This was a great story about Michael Jordan that I believe anyone would enjoy reading. I really loved the illustrations within the book and how Michael started to realize that he didn't need to be tall to play basketball, he just needed to be confident in his self and practice. I also loved the support of his family.

This story shows that even famous people have to struggle and practice to get to where they are. It follows Micheal Jordan's childhood in which he wanted to be tall, but at the end he father makes him realize that practice is more important.

When I picked this out, I didn't realize it was written by Michael Jordan's mother. :-)

It's about Michael as a little boy, playing street ball with his brothers and the neighborhood kids. Michael was always the shortest and was guarded by a big boy who seemed to dominate him. Michael spent months practicing and praying and hoping to grow taller. In the end, he wasn't taller, but the practice helped and he was able to shoot over the tall boy.

I've always been a Michael Jordan fan, and this book written by his mother and sister and illustrated by the amazing Kadir Nelson, just made me love him more. Jordan's mother encourages him to chase his dream and supports him, while Jordan's father assures him that he has everything he needs to be a great athlete already. Such a beautiful scene of a strong and loving family, and what is even more beautiful is that Deloris works as a children and family advocate in Chicago. What noble work!

A great story for any young aspiring athlete, with beautiful pictures by the talented Kadir Nelson. I highly recommend it.

Wonderful book! I love the diversity of this book and story telling.

“Salt in His Shoes” is a story about Michael Jordan and his dream to be a great basketball player. The story is set when Michael was a young boy who wished he were taller, so that he could help his older brothers win their basketball games each Saturday. Michael thought the key to being a great basketball player was how tall he was, which led his mom to suggest that he put salt in his shoes, pray that he would grow taller and be patient. After many weeks of waiting to be taller, Michael grew discouraged that he was not growing. He later learned that being a great basketball player requires more that just being tall. It takes “practice, determination, and giving your best will.” This book would be a great option for a read-aloud during Black History Month or even when talking about topics such as: hard work, determination, perseverance, and patients.

The book, "Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream" is an uplifting story about Michael Jordan and some of the obstacles he faced as a child growing up loving basketball. As a child, he frequently would play basketball with some of his friends. Often, his friends would tell him that he was "too short" and that he was never going to be tall enough to play basketball, or play it well. Disappointed, Michael went home and talked to his mother, who told him to sprinkle salt in his shoes each night, and that would help him grow taller. Each night Michael kept doing this, but he wasn't growing taller. Finally, Michael's father told him that the secret to being successful is to work hard and never grow up, and the rest is history. Now, Michael Jordan is one of the most popular and most successful basketball players that we know today. This story made me feel good while reading it. I feel that most children will be able to relate to this book well as many of us have been told that we will never be good enough to do something we love at some point in our lives. The author does a great job establishing the theme of this book, a key literary element. For example, throughout the entire time Michael is being told he won't be good enough, he continues to work hard and never give up, even when the salt in his shoes was not working. This establishes the theme early on and is clear enough even for young readers to see. One criticism I have of this book is that it tends to be a little choppy in some areas. We don't get to see the entire story of Michael Jordan, and this short snapshot sometimes almost feels like it is missing some crucial information. However, this is a book I would definitely want to use in my classroom. Not only is it an uplifting story for my students to read that will teach them to never give up on their dreams, but it will also be a great tool to use when students are practicing identifying themes of books, a common core standard that is used frequently.

Even though this is a relatively "old" book (published 2000), I just discovered it when preparing a lesson and activity for elementary library during March Madness. We watched a short MJ highlight reel on YouTube, read this book, and made origami cup-and-ball games. The lesson was an introduction to upcoming makerspace station rotations, and the book's messages of practicing, not giving up, and listening to parents (as trusted adults) are all good reminders as we move into our STEAM activities. Plus, a 5th grader was inspired to choose MJ as his "living history" subject!

My parents bought this book for my oldest daughter's either first birthday or first Christmas. I waited until her 3rd birthday to try to read it to her. She loves it! I teared up while reading it!

In this book his brothers, mother, and father all play important roles in encouraging Michael Jordan to push hard, practice hard, eat his food, and pray. But that does not mean that there isn't tension and drama. Everyone who knows MJ knows he wasn't big enough and tall enough to play varsity as a sophomore in high school, but did you know about the basketball court bully named Mark?

The reason why I choked up a little bit reading this book is because there is a poignant part where his dad talks to him and helps him realize the he already has the mettle to go back and play basketball at the town park again after taking a couple of months off to practice and "prayerfully" grow some so that way Mark doesn't just steal the pass or block his shot again. His dad tells him "you are a great basketball player." I choked up on this point because a) his father died duirng his NBA career and I still vividly remember watching MJ sob while holding the Larry O'Brien trophy, and b) I was reading this book to my daughter and hoping that she would receive the same message that this father (and the rest of the family in the book) was trying to impress upon his dear child.

Even if you do not like basketball, or if you also sadly know that MJ really is not a *caugh* um... nice human being, this book is a great kids book. I love reading it, my oldest daughter asks for it all the time, and the art is great!

I think that the book Salt in His Shoes is a great book because it is an easy read, and has a lot of descriptive details. This story isn’t written in any special kind of way, but I like the story it tells. This book is a biography of Michael Jordan. As most people know, he is a legendary all-star basketball player. Almost everyone adores him. But most people don't know his back story, or part of how he became who he is today. In this book, it will tell you about an important moments in his childhood.

Something i found interesting about this book was that the author shared something about michael's past that no one would have really thought of or paid attention to. It talks about how Michael would go to the park with his brothers to play basketball. But Michael was shorts, and when he subbed in his team always lost. But Michael was always determined to get better. His mom always told him that he had to be patient if he wanted to become taller. So she told him that salt in his shoes would help. It didn't make sense to him, but he trusted his mom. Every single day, Michael would practice non stop. He had to keep going. It didn't matter how tall he was, he was a determined and hard working player. And that is all that mattered. Something i will never forget today is how legendary he is. He had a rough time with basketball as a young child, but that never stopped him. Today, he is a retired 6'6 LEGENDARY basketball player.

Something that wasn't included in the story, is Michael’s high school basketball career. This is something that I heard from my dad. I am sure that some biographies include this information, but I thought I would share it with you. In high school, Michael tried out for his high school varsity basket ball team. And guess what? They DENIED him. They denied the most famous basketball player today. But when that happened, Michael didn't quit.. he didn't let it get to him. He kept going, and look where that got him. He proved everyone wrong. This is something that I remember when times get tough, and things don’t go my way. I remember that you cant give up.

I would recommend this book to people who like great stories, or books about celebrities. This is because some biographies include some things about people’s lives that you may not know. To me, this book is 4/5 stars to me because it tells a great story, and it is about a person that a lot of people like. The only thing that kept me from rating it 5/5 was that it was not a very long book. I am the kind of person that likes long chapter books, but the author wrote about a small portion of someone’s life, so i understand that it is not easy to write a 300 page chapter book about that.

I really enjoyed this story and I like that Nelson's drawings depart a little from his easily recognizable style. I thought I had this book in my library collection, then when a student asked about it, it was not there. I just found this book in a box of multi-cultural literature the previous librarian purchased. She knew just what would be popular with young boys! Thank you, Mrs. Raynes!

Reading Levels
DRA: 20
Lexile: 500L

Explanation of Star Rating: I gave this book five stars simply because the main character is Michael Jordan. I know so many young children who love and look up to Michael Jordan. I like how the book portrays Michael's character because it shows young kids that their dream of making it big is reachable if they work hard enough. Michael asked his mom, "How do I grow taller?" and his mom said "salt" and the whole story is about his superstition of putting salt in his shoes. I really loved this book.

Most standout trait(s): Ideas