SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

July 19, 2007 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Strong Man

July 19, 2007 by Betsy Bird   Leave a Comment

Strong Man by Meghan McCarthy. Knopf Books for Young Readers (a Random House imprint). $15.99.

Though artist/illustrator Meghan McCarthy possesses many skills, there is one in particular that I feel eclipses the lot. My thinking is that anyone can write, anyone can draw, and anyone can put the two together. But when it comes to non-fiction picture books, almost nobody finds the right kind of fun/wacky subject matter out there that she does. Whether it’s 1938 The War of the Worlds broadcast as found in "Aliens Are Coming!" or the story of "City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male", McCarthy’s tastes run to the eclectic. And undoubtedly, the most eclectic of all would have to be "Strong Man". I mean, who sits down and decides to write a picture book on the life of Charles Atlas? It’s absurd! Unheard of! Ridiculous! It just happens to also be one of the most amusing non-fiction books for kids to come out this year.

His name was Angelo Siciliano, an Italian immigrant who grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Not a naturally tough kid, Angelo was your typical small fry and weights did nothing for him. Yet by creating his own fitness routine, Angelo (who took the name Charles Atlas not long thereafter) grew strong AND had a great product to sell. He stressed good eating, good exercise, and a minimum amount of laziness in his students. People around the world benefited from his techniques and to this day, "He is still considered `The World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man.’" Back matter to this book includes exercises for kids and some additional information on what we know about the life of Charles Atlas.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s not true that an author is only as strong as their material. A true author can make gold out of the dullest life just so long as they’ve the right take and style. But to my mind, when it comes to children’s books, biographies are best when they’re more than halfway interesting. I’m sure that the inventor of the lint removal rolls was a great person, but would you really want to force your kid to read a biography about that person? Then you consider Charles Atlas. He’s just such a huge part of our culture. Millions of people have seen, in one form or another, the old bully-kicks-sand-in-the-face-of-the-weakling storyline. Few of us have ever thought to explore the man behind the image. The fact that he led a lovely life and that his works just happen to have something to say to our kids today (exercising and eating well = good) is just a nice plus.

The other day I’m sitting at my Reference Desk in the library and a kid wants a book on "real" aliens. Say what you will about my lovely library branch, we’re not exactly overflowing with children’s books on this topic. But I have a quick brain flash and run and get the child McCarthy’s "Aliens Are Coming!". Even if it’s not precisely what he was looking for, the kid’s eyes light up. "Look, Mom! It’s like The Simpsons!" McCarthy’s people are not, in fact, like The Simpsons aside from the big rounded white eyes. But far be it from me to discourage the kid. The fact of the matter is, children love McCarthy’s style. There’s something genial and downright friendly about it. Her thick paints and use of shadow and color catch the eye. As for the pages themselves, McCarthy likes to break up the images with an array of variegated styles. Sometimes you’re looking at individual panels with cartoon speech bubbles. Sometimes you’ve grand two-page spreads. Sometimes the caption appears in one corner and in the other there are black and white "photos" and letters. A book that wants to retain interest in the youngest of readers needs to know how to grasp the concept of the dynamic image. McCarthy does this perfectly.

Rather than have a Bibliography at the back, McCarthy has opted instead to include exercise instructions for kids. In this age of health-consciousness, usually this kind of topics leads to such horrors as Cookie Monsters no longer eating cookies and people like Marc Brown writing preachy diatribes about vegetables as in, "The Gulps". McCarthy’s take, in contrast, doesn’t feel like it’s forcing healthy thoughts into the heads of your kids. The four panels showing a variety of different exercises (with instructions on the side) are accompanied by a subtle message to parents from an occupational therapist on the importance of good exercise. The Author’s Note in the back shows a photo of the real Atlas (oh la la indeed) and explains why he was both a good role model and a difficult man to profile biography-wise.

Of course this does raise the question of where the Bibliographic sources are. A quick glance at the exercise portions included in lieu of references might seem strange when you first glance at it, but then you look into the information on Atlas out there. As the book makes perfectly clear, Atlas was a self-made man. From his name to his body to his image, Atlas continually changed the stories he told about who he was and where he came from. To research him, McCarthy mostly relied on newspaper articles and old clippings in order to sniff out the most accurate view of Atlas’s history. There are bound to be problems associated with researching a man of this stature for a novel, let alone a non-fiction picture book. As it stands, McCarthy’s book is inherently reliant on what Atlas told the world about himself. It just so happens that what he told wasn’t always easy to keep track of.

If 2007 is remembered as anything, I hope it’s remembered as the year that strong men were hot hot hot in picture books. After all, Atlas isn’t the only fellow who gets his due. There was the remarkable "The Strongest Man in the World" about Canada’s Louis Cyr, and numerous circus-related titles like "Who Put the B in the Ballyhoo?" and the re-release of Hilary Knight’s, "The Circus is Coming". Men in leopard skins have never been hotter in terms of young `un reading material. The difference here, of course, is that with Atlas you get a great story and a heckuva proponent for exercise that doesn’t happen to grate on your nerves. One of the more amusing subjects to crop up in a picture book and a mighty nice package.

SEE ALSO: For further information regarding Atlas and the non-fiction sources used for this book go to Ms. McCarthy’s recent posting The Making of a Non-Fiction Picture Book.

Filed under: Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

Review of the Day: The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Review of the Day: An American Story by Kwame Alexander, ill. Dare Coulter

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Review of the Day: Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Review of the Day: My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder

by Betsy Bird

November 2022

Review of the Day: Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn Podcast

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Jump Into this Guest Post by Shadra Strickland About Her Latest Book: Jump In!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

The Archie Encyclopedia | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

FREEWATER wins the Newbery Medal, live reactions from Heavy Medal bloggers

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

A Coming of Age Quartet, a guest post by Krystal Marquis

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Best Nonfiction 2021 | SLJ Best Books

Best Picture Books 2020 | SLJ Best Books

Best Nonfiction 2019 | SLJ Best Books

Stories That Soar: Interview with 2022 Best Books Cover Illustrator Guojing

Best Picture Books 2019 | SLJ Best Books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023