BIBLIOGRAPHY :Freedman, Russell. 1999. Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The making of a champion. New York: Clarion. ISBN 0395633672.
Mildred “Babe” Didrickson Zaharias excelled at every sport she tried from childhood to her early forties. Nicknamed “Babe” by her childhood friends, due to her baseball abilities, she was naturally athletic and a hardworking young woman with the determination to be the best at each sport she tried.
She participated in and won a gold medal for Track and Field in the 1932 Olympics. At a time when women were still considered unequal to men in social, business and athletic ventures, she was named Woman Athlete of the Year four times and Outstanding Woman Athlete of the Century. Babe participated as an amateur and professional athlete in several sports, including track and field, basketball, tennis, baseball, diving, golf and bowling. Her personal life included many struggles and hardships, many of which she overcame with her positive attitude and determination.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Russell Freedman has written a complete biography that spans from her young childhood growing up in Beaumont, Texas to her adult life. This well written biography provides a balanced view of the real person, not a glorification of an athlete. A quote from a letter she wrote sums up her attitude and feelings about her early basketball teammates. “Heck, ‘Tiny, … if I get me another [offer], I’m gonna take it…These girls are just like they were in Beaumont High School. Jealous and more so because they are all here and trying to beat me. But they can’t do it.”
Another side of Babe is seen in her attention to the crowds who came to see her play. She would entertain them with “trick shots and wisecracks.” Sources for direct quotes are documented in the author’s “Notes” at the back of the book. Crude comments and her lack of femininity earned her some disrespect from the men in the sports business. One sportswriter even coined the phrase “Muscle Moll” in reference to her unladylike behavior and lack of attention to her appearance.
The design and layout are attractive and inviting to the reader. The large sized black and white photos aid in providing accuracy. She is pictured with Will Rogers, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope all well-known Hollywood actors of their time. The pictures themselves provide a photobiography chronicling her life in all her chosen sports and her personal life. This book includes a table of contents, Authors Note, Acknowledgements and and Picture Credits, bibliographical references and an index.
Starred Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Freedman is on top of his game with this engaging profile of one of this century's most remarkable athletes and larger-than-life personalities. … This attractive, oversized photo-biography recounts her life story and sets it into the larger context of the evolving role of women's athletics, and the development of professional sports in the U.S.”
Review from HORNBOOK GUIDE: “Freedman's measured yet lively style captures the spirit of the great athlete. The book is at its best in the chapters about Babe's track-and-field triumphs; the later account of her golf career drags a bit. Freedman's enthusiastic admiration, however, provides enough reason to read. Plenty of black-and-white photos capture Babe's spirit and dashing good looks, and the documentation is impeccable.”
Review from BOOKLIST: “Children used to athletes who limit their focus to one sport will marvel at Babe's accomplishments. Freedman does a good of job tracing her rise from scrappy neighborhood games to stardom and gives readers a sense of the way she was worshipped on the playing field and vilified for her unladylike appearance … .”
AWARDS
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 1999
American Library Association Notable Books for Children 2000
CONNECTIONS
Other biographies written by Russell Freedman:
Freedman, Russell. 1998. Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life. ISBN 0395746558
Freedman, Russell. 2000. Lincoln: A photobiography. ISBN 0395518482
Freedman, Russell. 2000. Eleanor Roosevelt: A life of discovery. ISBN 0395845203
Freedman, Russell. 2006. Out of darkness: The story of Louis Braille. ISBN 1422354385
Activities
*In March, for Women’s History Month, have student’s research famous American women and their achievements.
*Encourage students to create a biography collection of famous Olympic athletes.
*Have students create a “scrapbook” of other famous historical figures, including pictures and journal entries. Have students cite the sources for their findings.
*Have students read other Russell Freedman biographies and write an author and a biography book review for the library website.
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