As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
40 pp.
| Little
| May, 2022
|
TradeISBN 978-0-316-29290-0$17.99
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Nidhi Chanani.
In a conversational third-person text, "professional strongman" Kearney shares his path from strong kid who excelled at strength-based sports (football, cheerleading, weightlifting) to adult strongman champion. But this story's true focus is about embracing who you are and celebrating self-expression. Before he was "the first and only openly gay strongman in the world," Kearney kept his "bright, bold" style private. When he falls in love with fellow weightlifter Joey, he's emboldened to forego lifters' typical "boring colors" and instead sports colorful clothes and a rainbow Mohawk. Chanani's cheerful illustrations help reinforce Kearney's message, summed up in his author's note: "There is nothing that shows more strength than being who you truly are." More information about the Strongman competition is appended, as is a list of related websites and books.
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Nathan Reed.
Samson the Mighty Flea is the weightlifting star of Fleabag's Circus. He leaves to pursue a solo act to become "the biggest star in the world" but returns after realizing he misses his friends. The text has occasional rhyming passages, but its patterns are too haphazard to build drama effectively. The illustrations, full of bold colors and curlicues, are well suited to the circus motif.
64 pp.
| TOON
| October, 2016
|
TradeISBN 978-1-943145-08-9$12.95
(2)
K-3
Translated by Richard Kutner.
TOON Books continues to reinvent the easy reader with this biography of eccentric strongman Antonio Barichievich, a Croatian-born showman who became a Montreal legend. Simple text mingles fact, speculation, and tall tale. Energetic illustrations in muted colors feature a large, pink, hairy, joyful Antonio; wild typefaces seem to want to burst from the page. Back matter includes a few more details about Antonio.
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2016
(2)
K-3
This picture book biography gives readers context for the homage still paid to the bodybuilding champ and fitness guru. McCarthy's narration is simple and light-handed, illustrated with cartoony acrylic paintings strengthened by black outlines; black-and-white vignettes mimicking archival images are interspersed. A spread of suggested exercises gives readers a concrete connection to Atlas's oversized legacy. An author's note is appended.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2007
4 reviews
Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.
This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.