You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete! (Revised Edition)

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Michael Ford, David Antram (Illustrations)

Book Details: Format: Paperback Publication Date: 2/1/2004 Pages: 32 Reading Level: Age 8 and Up

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, Ancient History, Historical, Sports

40 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Michael Ford was born in 1980 in the north of England, and studied Classics and English at Oxford University.

He worked in a variety of publishing roles before becoming an editor of adult fiction. He has written several novels and non-fiction books for children, including the SPARTAN series for Bloomsbury UK.

He lives with his wife in London.


Librarian's Note: This author is Michael^^Ford. There are authors with similar names on Goodreads:
Michael Ford - general, catch-all profile
Michael Ford - Religion and Spirituality
Michael Thomas Ford - Gay & Lesbian, Humor, Young Adult
Michael Curtis Ford - Historical Fiction

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

So You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run is part of a series of non fiction (and obvious also generally a bit tongue in cheek with regard to tone of narration) picture books on ancient civilizations penned by Michael Ford and with accompanying artwork by David Amran (which I personally do tend to find sufficiently brightly colourful and fun but equally also rather too overtly silly and caricature like for my own personal aesthetics, albeit that Amran’s illustrations do, I must say, visually mirror Michael Ford’s printed words pretty successfully). But well, while I do think that Michael Ford’s chatty and also often rather humorous in scope text for You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run presents a basically informative and at the same time entertaining (and occasionally with definitely a sense for the absurd) general introduction to the Ancient Greek Olympics (and clearly demonstrates how dangerous and difficult training for them and competing in them generally was or at least could be for young Greek men, but nevertheless usually still substantially better and less potentially lethal than the alternative to the Olympic Games, than military service), I have as an older and often rather academically inclined reader not really enjoyed my perusing (and viewing) time with You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run all that much (enough I admit to mildly appreciate the combination of Michael Ford’s text and David Amran’s pictures but not nearly enough to consider more than a rather grudging three stars).

For one and indeed also first and foremost, while for the target audience of children from about the age of seven to ten or twelve (and in particular boys), the author’s humorous and slightly disrespectful writing style might well be engaging and keep readers/listeners sufficiently interested in the thematics and the Greek Olympic Games details presented in You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run, both my more critical adult self and my inner child have generally tended to find especially Michael Ford’s many asides not really all that funny and making me smile whilst reading, but instead far too often artificial and making me groan.

And for two, while I do of course and logically speaking understand why there is basically nothing at all included about women and girls in You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run except for Michael Ford pointing out that in Ancient Greece, girls and women were totally the property and under the control of their fathers and later their husbands (and of course thus also not allowed to train for or compete in the Olympics), I do think that the rather complete absence of basically almost everything even remotely female within the pages of You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run could easily make especially today’s girls feel offended and quite uncomfortable (and indeed, this possible scenario should in my opinion also have been anticipated and the role or rather the lack of a role for women and girls in Ancient Greece should thus probably be a bit more thoroughly shown and discussed by Michael Ford within the text proper of You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run).

Finally, and for three, while the lack of an included bibliography for You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run does not in fact bother me nearly as much as it usually does with regard to non fiction picture books, I still do think that Michael Ford should be listing his sources and equally some suggestions for further reading reading, since yes, this would definitely and in my opinion quite increase the teaching and learning value of You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked it up, I thought I wonder how they're going to pull this one off considering the games were held in the nude but I've got to give props to the illustrator, he really outdid himself. The pictures are not crude or indecent and the book is very informative. Great book for anyone, who doesn't love the Olympics?

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids adored this book, but I'm pretty sure that was mainly because the athletes were bare, and there's precious little that's funnier to a kid than a bare butt. I really don't know what, if anything, my niece and nephew got out of this book, but since this is an Olympic year, I guess this coming summer I'll find out if they've retained anything from this story.

After reading this book, my niece and I realized that women have not been prominently featured in any of the books we've read from this series. I think that was really driven home to us tonight because in this book it was actively pointed out that women were second-class citizens. As a result, they were all but absent from this story, and we noticed that. I think we're both feeling a little bit like our gender is being left out of history by the books in this series, so tonight we decided that I would try to find some stories in which ladies are the main characters. Hopefully I can find some books from this series that fit the bill.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I seem to remember is that it was all males and none of them wore clothes.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this as part of our Greece geography study, since Ancient Greece is mentioned a lot in the curriculum. An overview of the different athletic events in the ancient Olympics, and the training needed to get there. The rivalry between Athens and Sparta is mentioned, as well as a few other events. My boys thought it was hilarious that everyone was naked during the games, though the drawings were (fairly) tastefully done.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Mips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humoristische historische reeks voor kinderen vanaf een jaar of acht.
Met grappige reekstitels als 'Wees blij dat je geen Egyptische mummie bent! : walgelijke dingen die je liever niet weet'; 'Wees blij dat je geen mammoetjager bent! : gevaarlijke beesten die je liever niet tegenkomt'; 'Wees blij dat je geen soldaat in W.O.I bent! : loopgraven waar je liever niet in zit', enz.
Prettig gedoseerd qua historische informatie met ludieke 'hints' en 'tips' van 'topdeskundigen' om je hachje in die tijd te kunnen redden.
Als kind had ik de hele reeks gegarandeerd 'verzameld'.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous and informative book about The old Olympic Games. I read this aloud to a bunch of sixth grade boys studying ancient Greece and they thought it was a riot. They laughed hysterically at the thought of a bunch of men wrestling and racing in the nude covered in oil, and they picked up every factual detail while they were enjoying the book. They even remembered the not-so-exciting details the next week.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great short book on the life of a Olympian hopeful in Ancient Greece. The artistry is wonderful and humorous. The story is easy to follow. Funny and educational so a great book for a early reader.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts of the story are silly but this was very memorable to my 6 yr old. She still talks about it sometimes, months after we read it. I liked that it included information about preparation for the Olympics in addition to the events.

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was only one error on page 35. It states that the Olympic Torch Relay takes place every four years. That is true, however, there was no Olympic Torch Relay in the Ancient Greek Olympics. The relay was started in 1936 at the Berlin games.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the humor in history it gives

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of many in the series we will read for school. I think we're going to like the way these are written. Fun, informative and while the people ARE naked, there are no parts showing. :D

[Amanda Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute, educational book. I would recommend it for kids interested in ancient Greece.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! All these books are very interesting!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty captivating- the second person made it easier to stomach all the fact throwing. But, it IS a non-fiction title, after all, and for that, it gets a round of applause from me.

[Reepacheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boys checked this book out from the library as part of their Greek history studies. It is colorful, well illustrated, entertaining, and informative.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tastefully and respectfully dealt with the violence and nudity of ancient athlete competition.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are really loving this series of books! It makes history fun and interesting for a kid who would otherwise not be interested at all.

[Briana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the humor in the illustrations but it was just a little to boring for me.

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the "You Wouldn't Want to Be..." books

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids and I really enjoyed this book. We several things while reading this small book.

[Michelle Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational-VERY informational. Lots of writing, so I would definitely make sure to use it in the upper grades (most likely 6th). Funny and fun illustrations.