Never at a loss for words during his career as a professional
prize fighter, former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is
lending his name to a series of children's books intended to help
motivate and empower young students, especially boys.
Ironic, because Muhammad Ali had to overcome dyslexia as a child
to learn how to read and write. The books are meant to foster an
interest in reading and help young students become accomplished
readers.
Scholastic Corp.'s "Muhammad Ali Presents Go the Distance"
features books that champion Ali's values and are aimed at socially
disadvantaged students in grades 3 to 8 who believe neither reading
nor education is relevant to their lives, says Lonnie Ali, the
boxing legend's wife.
"The foundation of all education is reading," she said. "Books
can take a child outside of his immediate vicinity, his immediate
environment, to someplace else. It makes them learn about other
communities outside of their immediate neighborhoods. That's one of
the things this particular library has been designed to do: to take
children on that next journey out."
The collection includes a wide range of multicultural fiction
and nonfiction books that generally reflect the interests of young
boys in underserved classrooms because, on average, they read far
less than their female counterparts.
Some of the titles in the collection include: "Stealing Home:
The Story of Jackie Robinson" about the legendary athlete who broke
baseball's color barrier; "Hunterman and the Crocodile," a folk
tale from west Africa; "White Star: A Dog on the Titanic," about a
young boy and a dog who bond while aboard the doomed ocean liner;
and "Touching Spirit Bear," a story of a young boy's journey from
self-destructive anger to forgiveness.
"A lot of it has to do with subject material -- getting the
interest of the child, to make them read," Lonnie Ali said. "The
more you make a child read, the more they are motivated. The more
motivation they have, the more they seek out books to read and the
more they become empowered by what they read and empowered with
what they can do."
The collection wouldn't be complete without an Ali book, so
Scholastic also included "The Champ: The Story of Muhammad
Ali."
"Going the Distance" also introduces a new generation to the
former boxer, which delights him immensely, his wife said.
Having Muhammad Ali's name associated with the collection gives
it instant credibility, said Francesann Lightsy, principal of the
James M. Grimes Performing Arts Magnet School in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Under a pilot program, fifth-graders at the school started using
the books about a month before the collection's official
launch.
"Sometimes parent involvement is a challenge, but Muhammad Ali
is a common denominator between generations," said Lightsy. "He
bridges the gaps in a lot of ways for us. I'll be able to get
parents involved, and I think Scholastic will be able to develop
this program far beyond what it currently is."
Lightsy credits the books with, in just a few weeks, giving
several boys at the school a completely different outlook on
reading and education.
"Boys have a tendency, no matter where they're from, to want to
be powerful," she said. "Boys kind of glamorize physical types of
activities -- basketball, football, boxing. So to have a reading
series that is presented by Muhammad Ali, it almost makes it OK to
read because this really powerful, cool dude is saying, 'It's OK to
read, it's good to read.’ It brings about a different
mind-set."
(Xinhua News Agency via Agencies December 5, 2006)