Bedtime read Book Review–Charlie Takes His Shot by Nancy Churnin

Ever have one of those books that slowly but surely grabs your child’s attention, even during one of their super goofy periods? I did recently, and was pleasantly surprised that it was a non-fiction book that did the job!

We recently read Charlie Takes His Shot, a picture book biography by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by John Joven.  This is a biography of Charlie Sifford, who broke the color barrier in the game of golf. Sadly, I had never heard of him, and neither had my children, but they were engaged with the story right away.

The opening scene of the book (see below) grabbed my busy bodied children right away, and then Churnin jumps right into giving the historical context, which also grabbed their attention.

We learned all about the struggles Mr. Sifford had to deal with when trying to play professionally on PGA tours when there was a literal “Caucasian rule” that said he could not play on PGA courses.

One of the many interesting things I enjoyed about the book was concept that Charlie’s success was not only due to his golfing skills, but also the help of others. Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball, was actually one of those people. Although it often can appear to be one person who makes such a big change, it actually takes the support and efforts of many to achieve such a historical change and that I love that this book makes that so clear.

The bright colorful illustrations are wonderful in this book and all three of us learned something new with this great bedtime read.

This book is great for a child who enjoys, golf, Civil Rights, and/or biographies.

Keep Raising Readers!