlete, Brown has included a bibliographic note revealing the sources he used in writing the book.