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The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides
Twenty-five hundred years ago Greek soldiers faced the Persian army on the plain of Marathon. Pheidippides ran to neighboring Sparta, 140 miles away, to ask for the Spartans' aid. Afterwards he sped back to the battle, where he helped defeat the enemy.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 6, 2024
This book is fine, but I do wish that the line between fact and legend were made clear in the actual narrative, rather than being left to the explanatory note at the end.
While I get that this is a children’s book, and I agree that the “truth” of the legend doesn’t change the impact it has had, I think the Pheidippides story offers a unique opportunity to explore the gray area between fact & legend and at least introduce the complexity of how “history” is made. While the author does this to some extent in the end note, that bit is really *not* written for the same audience as the main narrative, and therefore that message is lost on the audience of the book (what’s more, I suspect many adults reading to children would skip that end note entirely as well). I believe that there are ways to introduce these concepts in an age appropriate way within the body of the book rather than flattening the conflicting elements such that fact and legend carry equal weight.
While I get that this is a children’s book, and I agree that the “truth” of the legend doesn’t change the impact it has had, I think the Pheidippides story offers a unique opportunity to explore the gray area between fact & legend and at least introduce the complexity of how “history” is made. While the author does this to some extent in the end note, that bit is really *not* written for the same audience as the main narrative, and therefore that message is lost on the audience of the book (what’s more, I suspect many adults reading to children would skip that end note entirely as well). I believe that there are ways to introduce these concepts in an age appropriate way within the body of the book rather than flattening the conflicting elements such that fact and legend carry equal weight.
June 18, 2022
My kids and I enjoyed reading this for our homeschool history class.
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October 13, 2015Title: The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides
Author: Susan Reynolds
Illustrator: Daniel Minter
Genre: Legend
Theme(s): Inspirational
Opening line/sentence: Before there were telephones, cars, or computers, there was a boy named Pheidippides.
Brief Book Summary: The book is dated to be back 2,500 years ago, telling about the Greeks fighting the Persians on at Marathon. Pheidippides, a young male who can run long distances feverishly runs 140 miles in a 36 hour time frame to get help. He fights in the battle right after and ran to tell about the victory; he unfortunately dies at the end.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: 32 pp. Whitman 2006. ISBN 0-8075-0867-5
(4) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Minter. This story recounts the life of Pheidippides, an ancient Greek soldier who inspired the modern-day marathon by supposedly running 280 miles in one day. Static double-page spreads and endpaper maps illustrate the scope of Pheidippides's accomplishment. An informative afterword distinguishes between fact and legend and gives specifics about the history of modern marathons. Bib.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: CLCD: Reynolds, a distance walker herself, spins detail around skimpy Classical sources to create a tale in tribute to every marathon’s hero. Unfortunately, however impressive Pheidippides’s achievement may have been—he ran 140 miles to Sparta to beg for help against the invading Persians, ran back to fight in the battle of Marathon, then ran about 25 miles to Athens to report the victory, before dying of exhaustion—this rendition of it never rises above the pedestrian. Minter’s static, amateurishly drawn figures are paired to lines like, “But Pheidippides would just laugh and run in circles so that he could stay close to his mother but still get to run.” Reynolds closes with a detailed source not and a brief history of the modern marathon—not enough to carry this, or readers, much past the starting line.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both mention the extra note at the end of the book, which I also believe to hold special, personal meaning about a marathon. Although I do not believe the second review means it in a negative way, I do not think the drawn figures were “amateurishly drawn” so match some of the text. I think the illustrations were brilliant, clear, and defined.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The illustrator does a wonderful job including double spread, very colorful, accurate depictions and illustrations. The text is placed on the illustrations, without any white spaces/boxes for it, allowing the print and even reader to feel a part of the story. Author does nice job painting the role of running as a way of communication in this time period of ancient Greece with easy to read text and language.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I would use this book as part of an ancient Greece unit. I’d discuss what legends are and reiterate that this man was honored for his bravery, courage, and strength since his role of running was a method of communicating and in achieving that, we name the modern sport event after this: the marathon. In a math aspect, I’d have children tie in rates with the story. They’d calculate the character’s running pace at certain spots of his journey and also use ratios to compare the sizes of the two armies (for older grades maybe 5th grade).
Author: Susan Reynolds
Illustrator: Daniel Minter
Genre: Legend
Theme(s): Inspirational
Opening line/sentence: Before there were telephones, cars, or computers, there was a boy named Pheidippides.
Brief Book Summary: The book is dated to be back 2,500 years ago, telling about the Greeks fighting the Persians on at Marathon. Pheidippides, a young male who can run long distances feverishly runs 140 miles in a 36 hour time frame to get help. He fights in the battle right after and ran to tell about the victory; he unfortunately dies at the end.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: 32 pp. Whitman 2006. ISBN 0-8075-0867-5
(4) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Minter. This story recounts the life of Pheidippides, an ancient Greek soldier who inspired the modern-day marathon by supposedly running 280 miles in one day. Static double-page spreads and endpaper maps illustrate the scope of Pheidippides's accomplishment. An informative afterword distinguishes between fact and legend and gives specifics about the history of modern marathons. Bib.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: CLCD: Reynolds, a distance walker herself, spins detail around skimpy Classical sources to create a tale in tribute to every marathon’s hero. Unfortunately, however impressive Pheidippides’s achievement may have been—he ran 140 miles to Sparta to beg for help against the invading Persians, ran back to fight in the battle of Marathon, then ran about 25 miles to Athens to report the victory, before dying of exhaustion—this rendition of it never rises above the pedestrian. Minter’s static, amateurishly drawn figures are paired to lines like, “But Pheidippides would just laugh and run in circles so that he could stay close to his mother but still get to run.” Reynolds closes with a detailed source not and a brief history of the modern marathon—not enough to carry this, or readers, much past the starting line.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both mention the extra note at the end of the book, which I also believe to hold special, personal meaning about a marathon. Although I do not believe the second review means it in a negative way, I do not think the drawn figures were “amateurishly drawn” so match some of the text. I think the illustrations were brilliant, clear, and defined.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The illustrator does a wonderful job including double spread, very colorful, accurate depictions and illustrations. The text is placed on the illustrations, without any white spaces/boxes for it, allowing the print and even reader to feel a part of the story. Author does nice job painting the role of running as a way of communication in this time period of ancient Greece with easy to read text and language.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I would use this book as part of an ancient Greece unit. I’d discuss what legends are and reiterate that this man was honored for his bravery, courage, and strength since his role of running was a method of communicating and in achieving that, we name the modern sport event after this: the marathon. In a math aspect, I’d have children tie in rates with the story. They’d calculate the character’s running pace at certain spots of his journey and also use ratios to compare the sizes of the two armies (for older grades maybe 5th grade).
January 4, 2016
I really liked this book! It looked like it would take a while to read, but it actually went by fairly quickly. Part of that, I feel, is because the book is written really well. I love that the pronunciations are right there in the text, so I wasn't stumbling through as I read. The subject and story were fascinating, and the map at the back was very helpful in getting a good idea of distances. The artwork was nice, though not my favorite. I did love that it was clean, colorful, and realistic, and I appreciated that the nude athletes were a little more abstract/without much detail. That can be difficult when teaching young children about ancient cultures, and I thought this book handled the nudity in a very tasteful way.
Overall, great book for learning about the history of marathons, Ancient Greece, and a lesser-known Greek hero.
Overall, great book for learning about the history of marathons, Ancient Greece, and a lesser-known Greek hero.
June 18, 2008
What you need to know to begin with is that I'm a big baby.
So, we read this book and it's all about courage and sacrifice and honor and all those wonderful things. And the book is very well-written and pulls you right in. We get to the end and I'm bawling like a baby. I can barely finish the last few pages. My kids see my crying so they start crying and pretty soon it's just a room full of weeping, snotty people.
They asked why I was crying so we were able to talk a little about how heroism like this touches me deeply. We ended up having a great discussion.
We read the book several times before we returned it to the library.
Definitely read this in your study of ancient Greece. A beautiful telling of the legend of Pheidippides.
So, we read this book and it's all about courage and sacrifice and honor and all those wonderful things. And the book is very well-written and pulls you right in. We get to the end and I'm bawling like a baby. I can barely finish the last few pages. My kids see my crying so they start crying and pretty soon it's just a room full of weeping, snotty people.
They asked why I was crying so we were able to talk a little about how heroism like this touches me deeply. We ended up having a great discussion.
We read the book several times before we returned it to the library.
Definitely read this in your study of ancient Greece. A beautiful telling of the legend of Pheidippides.
February 10, 2011
Got to say I love this book. The artwork is bright and cheerful and kid-friendly, and Susan Reynolds does a great job of retelling the classic tale of the Greek runner, Pheidippides.
I'm reading it with my kids (currently 8 and 10) to fill out our studies of ancient Greece. And I particularly like the pains with which the Mr. Minter went to make sure that the 'costumes' and settings were correct. I also just love how Ms. Reynolds takes the sad ending -- Pheidippes sort of overdoes the running -- and turns it into a positive by showing that the man is still honored today, thousands of years later with the modern Marathons that take place all over the world.
Pam T~
mom/blogger/ancient history lover
I'm reading it with my kids (currently 8 and 10) to fill out our studies of ancient Greece. And I particularly like the pains with which the Mr. Minter went to make sure that the 'costumes' and settings were correct. I also just love how Ms. Reynolds takes the sad ending -- Pheidippes sort of overdoes the running -- and turns it into a positive by showing that the man is still honored today, thousands of years later with the modern Marathons that take place all over the world.
Pam T~
mom/blogger/ancient history lover
August 31, 2009
This book outlines the life of Pheidippides and gives a look at the circumstances surrounding the first marathon. It reads like a longer picture book, and the illustrations are great. There is also a longer author’s note in the back that explains the historical sources and what we know about Pheidippides versus what we guess about him. This would be a great book for kids whose mom, dad, or family friend (or favorite librarian!) plans on doing marathons to explain the event and learn the history behind it.
June 21, 2009
Interesting story about the legend of Pheidippides and the running of the first marathon. I'm glad to see this story well done for children.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews