Bright Path: Young Jim Thorpe

by Don Brown

Jim Thorpe's childhood was a mix of hard work in the outdoors and a succession of military-strict "Indian Schools" that relentlessly imposed white culture on Native American children. Then in 1907, wearing overalls and a work shirt, he effortlessly broke his school high-jump record--a feat that launched a remarkable athletic career in track, football, and baseball, culminating at the 1912 Olympics, where Thorpe won the decathlon with a world record score that would stand for almost 20 years and the pentathlon with a points total that would never be beaten.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, History, Native Americans, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him "a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." He lives in New York with his family.

Reviews

[Portia H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggled with how to rate this book.

I decided on a 5 of 5 star rating because the author does provide for younger readers an introduction to the life of Jim Thorpe although fails to adequately incorporate the whole story within the main biography.

However, Don Brown includes an author's note in the back of the book that does include more detail and for that I applaud his effort with a high rating.

The biography, Bright Path, relays a highlighted yet narrow version of Native American Jim Thorpe's biography which includes details of hardships encountered in his youth that are everything but a fitting parallel to Thorpe's native nickname of Wa-tho-huck which translates to Bright Path.

Thorpe's love of the outdoors and his discipline toward hard work are apparent in the depiction of his activities prior to being forced into numerous boarding school that would attempt to mold him into something he was not.

His abilities as an 'astounding athlete' were already well established prior to his first high jump as a result of earlier ranch life. Additionally, his attitude of passion toward hard work had already developed into understanding sportsmanship as a process of the whole endeavor rather than a means to an end.

Thorpe choose rather to run away than be trapped at schools that served only to force acclamation of white culture onto Indians boys already equipped, as Thorpe was, with a culture that better served to develop both his physical and moral disposition.

I agree with the author in his description that Thorpe had struggles in an unfamiliar culture of boarding school...I strongly disagree with the notion that Thorpe's Bright Path was in any way connected with world fame.

Jim Thorpe did not seek world fame! He sought freedom from oppression in the only way available to him. By being true to himself in the arena of sports.

Nonetheless, true to Western culture (that of the white man) Thorpe was deemed disposable. He was used for his athletic ability and later discarded by the Olympic Committee over rules that have since been ignored whenever it best served those in power.

Jim Thorpe expresses it best (according to Author's note) in his letter to the American Athletic Union, which stated: "I did not play for money...but because I like to play ball. I am not wise in the ways of the world and did not realize that this (playing baseball for money) was wrong, and it would make me a professional in track sports."

Nearly thirty years after Jim Thorpe's death his honors earned as an 1912 Olympic athlete were rightfully restored.

[Teri Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy from the Sauk tribe lived on a farm in Oklahoma with his family. Because he was an Indian, his father thought that he would have the best chances at life in America if he attended a government-run school that specialized in imposing white culture on Indian children. At six years old, Jim, whose name was “Bright Path” in his native language, began to attend a school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In creating schools, the motivation of the U.S. government was to “make Indians the only ethnic group in the U.S. to be provided a well-endowed, government-funded education.” Reminiscent of the treatment of the Maori in Australia, Americans thought that Indians needed to be “thoroughly soaked” in white culture to make them citizens who could contribute to U.S. society. Brown states, “Still, Indian education included the dismissal of traditional Native American culture.” Jim attended three government-run schools in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. Because of the restrictive nature of the school curriculum and rules, (students were required to wear suits and hats, adhere to a strict schedule, live in a dormitory, play only school-authorized games, and speak English), Jim often ran away. On a whim, Jim attempted the high jump at a school track practice and started his career as an athlete. Serving as a college athlete, he was invited to the 1912 Olympics. Earning several medals, Thorpe returned home a hero. I think this book could be taught to students K-12, and that it could accompany a DVD clip of HBO’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” where the student is forced to give up his Indian name and choose a white name. This film would show students the tactics teachers at government-run schools used to impose white culture on Native American students, and how they had no chance of success until they disposed of their Indian ways. This book could be taught in a unit on American heroes or in an Olympics unit. Obviously it could also be included in a Native American study. I think it would be significant to highlight the athletic feats of a man who is similar to a modern Michael Jordan, as he played professional basketball and baseball, and was called by the King of Sweden, “The greatest athlete in the world.”

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok… there is a lot missing.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Thorpe is just one of those names I've only known. Presumably there was some sort of tv show on him when I was young. This is pretty good children's biography on him. You get a hint of who he was, and what he accomplished. The raw deal he got around the olympics was only in the afterword, but it was a pretty good afterword.

[sarafem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting story about Jim Thorpe, an Olympic pentathlon champion from the early 1900s. Thorpe was Native American and given the name "Bright Path" at birth; later on he went to strict Indian Schools that harshly assimilated Native American children into white culture. He had always been a superb athlete but at one of these schools he discovered the sport of track & field, quickly breaking all school records and becoming a star in the sport (as well as others, interestingly enough). He eventually went on to the Olympics and broke all records he competed for; some stood for 20 years.

I would have liked this story better if it had taken a stronger stand on assimilation of Native Americans. I thought it was going there as it described the schools and how unhappy Jim was, but in the end Jim was nice and assimilated and look where it got him: acting like a good white boy got him an Olympic gold medal. I realize this is gross over-simplification, but the book just seemed to drop the subject entirely once Jim became successful.

I don't know how the book could have handled it; I don't know if Thorpe ever spoke about his culture and childhood. But I do know that he died a destitute alcoholic, and I'm sure his pain had a lot to do with his childhood. I feel like this book had a wonderful opportunity to take a stand and it didn't do it. Perhaps that is not fair for me to say; it is a good story without getting controversial. But I wanted more.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Jim Thorpe grows up on a farm and is sent to school, but he keeps running away. Finally at a school in Carlisle he finds his talents in sports. Jim Thorpe goes from playing in school, to semi-pro, on to competing in the Olympics.

Reflection: Great biography. The illustrations are perfect and set the mood for the story!

Themes/Connections: Indians, athletes, talents, biographies

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very thorough biography of Jim Thorpe, someone I didn't have a very clear historical perspective on. The author's note was tremendous though over the average elementary reader's head. The main text was very easy to understand though. All of it was great.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jim Thorpe's life must have been more interesting than this book made it sound.

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written story focusing on Thorpe's early years.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and wonderful read during the Olympics.

[Israel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuff got dark fast!!