Jesse Owens: Olympic Hero

by Francene Sabin, Hal Frenck (Illustrator)

A brief biography of the Black athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

Reviews

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesse Owens, Olympic Hero by Francene Sabin, Hindi language translation by Arvind Gupta- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the story of Olympic Hero Afro-American Jessie Owens. Jessie’s parents Henry and Emma Owen’s were sharecroppers in Oakville, Alabama. Jessie was born in 1913. They grew cotton on the farm. In 1919, Jessie fell ill of pneumonia. There were no schools for the blacks in Alabama. Sharecropping work was not profitable, therefore, in 1921, they left for Ohio, Queensland. Jessie joined St. Clare Grammar school. His coach Charles Rely Jessie found that he could do well in Athletics, especially race and long jump. He trained him the morning before the school started. After school, he had to work for helping his family with income. Jessie participated in Inter school Track meet held at Queensland between all Junior High School pupils. He completed a distance of 100 metres in 10-seconds. He timed well in relay race and crossed hurdles. This record news was published in Queensland newspapers. Many universities offered Jesse admission. Jesse’s difficulty was that his father was neither educated nor trained. He needed a job to run the family. In 1933, he competed in International level competition in Chicago. He achieved a Triple record in 100 metre race, relay race and long jump. Ohio State University coach Larry Snider was to coach him. Ohio State University granted a scholarship to Jessie and a regular job for his father. In 1935, at Michigan University, Jessie improved his record triple 100 metre race, 220 metre relay race and long jump once again. In 1936, he participated in Berlin Olympics, Germany. German Olympian and his Athletics participant Loose Long became his friend. Lose Long had a muscle pull after he completed his jump. Jessie helped him immediately and massaged his leg. Jessie won the triple and was awarded Gold medal. On his return, he was welcomed at New York. All his life he worked as a good will ambassador for sports. I have read the Hindi language translation of this book. Coloured illustrations help the reader in relating to the story.

[Sydney Roach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sabin’s book tells the life of an Olympic medalist named Jesse Owens. Growing up, Jesse lived on a farm. He was skinny and extremely sick during the winters. After his family moved to Cleveland, Jesse joined the track team and grew to be a healthy young man. He went on to compete and win his events in the 1936 Olympics. I love sports so I enjoyed reading this book. As a future teacher, I would read this in the classroom during the Olympics.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite informative. This children'ts biography is a quick read. I admaire all the olypic athletes but for those that have extra triels to overcome my admiration knows no bounds. Excellent examples of hard work and sportsmanship. I read this book for the prompt read a memoir/biography about an olympian (52 books summer mini challenge)

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books by Troll Associates should be in every school library, they present biographies for young readers that are inspiring to both young and older readers. very well done. This is a good read.