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Title: Jimmy the Greatest
Author: Iairo Buitrago
Narrator: Luis Moreno
Format: Unabridged
Length: 5 mins
Language: English
Release date: 03-20-13
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genres: Kids, Ages 5-7
Publisher's Summary:
Jimmy lives in a small Caribbean town where there's not a whole lot to do. Fortunately though, there is a boxing gym, and one day the owner, Don Apolinar, suggests that Jimmy start training. He also gives Jimmy a cardboard box full of books and newspaper clippings all about Muhammad Ali. Jimmy reads and re-reads as he never has before. He is swept with admiration for Ali who said, "I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was." He starts to feel good, realizing that he doesn't need to have a lot of fancy stuff, that he's a pretty good boxer himself, and that he can look forward to the future. But by the time Don Apolinar has to leave for the big city, Jimmy realizes that he can have a great life running the gym, creating a library, dancing and boxingright where he is.
Critic Reviews:
"Eye-opening inspiration in this unassuming import from Colombia." (Kirkus, starred review)
Members Reviews:
Disappointing
I, too, ordered this book because it received a great review on from the Horn Book. I bought this for my seven year old nephew and I have a three year old daughter. This book would not have entertained either. You can get a gist of the illustrations by looking at the front cover. They are vivid and full of color (hence my second star.) The writing is simplistic enough for a young child, but the themes are more appropriate for an older child. Since Jimmy never leaves the town (or at least not within the framework of the story), the book never goes anywhere. I did not enjoy this book at all.
Stings like a bee
Once in a while I'll be impressed by a book for kids, pick it up to review it, and in the course of writing the review become more and more impressed as I return to the book for double, triple, quadruple looks. It hasn't happened all that much lately. Usually it requires a special kind of title. So when I saw "Jimmy the Greatest!" a month or so ago I thought it might make for a good review thanks to its subject matter. It's not like fun stories set in poor Latin America villages appear on my desk every day. I read it and enjoyed it but it wasn't until I reread it, and reread it, and reread it, and reread it some more that the sheer brilliance of this little number got to me. With a careful hand author/illustrator pair Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng have created a book that is an ode to the people who stay in small communities, helping and improving the daily lives of their friends and neighbors. This is a story that folks can relate to, no matter where they live. It's a paean to the heroes of small town life. Unsung heroes, I have located your book.
Jimmy's fishing village is not particularly big or impressive since "there is usually only one small church and, if you're lucky, a little gym where you can hit a punching bag, skip rope or box." Boxing is precisely what Jimmy and all the other kids in the village spend a lot of their time doing, until one day Don Apolinar (who runs the gym) gives Jimmy a box containing books, magazines, and information about a guy named Muhammad Ali. Suddenly Jimmy starts using those glasses he never paid much attention to before and he's reading everything he can get his hands on. In time, Don Apolinar leaves the village for the big city, but that's okay.