Hoop Genius - Reviews
|
|
The Horn Book (starred review) |
|
 This thrilling account of the birth of basketball is more a biography of the game itself than of its creators. The story begins with one James Naismith taking over an unruly gym class that had already run off two predecessors. He tries playing favorite sports indoors, but by the time they get to lacrosse not a player remains without some form of bandage. He needs a game where “accuracy was more valuable than force.” And so, in a Massachusetts gymnasium, basketball is concocted. Coy understands the power of detail—only one point was scored in the very first game—and his tight focus on the game’s initial season is immediately engrossing. Spare, precise language reflects the game’s welcome sense of order as well as its athletic appeal. Morse’s kinetic paintings, at once dynamic and controlled, fill the spreads, capturing the game’s combination of power and finesse. And the stylized figures and restrained palette of blue, brown, purple, and gray fix the proceedings in the nineteenth century. Naismith’s abiding respect for his students’ irrepressible energy plays an important role in the invention of the game, and the book credits the entire crew (“James Naismith and that rowdy class”) with the creation, adding a nuanced understanding of the value of sports and teamwork. An author’s note and selected bibliography offer additional information, and a you-are-there facsimile reproduction of the original thirteen rules of basketball adorns the endpapers.
– Thom Barthelmess |
|
New York Times Bookshelf: Bats and Baskets |
|
Sports origin stories are surprisingly scarce in picture book land, despite the obvious appeal. Coy’s story about the dawn of basketball in 1891 is a bit sparse with detail, but nonetheless offers an interesting account of the factors that went into devising the game.
James Naismith, in despair over the rowdy gym class he taught in Springfield, Mass., wanted a sport that emphasized accuracy over force and minimized contact. There’s a bit of Otto Dix in Morse's distinctive paintings, with their angular contours and somber, blue-tinted skin, which lends an incongruous, though not displeasing, coolness to the notably hot-blooded sport.
|
|
|
|
School Library Journal |
|
In 1891, a teacher named James Naismith invented a game that was destined to become a national sensation. The boys' gym class at his school was particularly rowdy. He needed to find an indoor activity for the energetic lads that was fun, but not too rough. Inspired by a favorite childhood game, he stayed up late one night typing the rules of his new game. With a soccer ball, two peach baskets, and the rules tacked to the bulletin board, Naismith introduced his idea to the unruly class the next day. In that first game, only one basket was scored, but the boys were captivated. During Christmas vacation, they taught their friends how to play basketball and soon its popularity spread across the country. Even women formed a team. By 1936, basketball became a recognized Olympic sport and Naismith was honored at the opening ceremonies. Morse's energetic illustrations add an old-fashioned charm to the narrative. Readers will also want to examine the endpapers, a reproduction of the original rules of the game typed by Naismith. This entertaining and informative story will delight young sports fans.
–Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA |
|
|
|
Publishers Weekly |
|
Coy (the 4 for 4 series) tells the story of basketball’s founding in 1891 directly and succinctly. Young teacher James Naismith takes over a gym class of unruly young men. When other organized games produce walking wounded, “Naismith felt like giving up but couldn’t. The boys in the class reminded him of how he'd been at their age—energetic, impatient, and eager for something exciting.” Thirteen rules, a ball, and two peach baskets later, he develops a new game that demands accuracy while tempering aggressiveness. The story’s dynamism comes from Morse’s (Play Ball, Jackie!) stylized prints, whose posterlike quality is amplified by the limited palette of blue, brown, and maroon. Lanky limbs stretch dramatically across the pages, a visual foil to Coy’s spare storytelling style. While it’s slightly disconcerting to have the students referred to as “boys” when they appear as mustached young adults, their grimacing, chiseled features in motion are attention-grabbing. This lively glimpse into the beginnings of a hugely popular sport concludes with a short author’s note and bibliography. |
|
|
|
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books |
|
This spirited picture-book retelling of the now-legendary invention of basketball emphasizes how a peculiar set of conditions shaped the rules of the game that James Naismith would offer to his class of college physical-education students in 1891. It had to be an indoor game, it couldn't be too rough, and it had to make a class of energetic but bored young men feel it was worth learning and playing. Thirteen typewritten rules, one soccer ball, and two peach baskets later, the men were off and running (but not while holding the ball—no traveling even then). The fun here is in the contrast between Coy's straightforward narration and the stylized mayhem of Morse's cast of maroon-shirted, all-American-looking college guys. Although not a word is printed about the roughness of their previous indoor amusements, Morse's pictures depict the steady accrual of bandages, slings, and casts as games shift from indoor football to indoor soccer, to—holy smoke!—indoor lacrosse.
More details (like the name of the school) would have been helpful, but readers will readily forgive the omission in light of the informative author's note, the appended photograph of Naismith and his team, and the endpaper reproduction of the historic rules originally posted on the gym bulletin board. A selected bibliography of adult sources is also included.
– Elizabeth Bush |
|
|
|
Shelf Awareness |
|
John Coy (the 4 for 4 series) here blends his demonstrated knowledge of sports with a fascinating picture-book history of basketball.
Following in the footsteps of two failed teachers, James Naismith hopes that three's the charm when, in December 1891, he takes on a "rowdy" gym class in Springfield, Mass. The first day, Naismith tries indoor football, the next day, indoor soccer, and, on the third day, he tries his favorite, lacrosse. Every one of these activities is too rough. Naismith will not give up. He sees himself in these boys who are "energetic, impatient, and eager for something exciting." But how can Naismith avoid serious physical contact (judging by the bandages in the illustrations)? He'd come up with a whole new game.
Coy shows how, for Naismith, necessity is the mother of invention. The teacher thought of a game from his childhood in Canada, "Duck on a Rock," for which "accuracy was more valuable than force." Then Naismith got the idea of a goal that required "an arcing throw." On December 21, 1891, he used a soccer ball and two peach baskets provided by the building's superintendent, posted the rules, and promised the class that if it didn't work, he wouldn't try further experiments. Joe Morse's (Casey at the Bat) illustrations in a limited palette of burgundy, cornflower blue and sepia tones stay true to the era in style and detail, yet also convey the unbridled enthusiasm and kinetic energy of the players. Readers will quickly see why the young men couldn't wait to teach their friends and neighbors the new game of basketball during their Christmas vacation, and why the game caught on. Naismith was also ahead of his time in permitting women to play the game (and it paid off--one of them later became his wife).
The copious author notes and bibliography attest to Coy's thorough research, and a reproduction of Naismith's original rules of the game on the endpapers make this a terrific story to share with basketball fans of all ages.
Shelf Awareness Shelf Talker: This handsomely designed picture-book history of the game of basketball, invented by a desperate gym teacher for his "rowdy" students, will appeal to fans of all ages.
|
|
|
|
Bookends: A Booklist Blog |
|
Cindy: This Saturday my #1 nationally ranked Indiana Hoosiers will play Lynn's Purdue Boilermakers in Bloomington, IN. You know where we will be at 2 p.m. EST! Where was I? Oh, yes, the blog…basketball. Lynn and I love college basketball, as most of you know, so we have been delighted with the recent basketball books that have bounced our way. A new nonfiction picture book, Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball (Carolrhoda Books 2013) is a winner.
Reading the opening sentences will grab students' attention:
In December of 1891, James Naismith, a young teacher, took over a rowdy gym class that had already forced two teachers to quit. He didn't want to, but nobody else would teach that class. The students hated the boring exercises and gymnastics that they'd been doing over and over. So Naismith decided to try something fun…indoor football.
That doesn't go so well, nor does his next few attempts to liven up the class without incurring more injuries among his young, energetic charges.
He needed a totally new game where, to avoid tackling, no running with the ball was allowed.
And since the custodian was out of cardboard boxes, the infamous peach baskets came into play and the game of basketball was born.
Coy brings life to this sport's early history and Joe Morse's illustrations are perfect for the text. As with his earlier illustrations for Casey at the Bat (Kids Can Press 2006), they will appeal to older students as well as the traditional picture book audience. This would make a great read-aloud for a rowdy gym class today.
– Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan |
|
|
|
Laura Salas Blog (Nonfiction Monday) |
|
Isn’t that a brilliant title? Because who’s not going to identify with a desperate teacher or a rowdy gym class?
I worked with a latchkey before/after-school program for a year or two, and I remember gym time well. It was the kids’ favorite time–they could MOVE! But it was also a challenge to come up with games we could play that the kids loved but that wouldn't end with broken bones. This was James Naismith's dilemma, as well.
This brief picture book tells the cool story of one teacher determined to create a game that's a good fit for the high school gym class nobody wants to teach. As Naismith tries different sports, the expressions on the kids’ faces are priceless, and the increasing number of bandages and slings will catch the eye of your students.
Based solely on the cover, I thought it was a longer picture book, and I kept putting it aside (well, virtually speaking, since I had an electronic review copy) for when I had more time. But it’s not long at all. It's a fast read that will keep even your athletes engrossed for storytime. It’s a great story, simply and effectively told. It would be cool to pair this book with a multi-sports-related poetry collection, too, like And the Crowd Goes Wild, Good Sports, or Opening Days.
Classroom extension activity suggestions are available.
– Laura Salas |
|
|
|
A Fuse #8 Production - An School Library Journal Blog |
|
Now the other day I was at a PEN holiday party here in town. Lots of authors were milling about (Doris Orgel! Emily Arnold McCully!) including a fellow from Minnesota. I didn’t know him at first, but the name sure sounded familiar. John Coy . . . Coy . . . When I thought about it long enough I could picture it. I remembered shelving his baseball/soccer middle grade fiction in my old children’s room! Sure! John Coy! Well turns out that John’s written a book for his fellow Minnesotan locals at Carolrhoda Books, and boy is it a doozy. Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Baseball caught my attention first and foremost because there is a man wearing a handlebar mustache on the cover. So, y’know, right there I’m in love. Illustrated by Joe Morse (remember his inner city take on Casey at the Bat all those years ago?) the book is a funny and high-spirited take on a guy who desperately tried to keep a group of young (mustached) men occupied. The solution could only be to invent basketball. There are primary sources and all kinds of stuff in the back as well.
– Elizabeth Bird, Librarian Preview: Lerner Books (Spring 2013) |
|
|
|
Booklist |
|
In December 1891, James Naismith, a physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, was looking for a way to channel the energy, impatience, and eagerness of his male students. Recalling a game he knew as a child, called Duck on a Rock, he invented a lesson using an old soccer ball and two peach baskets to minimize contact injuries and emphasize finesse and accuracy over brute strength. Pretty quickly Naismith knew he was onto something: though only one basket was scored the entire first game, his students didn’t want to leave gym class. Over Christmas vacation, the kids taught the game to friends, and soon a group of women teachers from a nearby school dropped by to learn the new sport. By 1936, Naismith’s game had become an Olympic event. Well researched with material artifacts and primary sources, this classic story is boosted significantly by big, blocky, muscular illustrations in muted tones that effortlessly mix tongue-in-cheek whimsy with serious action. Anybody who plays the game or watches it ought to find this pretty engrossing.
– Erin Anderson |
|
|
|
Childish Nonsense Blog |
|
When John Coy set out to tell the story of basketball, he may not have realized what a fascinating and totally relatable story it is. Apparently, James Naismith was unexpectedly thrown into a 1891 gym class with some very unruly students. Two of his predecessors had quit in frustration. It was only through desperation and quick thinking that Naismith was able to avoid injury to himself and the students and provide the students with some direction. He tried indoor football, soccer, and lacrosse before adapting a child’s game, Duck on a Rock. He used a soccer ball and peach baskets to get the game going. With penalties ejecting them from the game, the boys were so determined to keep playing that they soon adjusted to the rules. Basketball became popular very quickly. Morse’s illustrations realistically depict the atmosphere of Massachusetts in the 1890s and of rowdy boys trying to get the upper hand.
– Reviewed by Sue Poduska |
|
|
|
100 Scope Notes: Nonfiction Monday |
|
… Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Basketball was created not out of a spirit of fun, but one of survival. When young teacher James Naismith took over the rowdiest gym class around, he needed a way to keep the activity high, but with, you know, fewer injuries. Indoor football (not surprisingly) didn’t work. Neither did indoor soccer. Lacrosse? Nope. Naismith recalled the skill games of his youth and decided to invent a sport with no tackling and more accuracy. He got creative. A soccer ball. A peach basket. Before long, basketball was born … Read the full review.
– Reviewed by Travis Jonker |
|
|
