Storm Run: The Story of the First Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race

by Libby Riddles, Shannon Cartwright (Illustrations)

In 1985, Libby Riddles made history by becoming the first woman to win the 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race. This brand-new edition of Riddles's timeless adventure story is complete with updated narrative details, sidebars on all aspects of the race, photographs, and all-new illustrations by beloved illustrator Shannon Cartwright. An inspiration to children and adults everywhere, this is a compelling first-hand account of the arctic storms, freezing temperatures, loyal sled dogs, and utter determination that defined Riddles's Iditarod victory.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Biography, Sports, History

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun]

“Fear made me careful. I felt like a hunted animal; there was no relief from the relentless weather. I couldn’t see from one marker to the next, so we’d travel as far as we could from the marker behind us without losing sight of it, then I’d hook down the team and walk ahead, fighting the gusting north wind, until I found the next marker. Then I’d go back for the dogs. Inch by inch we crawled across the sea ice. The visibility was what it would be like if you were wading through a box of baby powder.”

Synopsis:
“Libby Riddles knew what she wanted to do with her life when she was just five years old. That childhood dream led her to Alaska and eventually to the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race. In 1985, Riddles made history by becoming the first woman to win the gruelling 1,100-mile race. Here is her compelling story of arctic storms, freezing temperatures, loyal sled dogs - and the childhood dream that changed her life.”

My thoughts:
Children need to be exposed to heroes/heroines such as Libby Riddles. They need to see and feel the energy that a winner exudes and they need to become aware of a winner’s mindset. As a teacher, I was impressed with Libby’s dream at 15 years old to finish Grade 11 and 12 at night school and was further impressed that she completed it in 6 months. As a teen, she had the mindset of a winner.

This book reads like a conversation with Libby. Readers can almost feel her presence as she tells of moving to Alaska to live ‘bush style,’ assembling a dog team, and developing skills as a musher. This type of living provided not only an opportunity to soul search, but also to develop endurance. Libby would need it to withstand two weeks of racing - some in 60 below!

I was as impressed with this children’s book as I was impressed with meeting Libby Riddles. Your children will love the illustrations, maps and photos. The book has the perfect ratio of pictures to words.

Your children need to read about this self-driven heroine.

[Amy]

Libby Riddles, an animal lover her whole life, decides to spend her adulthood in the wilds of Alaska. She gives readers a play-by-play of the Iditarod Trail, run in the dark, lost in the snow, treading over treacherous ice and avoiding frostbite and hypothermia. She surprises herself by pulling into the lead, and then hangs on to that lead to become the first female to win the Iditarod!

[Cruse]

I loved seeing actual photographs of the dogs and events.

[Shiloah]

Inspiring!

[Nadia Giordana]

This is a great story to begin with, and I've read the adult book, "Race Across Alaska", but this beautifully illustrated children's version is a great way for the younger set to experience it's message of courage, determination, and teamwork. It's fun, exciting, and timeless. It's a real story and my grandkids especially appreciated that.

[amy boese]

A fascinating picture book about a St. Cloud hero I had never read before. Since it is an older title, it was on my pile to considering for withdrawal, but instead I'm going to feature it in a display at least until it inspires another resident of Minnesota to become a niche athlete.

[Erin *BookDragon_Library*]

I feel like I should know the story of Libby Riddles better than I do because she was a Minnesotan from a town about 30 minutes from my hometown and I was in 1st grade when she became the first woman to win the Iditarod in 1985.

This is NOT a picture book in the sense of a "quick" read. It is actually an autobiographical first-person narrative with some pages full of text. There are side bars, real personal photos (some fuzzy ones), a colorful map of the race, and beautiful illustrations throughout. It details Libby moving from MN to Alaska on her own as a teenager and living in the wilds of Alaska, building her own cabin, hunting and gathering her food, collecting water from a local stream, and starting to slowly find her love for sled dogs as she gathered her own team.

The last half of the book is a play by play of her journey on the Iditarod through (killer) moose, supply problems, stand-out moments of individual dogs, and dangerous storms. Even though this version is from 2002, the adventure story is timeless with lively and colorful illustrations. It still belongs on library shelves as an exciting book about a niche sport and independent trail blazing young woman.

Due to the amount of text, this might be a multi-day read for K-1 and 2nd+ to be able to read independently.

[E]

Beautiful illustrations by Cartwright and photos from Riddles' files complement a fun, condensed version of Riddles' adult work on her historic win of the Iditarod in 1985 (Race Across Alaska). Informative and fascinating illustrations show/name all the sled gear and the numerous layers of clothing required to run such a race in often sub-temperature, raging blizzards across frozen rivers, slippery snow-capped mountains, and stump-ridden valleys. One caveat is that although the book cover rates this book as appropriate for children ages 6 to 10, the text is quite thick and the book is a bit lengthy (48 pages) for a "picture book." Many sentences also strike me as being too long or complex for the lower-aged group indicated. Still, this is an attractively packaged book depicting a heroic and inspirational story for girls and boys of elementary age.

[Karen GoatKeeper]

The first Iditarod was a race to get vaccine to Nome to stop an epidemic. Now it is a grueling 1000 mile Sled Dog Race.
Libby Riddles moved to Alaska to enjoy being in the wilderness and have animals around her. She met some sled dogs and found her passion in life. Raising sled dogs led her into racing them and the ultimate race is the Iditarod.
This is a highly illustrated book with both photographs of the author growing up and her various dogs and drawings of racing, Alaska and sled dogs.

[Aneshka]

I loved it! I gave it a 4 because I think it would have been better if there were chapters to divide up the story (even though the picture book format works very well) since it is a longer picture book.

[Bridget Neace]

I think the style of this autobiography will make it engaging to my older students when we start our Iditarod unit. :)

[Kat]

While I found the information interesting I thought this book was wordy for a children's picture book.

[KaitandMaddie]

This was a long read but it kept the girls’ attention the entire time. Fascinating.

[Paige Turner]

That scene with the deer still lives in my head rent free.

[Dolly]

This is a wonderful true story about the first woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog race. I started reading it in Alaska when I was shopping for souvenirs and I just knew that I had to bring this one home for our girls. So I waited until I got home to finish it and we read it together.

The story is inspiring - I love finding tales of intrepid souls (especially women) who are daring and succeed despite the odds. I want our girls to know that they are capable of just about anything they set their minds to do.

I was in Alaska during the Fur Rendezvous this year and then left as the Iditarod began, so I wanted to share a bit of the excitement with our girls. This book does a good job of that, and as we followed the race online (see http://iditarod.com/) I was thrilled to see that there were more than a dozen female competitors in this year's race. In fact, the second place finisher, Aliy Zirkle finished only about 24 minutes behind the winner.

We were also cheering on Jodi Bailey, another one of the racers, since I had the fantastic opportunity to meet with her and her lead dog, Orchid, at a book signing/art gallery reception event for the book Born to Run: Athletes of the Iditarod at the Snow City Cafe the night before the ceremonial start of the race. (You can find out more about Jodi and her and her husband Dan at their website Dew Claw Kennel.)

Our oldest says that she wants to grow up and move to Alaska to raise huskies. I won't hold my breath, but I love to see her so inspired.

[Lissa]

I have another book by Libby Riddles and I thought I had read this one too, but evidently not. This book was a gift from my parents to my two boys, at the time; I was probably pregnant with our 3rd when my parents went to Alaska on a cruise. They must have met Ms Riddles because she signed the title page to my boys by name.
I really enjoyed the text with photos and pen 'n ink or colored pencil illustrations by Shannon Cartwright. It reminded me of a journal/ scrapbook Libby would have in her living room; a chronicle of her growing-up in MN, her dream of the wild and subsequent move to AK as a young adult; the journey toward sled dogs, the Iditarod and her signing up for the race and then winning it in 1985! I connected with my boys', who are grown now, dream of living wild & free with animals and nature, living in a cabin in the woods and having a grand task; a grueling test of physical endurance: no wonder they've chosen military careers.
Today I was inspired.

[Karen]

I've always been interested in the Itadirod race so went on line to see what books I could find . Found this one written by the first woman to win the race so off I went to the library to ask them to get it for me. I was so surprised when I picked it up to find that it is a children's book! I paid a lot of attention to what I was reseaching, don't ya think!? Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this little book...great illustrations and photos.

[Terri]

This is the story of the first woman to win the Iditarod race. A quick fun read.

[Camilla]

We had a chance to meet this amazing woman and the friends for whom we purchase this book - and had it personalized - loved it. Five stars!

[Amy]

B. loved this book. It is an informational book re: sled dog racing but a story as well. Great illustrations and story.

[Sharon]

Crazy? Brave? An illustrated chronicle of a pretty amazing accomplishment for Libby (and her dogs) as the first woman to win the race in 1985.

[Maureen]

Inspirational book about the first woman to win the Iditarod Dog Sled race in 1985.