Books can fascinate as Olympics near

"BEIJING — Thousands of eager fans who had waited for up to two days swarmed sales windows Friday for the final batch of tickets to next month's Olympic Games, knocking people to the ground and bending metal barricades in the chaotic crush." Yahoo News, 25 July, 2008.

Although I respect the enthusiasm and devotion that lead fans into this sort of melee, I'm a long way from understanding any aspect of the sports mentality. Granted, it's not legitimate to compare the Olympic Games to Monday Night Football.

And we're talking "games" not "sports." So, I'm pep talking myself to overlook the politics and other negatives and simply enjoy and appreciate the coming deluge of Olympic coverage. I recently watched "Munich," a riveting (and violent) movie directed by Steven Spielberg based on the terrorist acts against Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Worth watching and contemplating.

--"Winning Words: Sports Stories and Photographs" by Charles R. Smith Jr. is the perfect book to set the mood. Each story is inspired by a quote from a famous person and deals with young athletes who are struggling to overcome their fears and achieve excellence.

For example: "Have fun, always set goals, but never set limits," from Shannon Miller, gymnast who won seven Olympic Medals and nine world Championship Medals; "In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail," from Bruce Lee, martial arts celebrity; "You are never a loser until you quit trying," from Mike Ditka, NFL player, television commentator and coach.

I'd recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

--"Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics" by Sue Macy is a National Geographic children's book updated for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The book includes chapters on the expected as well as the unexpected. My favorite is "Unlikely Heroes."

For example, a double-page, color photograph is captioned: "Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea … who had learned to swim only nine months before … finished in more than double the time of the eventual medal winners. But his refusal to quit won him many admirers." The book is fascinating to read and has an Olympic Almanac that includes material that could be used for research. Because it has numerous illustrations, even young elementary children could enjoy this book.

--"How to be an Ancient Greek Athlete" by Jacquelyn Morley is a small National Geographic paperback that is packed with information about the origins of our current Olympic Games. This takes children back to ancient Greece in around 450 B.C.

Many of these facts are bound to appeal to young readers. For instance, the judges at Olympia … "must purify themselves. They wash in a sacred spring and are sprinkled with pig's blood." Who knew?

Contact Fran Hawk at franbooks@yahoo.com.