Thought for the Day:
“Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”
~ Gloria Steinem ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
It might seem odd for me to post a link HERE to an article called 7 Steps for Writing Your Novel’s First Chapter, but the article at The Novel Smithy by Lewis Jorstad is very good and chock full of links to other good articles. Besides, your first chapter will be rewritten more than anything else you write. This is worth your time.
Melissa Donovan has a fun post HERE at Writing Forward with Unusual Writing Activities that will Boost Your Creativity.
Lisa Hall-Wilson can help you deepen your point of view with her post HERE on Writers in the Storm — 4 Ways Movement Effects Deep POV.
I am sure many of you, like me, are watching a lot of the Olympic events. I record everything and watch it later. I have no patience with commercials, and that allows me to whiz past them. I have tried to get my DVR to record all of the events, but it doesn’t seem to find all of them. I guess the events are being broadcast on at least four channels, so when I look for certain things, I just can’t find them. I don’t have much interest in racing, whether it is running or swimming, but I love the field events — jumping and throwing. I like the diving and artistic swimming, gymnastics, and equestrian jumping but not dressage. I watch some of the volleyball, but not basketball, soccer, or handball (which is nothing like I thought it would be). The skateboarding has been fun and the kayaks on the rapids is very exciting. My problem has been when I go to my saved programs, and it says, for instance, equestrian, when I turn it on, it is the middle of a soccer game or track events and often what I am looking for is only in the last few minutes and then is cut off. So frustrating! That said, what I have been able to watch has been a LOT of fun and very exciting. I will hope my local library gets a CD set or something so I can see some of what I missed. I hope those of you who are Olympic fans had a better experience than I did. Sorry for the whiny post.
The good news is I was contacted by Welbeck Publishing to ask if I would like a review copy of The Story of the Olympic Games in exchange for an honest review. Would I? Yes, yes, yes, please! It is perfect timing and it has been so much fun learning about the history of the Olympics during the time this year’s games are going on. This wonderful non-fiction book is one that middle-graders and above will really enjoy. After a short introduction, it opens with the Olympic Origins explaining the beginning of the games over 3000 years ago with a sprint in 776 BC. Other events were added, and they began to happen regularly. The modern Olympics began in 1896 with 14 countries taking part. First-place winners received a silver medal while second-place winners got a copper medal. All winners also received a laurel wreath and a diploma. Every set of games in the modern era is covered with photographs and chunks of well-written text laid out with graphics and colored background that makes it a pleasure to read. There are fun facts on every single page. For instance, the very first Olympic champion in the modern era was James Connolly, an American, who won for the triple jump. He couldn’t get permission to have time off from his studies at Harvard to participate in the games, so he had to drop out to do so. Readers will have fun finding out that there used to be a tug of war in the games and that a wrestling match in the 1912 games went on for 11 hours and 40 minutes. It was a semi-final, and the man who won was too tired to wrestle in the final. Johnny Weissmuller was an Olympic swimming and water polo champion, and it led to a career starring in Tarzan movies. While it doesn’t include final information on the 2021 Olympics, it does show a preview of what should have been to the 2020 games. This is a real treasure trove of Olympic information. Any fan of the games will enjoy this beautiful compendium.
I have no giveaway this week since I will donate the nice hardback copy I got to the school. Don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.
Rosi Hollinbeck 
Tug of war in the Olympics? They should reinstate that!
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Yup. That would be fun.
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Loved the Gloria Steinem quote. This book also sounds like a terrific source book for those writing fiction involving the Olympic Games.
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Nice to see you here. I hope you are on the mend.
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Love the Gloria Steinem quote. This book sounds like a great one for kids and adults who love the Olympics. Glad you enjoyed them so much. I watched more of them this year than I have in the past. Love a lot of the sports you do too.
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Thanks, Natalie. Always nice to hear from you.
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What great timing! Sports facts are a big hit with kids!
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Sometimes I get just the right book at the right time. Thanks for the comment.
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Perfect timing for kids and adults who enjoy learning facts about the Olympics. Such a great resource book for school libraries. My grandsons would have enjoyed this book! Thanks for sharing!
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You are welcome. Thanks for the comment.
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I haven’t been able to watch much of the Olympics this year but have been amazed by the talented people I’ve seen. Those gymnasts are unbelievable! I know your school appreciates the great books you’ve been sending them.
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There were some amazing performances this time. Thanks for stopping by.
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It’s kind of sad to have the Olympics over with as of yesterday. This enticing title should fill the gap until the Winter Olympics happens in China next February. Thanks for sharing.
I sure didn’t waste my time with your first link. The others were also beneficial reads.
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Glad you like the links, Greg. Thanks for stopping by.
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This sounds like a perfect book to read this year to learn more about the Olympics! Very good idea to DVR everything. I’ve been trying to watch when I can and really enjoyed the track and field and triathlon events. Somehow I didn’t manage to catch any gymnastics or swimming, which are my favorites. But I’ve also been just watching short videos of the events I like on YouTube. So excited that we’ll have another one in six months!
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I missed a lot of things I like because my DVR just didn’t pick up everything. I will check out YouTube. Thanks for the tip.
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It was perfect timing for this book! I did know about tug-of-war, but I do love learning little facts like that!
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I love books that have lots of weird facts. This is a fun one. Thanks for the comment.
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What a fascinating (and timely) book! The facts sound so interesting—the 11-hour wrestling match sounds crazy! Tons of readers will really enjoy that book.
About the meme, oh my—I feel sad for that lifeguard! (Although it’s definitely better if any lifeguard goes mostly unused…) I haven’t been watching the Olympics, but I’ve heard from people and even seen news articles about how weirdly NBC is airing the whole thing—it’s a shame that they’re even stymieing your DVR strategy!
Your quote is great as well—that resonates with me a lot today, quite frankly! Thanks so much for the great review and all the fun extras, as always!
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Thanks for all your kind words and for always stopping by and commenting.
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Like your review Rosi! It looks like a great way for kids to learn what the Olympics are about.
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Nice blog!
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