Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist

by Lesa Cline-Ransome, James E. Ransome (Illustrator)

Overview

Discover the inspiring true story of extraordinary professional cyclist Major Taylor in this nonfiction picture book from Coretta Scott King Award winners Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome.

In 1891, Marshall Taylor could ride his bike forward, backward, even perched on the handlebars. When his stunts landed him a job at the famous Indiana bike shop Hay and Willits, folks were amazed that a thirteen-year-old black boy could be such a crackerjack cyclist.

Little Marshall Taylor would use his dedication, undeniable talent, and daring speed to transform himself into Major Taylor, turning pro at the age of eighteen, winning the world championship title just three years later, and battling racism and the odds to become a true American hero.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689831591
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/01/2004
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	472,200
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD1020L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of numerous nonfiction and historical fiction titles for picture book, chapter book, middle grade, and young adult readers including Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne. Her verse biography of Harriet Tubman, Before She Was Harriet was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and received a Jane Addams Children’s Book Honor, Christopher Award, and Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration. Her debut middle grade novel, Finding Langston, won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and received the Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband and frequent collaborator, James Ransome, and their family. Visit her at LesaClineRansome.com.

James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriet received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include the Coretta Scott King winner The Creation; Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop; Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt; and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. James is also a recipient of the ALA Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome, and their books include Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis. James is a professor and coordinator of the MFA Illustration Graduate Program at Syracuse University. He lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley region with his family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.

Editorial Reviews

The creators of Satchel Paige turn their attention to African-American cyclist Marshall Taylor, who in 1899 clinched the World Championship title. Cline-Ransome includes details about Taylor's boyhood that will easily snare kids' attention. While a youngster in Indianapolis, he "taught himself quite a collection of tricks" as he delivered newspapers on his bike. His prowess landed him a job in Hay and Willits Bicycle Shop. A full-bleed page divided into four panels shows the boy performing stunts on his bicycle in a military uniform, earning him the nickname of "Major." After winning his first race (a 10-mile road race sponsored by Hay and Willits) at 13, the lad left home to become assistant to professional racer Louis "Birdie" Munger and turned pro himself five years later. Concisely and affectingly, Cline-Ransome describes the racial prejudice that plagued the athlete on and off the race course: "All of the large purses won in races all over the country couldn't buy him a meal in a restaurant or a room in a hotel." Though the narrative concludes on a note of triumph, trumpeting his cycling victory in France over the 1900 world champion, a concluding note outlines Taylor's sad, destitute later years. Period particulars and deft use of light and shadow distinguish Ransome's lifelike oil paintings. Portraits of Taylor are in sharp, striking focus, and effectively convey his athleticism, congeniality and resolve. An appealing, accessible biography. Ages 6-10. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2-4-A picture-book biography of Marshall Taylor, an African American who became a great bicycle racer. Taylor grew up in Indianapolis, taught himself stunts on his bicycle, and won the first race he entered, in 1891, at age 13. He went on to achieve international fame in a segregated sport. (In this country, he was allowed to compete only because he'd been admitted to the League of American Wheelmen before they voted to bar blacks from membership.) He found a greater level of acceptance in France, and the account of his victory over the French champion Edmond Jacquelin provides the book with its climax. An afterword is frank about the difficulties the athlete encountered after retiring from racing; he died at the age of 53 and was buried in a pauper's grave near Chicago. Overall, the text is smoothly written and greatly enhanced by Ransome's vivid and accomplished paintings. Not quite as long as Cline-Ransome and Ransome's Satchel Paige (S & S, 2000), this book hits only a few high notes in Taylor's life. Mary Scioscia's Bicycle Rider (Harper & Row, 1983; o.p.), illustrated by Ed Young, is a wonderful book for slightly older readers, but focuses only on Taylor's first victory. Useful for reports as well as enjoyable for leisure reading, this attractive book should find a home in most collections.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Glorious, light-filled oils are not enough to save this lackluster picture book biography of "Major" Marshall Taylor, the first African-American world-champion cyclist. From his beginnings as a hired stunt rider in an Indianapolis bicycle shop in 1891 to his triumphant defeat of the reigning world champion in Paris in 1901, the text emphasizes his determination and class in the face of prejudice and hostility both on and off the track. It's an inspiring story, but it never really takes flight. As a subject, Taylor lacks the mythic flair of Satchel Paige, the subject of the pair's 1999 collaboration, and consequently the narrative lacks snap. Perhaps in an effort to compensate for Taylor's relative stolidity and to reach out to child readers, Cline-Ransome peppers her text with invented dialogue, an unfortunate choice in today's world of children's nonfiction. Ransome's full-bleed illustrations emphasize mood and form, featuring a muscular, solemn, and almost driven Taylor. An author's note summarizes Taylor's life after 1901, discusses the racial climate of turn-of-the-20th-century cycling, and cites sources. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews