Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper

by Ann Malaspina, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

Overview

CCBC Choices 2013
2014-2015 Children's Crown Award
2013-2014 Macy's Multicultural Collection of Children's Literature
2015 Louisiana Readers' Choice Master List
A 2013 CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
2013 Amelia Bloomer list
2013 IRA-CBC Children's Choices
Best Children's Books of the Year 2013, Bank Street College

Tells how Alice Coachman, born poor in Georgia, became the first African American woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

Bare feet shouldn't fly. Long legs shouldn't spin. Braids shouldn't flap in the wind. 'Sit on the porch and be a lady,' Papa scolded Alice. In Alice's Georgia hometown, there was no track where an African-American girl could practice, so she made her own crossbar with sticks and rags. With the support of her coach, friends, and community, Alice started to win medals. Her dream to compete at the Olympics came true in 1948. This is an inspiring free-verse story of the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Photos of Alice Coachman are also included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807580356
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	01/01/2012
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Ann Malaspina has written many books for children, including Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper and Finding Lincoln. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

Eric Velasquez, the son of Afro-Puerto Rican parents, was born in Spanish Harlem and grew up in Harlem in New York City. As a child, his love for doodling and drawing was strongly encouraged by his mother. From his grandmother he inherited a love of music and from his father he developed a love of movies. Growing up in this setting, Eric says, "Becoming an artist was a natural choice for me. I have never thought of being anything else."

Editorial Reviews

As a girl, Alice Coachman drew attention in her small Georgia town for her high-jumping skills, even though she used an improvised crossbar made of sticks and rags. After impressing the coach for the Tuskegee Golden Tigerettes and playing with the all-female track team, Coachman set an Olympic trials record and went on to compete at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, becoming the first African-American woman to win gold. Velasquez’s majestic, thickly painted oils portray Coachman (b. 1923) with a quiet serenity and assurance, as Malaspina, writing in verse, conveys the magnitude of her accomplishments with agility and lyricism: “As she climbed to the top/ of the winners’ stand,/ the crowd rose/ for the bare-feet flying,/ long-legs spinning,/ moon jumper from Georgia.” Appended materials include several b&w photographs and biographical details about Coachman’s later life. Ages 6–9. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

CCBC Choices 2013
2014-2015 Children's Crown Award
2013-2014 Macy's Multicultural Collection of Children's Literature
2015 Louisiana Readers' Choice Master List
A 2013 CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
2013 Amelia Bloomer list
2013 IRA-CBC Children's Choices
Best Children's Books of the Year 2013, Bank Street College

"A solid introduction to a lesser-known sports heroine."—Kirkus Reviews

"The engrossing narrative makes this book a can't-miss account of believing in seemingly impossible dreams and pursuing one's passion. Gracefully pictured in Velasquez's oil paintings, Coachman flies high in every way imaginable."—Booklist

"Velasquez's majestic, thickly painted oils portray Coachman (b. 1923) with a quiet serenity and assurance, as Malaspina, writing in verse, conveys the magnitude of her accomplishments with agility and lyricism."—Publishers Weekly

"Alice, as depicted in Eric Velasquez's dynamic paintings, seems always to be airborne…Malaspina employs a spirited prose style to tell the story of Alice's extraordinary career."—BookPage

"An inspiring introduction to an obscure athlete."—School Library Journal

"Told in free verse, this story of determination will inspire readers to reach for the sky as they try to make their own dreams come true. Oil paintings beautifully depict each part of Alice's journey, with a double-page spread devoted to her gold-winning jump."—Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

K-Gr 3—With oil paintings crafted from photographs, Velasquez captures the unconventional style of Alice Coachman's high jumps in this picture-book biography of the first African American woman to win an Olympic Gold. Free-verse text focuses on details such as the athlete's tendency to suck lemons during competitions: "the lemon made her feel lightning-fast,/feather-light, moon-jumping strong." Full-bleed images with inset text appear on almost every spread. One shows Coachman as a young girl jumping a twisted cloth strung between two trees while a man comments to her mother that she's likely to jump over the Moon one day. Her mother's response is not included, but her posture conveys her attitude. It was not her parents who encouraged her, though, but teachers who recognized her talent and offered opportunities for her to train and compete. Readers are likely to empathize with this tomboy who loved to run, jump, and play sports with the boys despite her father's admonitions that she "sit on the porch and/be a lady." This book does not emphasize Coachman's racial experiences except for a brief list of issues the Tuskegee Golden Tigerettes faced traveling in the South. An author's note mentions a reception in her hometown where well-wishers were divided by race. Four black-and-white photos of Coachman and a close-up of her medal are included. This is not a resource for reports, but it is an inspiring introduction to an obscure athlete.—Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library

School Library Journal

Malaspina's free verse tells the story of how Alice Coachman went from her Georgia hometown to the 1948 London Olympics, becoming the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. "Sit on the porch and / be a lady," Papa would scold young Alice. But Alice preferred racing down the road, "Bare feet flying, / long legs spinning, / braids flapping / in the wind." She'd play basketball with the boys at recess, make her own high-jump bar with rags tied to sticks and practice, practice, practice. She dreamed of soaring, of touching the sky, and when Coach Abbott invited her to enroll at Tuskegee to train with the Tigerettes, she saw her dreams come closer. She traveled with the Golden Tigerettes and later set a high-jump record at the Olympic Trials. At the Olympics, the American women had no medals going into the final event, the high jump. It was down to two women, and Alice won, setting a new Olympic record. Velazquez's oil-on–watercolor-paper illustrations capture the long-legged grace of Coachman and the power of her jumps, most dramatically her Olympic medal–winning jump in a close-up double-page spread against an Impressionistically rendered crowd in the background. A solid introduction to a lesser-known sports heroine. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews