By Jairo Buitrago and Illustrated by Rafeal Yockteng
This book is about Jimmy, who lives in a small, rural village in what appears to be Africa. They live in houses that basically look like shacks, and most of the village's population does not have shoes and barely any clothing. Jimmy becomes interested in boxing, and starts going to the town's "gym" which only has a boxing ring and is operated by Don Apolinar. Don introduces Jimmy to Muhammed Ali who becomes Jimmy's inspiration to become the very best boxer he could be. When Don Apolinar decides to move to the city, Jimmy stays behind and continues to maintain the boxing ring to be inspirational to all the other children in his village.
At first, I did not like this book at all. What type of children's book doesn't have the main character able to follow his dreams?! But as I reread it, I realized that Jimmy is too young to make it on his own just yet, and that he needs to continue to practice and encourage other children to follow their passions. I thought this book would be great for a read aloud for the sole purpose of children being able to compare life in the United States to other countries, especially third world ones.
In a way, Jimmy did what teachers do. Instead of moving forward with our careers and going to a job that gives us more income, we stay behind and choose to help others find their dreams and reach out to them. We inspire children just as Jimmy did in this book.
I think that your connection that students can relate their life here in the states to someone who lives in another country is an awesome lesson for kids to learn! Here in America we have so many privileges that not a lot of people have, and for students to understand that is awesome! Sounds like a good read aloud!
ReplyDeleteI think this book would be a great one to read to children. I agree with Cassie that kids here in the states tend to take things for granted and do not realize how good they have it. This seems to be a book about following your dreams, which could be very inspirational to kids, because the main character is a kid as well.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a good book for teaching students about cultural diversity, and not taking things for granted because not everyone has the same opportunities as here in the US. It also expresses the topic of following your dreams. Children need to feel inspired to follow their dreams, and this book could help them do that. I like you how after you reread the book you found the connection that Jimmy is somewhat like teachers because he stayed behind to help others follow their dreams.
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