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Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream

deloris jordan roslyn m. jordan kadir nelson

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Michael Jordan’s mother and sister team up for this heartwarming and inspirational picture book about faith and hope and how any family working together can help a child make his or her dreams come true.

Michael Jordan.

The mere mention of the name conjures up visions of basketball played at its absolute best. But as a child, Michael almost gave up on his hoop dreams, all because he feared he’d never grow tall enough to play the game that would one day make him famous.

That’s when his mother and father stepped in and shared the invaluable lesson of what really goes into the making of a champion—patience, determination, and hard work.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2000
Literary awards
arkansas diamond primary book award, north carolina childrens book award, 

This edition

Format
32 pages, Paperback
Published
November 1, 2003 by Simon \u0026 Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN
9780689834196
ASIN
0689834195
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Michael Jordan

    Michael Jordan

    Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is an American basketball player, entrepreneur, and majority owner and chairman of the Charlotte Bobcats. He joined the NBAs Chicago Bulls in 1984. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the B...

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About the author

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deloris jordan

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Deloris Jordan is Michael Jordan's mother and the coauthor of Salt in His Shoes and Michael's Golden Rules, illustrated by Kadir Nelson; Did I Tell You I Love You Today?, illustrated by Shane W. Evans; and Dream Big, illustrated by Barry Root.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
31(31%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Lukatta
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The biography was written by Michael's mother. The story follows Michael through a brief period of his youth were he had a love of basketball but doubts about his ability and feeling that his lack of height would keep him from playing well. During the text, Michael shows the determination and grit that carried him to being one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
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Luckyducky777
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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One of my favorite books of all time. This book is about the legendary Micheal Jordan who became the greatest basketball player of all time. The moral of the story is all about hope and believing, (as the story told by him) as a kid he wasn't very big and couldn't play basketball well with his older brothers. Therefore his mother would put salt in his shoes every night saying how it would help him grow taller and stronger and be able to play basketball with his brothers and friends then. I connect to this book a little bit to never stop believing and do what you love. I would recommend this to any young athlete. A biography about the young legend himself.
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SCLFI
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Biography:

I really enjoyed reading the biography, Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream. I think that this text would be engaging for students and inspirational as they are also facing some of the same issues that Michael Jordan is described to face. I would use this book in grades 3-5. This biography discusses the internal and external struggles that Michael Jordan faced as a young boy who dreamed to become a tall basketball player.

As a future educator, I can see this book having the potential to be used in the classroom in many ways. I think that this book would tie in really well with some of the character traits often discussed in elementary schools. The book focusses on perseverance, had work, and following your dreams which are all important lessons to be taught to our students! I believe that while students grade 3-5 could most likely read this book independently, it would be a really great tool to use as a read aloud. Having students reflect on their own similar experiences or other people they know who may have faced some challenges and pushed through their issues would relate the story to the lived or related experiences of students.

This book was a WOW book for me because it told the story of Michael Jordan, an athlete who many students know and love, realistically. I think that the students can truly relate to the text. I also love that it was written by Michael Jordan’s mother and sister.
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fragariamemories
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Genre: Biography
One unique feature of this book is that the author is actually Michael Jordan's mother. She writes this book from a personal perspective highlighting young Michael's desire to become a superstar and the obstacles he had to overcome to get there. It's an inspiring story a lot of young kids would enjoy and relate to.
Recommended for grades 2-5
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Pokelix_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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My students absolutely loved this book. I read it aloud as my students hung on every word. The story was very relatable to my students both boys and girls. They all wanted to tell me a story about "When I...". One of my students piped up to say "Oh, Mrs. Daughtry Michael is a "round" character. Remember when we talked about how characters change?", then she proceeded to tell me how Michael changed in the story. As a teacher this was a very proud moment for me. My students really are listening! I loved the fact that Deloris Jordan (the author) explicitly stated how months passed for Michael and still no changes in his height occured. Often in books the misconception is that things happen over night for the characters. We were also able to have a rich discussion about the difference between bullying and just being unkind as one of the characters teased Michael about his height. This story would also be a great introduction about the concept of perseverance and the importance of putting in the practice time.
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kiyopon5896
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Genre: Biography/Non-Fiction-Informational
Grade: Level: Primary/Middle Grades (2-6)

He's a 6'6" giant thanks to Salt and Prayer! A wonderful story written by Michael Jordan's mom, Deloris and his sister, Roslyn. It is all about determination and belief! You can become whatever you want to be if you work hard enough and think positive. Michael didn't know how the salt his mom put in his shoes was going to help him grow but he believed his mom. He didn't know how he was going to beat those other basketball players who were much taller than he was, but he believed his dad. When it came time to shoot the ball, he believed in himself! All children want to be in the NBA, but it takes Heart, Belief and Determination, just like Michael's dad told him!
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PopuraChan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Excellent read on patience and determination. Children ages 5-10 would love this story. Its a story of a young child loving the game of basketball. He was always afraid that he was too short to make the teams. Well he never gave up on his dreams of playing basketball. Today Michael Jordan is one of the most famous basketball players of all time. I would add this book to my classroom library because it shows how family working together can help make a childs dream come true. I like this book because its a true inspirational story.
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an1mnte
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book meant alot to me as a kid. Even till now I am still inspired about being tall and being one of the best basketball players in the game. Being tall, wanting to play with the big kids and not having patience is something black boys suffer from but experience in their childhood everyday. But what grandma always told me with a little prayer things can happen in many ways and different times.
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