Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The Girl Who Ran: Bobbi Gibbs by Frances Poletti - ESSENTIAL

Poletti, Frances and Kristina Yee The Girl Who Ran: Bobbi Gibbs, the First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon.  PICTURE BOOK.  Compendium, 2017  $17. 

Bobbi Gibbs loved to run.  She didn’t train with a coach, she didn’t belong to any team ever.  She just loved to run.  In a time when races for women couldn’t be over 1.5 miles, long distances were her thing.  So she decided one day just to try the Boston Marathon.  She tried to enter officially, but she was turned down.  So instead, she hid in the bushes besides the start and joined the pack  - not to prove a point, not to break a barrier – just because of her love of running. 

Poletti and Yes, along with illustrator Susanna Chapman combine words and pictures that exude Gibbs’ love for running into a simple book about a woman breaking a significant barrier – not to prove a point or make a scene.  Its unthinkable for girls nowadays to think that athleticism would make a woman less womanly.  Gibbs is a role model in many ways with her quiet persistence and leadership without fuss.

EL, MS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

No comments: