What Athletes Are Made Of

This book is so much fun and allows for interaction, creativity, and learning about athletic heroes. A caricature of each athletic hero is created from recycled items. Each athlete is presented with a one line main idea. For example, “Athletes are made of great minds” with a single paragraph of interesting facts about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that supports the main idea. The illustrations are compelling, the heroes are compelling, and the dispositions are ones important to all kids. The book closes with a Post-Game Recap of each of the featured athletes. Kids will come back to this book multiple times.

Hanoch Piven is an Israeli creator (which means he is both illustrator and author). In addition, a quote on his website states that “Art is play.” Piven plays by taking everyday objects and forging associations between those objects and the subjects of his creations. He is a Seeds of Peace Fellow. As a Fellow he applies his art methods to foster relationships between Arabs and Jews. Teachers are encouraged to use his website, pivenworld.com, to have students view the art portraits created using famous subjects and everyday objects. The video clips on the website give quick glimpses into his process and product.

Teaching Points: This book lends itself perfectly to a text innovation for any grade. Students choose another type of hero (e.g., moms, world leaders, child heroes, etc.). Use the structure of the book to create a class book. The structure: each page begins with a main idea sentence about the athlete, followed with a paragraph of details that support the idea. Students use recycled items to create the illustrations. They might also include a quote from the person or, as in the book, one extra compelling fact that stands out above those in the paragraph. Additional teaching points: Sports heroes, literary nonfiction, imagination, creativity, recycling, documentation of sources, compelling facts. This book, as well as his other books, are perfect for reluctant readers and is developmentally appropriate for upper grade reluctant readers. Another book with the same structure is What Presidents are Made Of.

Pathways Theme: Personal Feelings & Growth or Heroes

Reviewed by Krystal Bishop, EdD

Professor of Education

Southern Adventist University

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