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Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms
A debut photographic collection of the amateur, scholastic, and professional world of basketball includes poems, jokes, prose, and other entertaining writings as rhythmic and gritty as the sport itself.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1999
5 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Charles R. Smith Jr.
44 books33 followersCharles R. Smith Jr. is an award-winning author, photographer, and poet with more than thirty books to his credit. His awards include a Coretta Scott King Award for illustration for his photographs accompanying the Langston Hughes poem "My People" and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his biography of Muhammad Ali, Twelve Rounds to Glory. He is the author of Rimshots, Hoop Kings, Hoop Queens, Tall Tales, Short Takes, Diamond Life, and I Am America. A father of three himself, Charles brings his love of basketball and baseball right down to the toddler set in Let's Play Basketball! and Let's Play Baseball! His recent work celebrates subjects he's been interested in since he was a kid, such as The Mighty 12, which honors Greek gods and goddesses. He currently lives in Poughkeepsie, NY, with his wife, Gillian, and their three kids. You can visit him online at www.charlesrsmithjr.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 25, 2017
Since I teach 6th grade, I read this book with my students in mind. I absolutely loved some of the poems, and I really think my students will, too. There were a couple of poems that looked long and daunting on the page, which is why I docked my rating by one star.
From a teaching standpoint, there is one poem in this book that I especially appreciate since all the internal rhyme is written in a different font and color. It will be a great tool to help me teach poetry next year.
From a teaching standpoint, there is one poem in this book that I especially appreciate since all the internal rhyme is written in a different font and color. It will be a great tool to help me teach poetry next year.
February 8, 2017
Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms is a collection of poems, short stories, illustrations, and personal reflection. It does a great job of explaining everything that goes into basketball and is a book that kids (even adults) can relate to. Kids may also find the illustrations very interesting and relevant helping them connect to the text even more.
June 20, 2019
This book was decent, i only reccomend if you like basketball.
October 12, 2009
Genre: fiction, creative nonfiction, photographic documentary, poetry
Topic: basketball, excuses, obeying the coach
Theme: teamwork, hard work, persistence, excuses, obeying those in authority,
Illustrations: The illustrations are photographs taken by the author. They feature African-American males playing street basketball. They are all monochromatic photos in sepia shades. Many of the photos have been digitally altered, blurred, or accented to draw focus to the game happening.
Reading Level: fluent
Use: independent reading; guided reading, read aloud
Literary Elements: repetition, onomatopoeia, poetry, page layout
Thoughts:
Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms is a collection of poems by Charles R. Smith, Jr. Each poem features a different aspect of basketball from teamwork to obeying the coach to practice to excuses for not doing well. The illustrations depict basketball games in progress.
The book is a good book for fluent readers. Transitional readers with a strong background in basketball may also enjoy the book. The text moves around the pages and creates shapes. Multiple fonts, text colors, and font sizes occur on the same page. Some of the poems are fairly repetitious with high frequency words. other poems are ballads with less familiar vocabulary words and multi-syllable words. The photographs are not supportive of the text; they add another dimension to the book.
The photographs strictly feature African-American teenage and adult males playing ball in an urban, neighborhood court. The poems are not as strictly defined and could appeal to any students with an interest in basketball: boys or girls, urban or rural, any ethnicity.
Topic: basketball, excuses, obeying the coach
Theme: teamwork, hard work, persistence, excuses, obeying those in authority,
Illustrations: The illustrations are photographs taken by the author. They feature African-American males playing street basketball. They are all monochromatic photos in sepia shades. Many of the photos have been digitally altered, blurred, or accented to draw focus to the game happening.
Reading Level: fluent
Use: independent reading; guided reading, read aloud
Literary Elements: repetition, onomatopoeia, poetry, page layout
Thoughts:
Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms is a collection of poems by Charles R. Smith, Jr. Each poem features a different aspect of basketball from teamwork to obeying the coach to practice to excuses for not doing well. The illustrations depict basketball games in progress.
The book is a good book for fluent readers. Transitional readers with a strong background in basketball may also enjoy the book. The text moves around the pages and creates shapes. Multiple fonts, text colors, and font sizes occur on the same page. Some of the poems are fairly repetitious with high frequency words. other poems are ballads with less familiar vocabulary words and multi-syllable words. The photographs are not supportive of the text; they add another dimension to the book.
The photographs strictly feature African-American teenage and adult males playing ball in an urban, neighborhood court. The poems are not as strictly defined and could appeal to any students with an interest in basketball: boys or girls, urban or rural, any ethnicity.
May 27, 2014
Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms by Charles R. Smith Jr. is a collection of short stories, poems, illustrations, and personal reflections. This book is a very quick read at only 32 pages. The author uses basketball to express the many lessons that he has learned in life. For example, each person benefits when everybody learns to work as a team.
Although I am a fan of basketball, hence the reason I selected this book, I felt that the layout could be a bit distracting for a kids who are not fluent in reading. The words are not conventional placed on the pages. So it could be difficult for a child to follow along. Now, for a more fluent reader with an interest in basketball this is a good choice. The words are strategically placed to almost take the the rhythm of a bouncing ball. The stories are presented in a way that even if you are not a basketball fan you still feel as though you are on the court. The author uses language that allows you to visualize.
As one reviewer has written " Like the game, the poems are quick, energetic, and highly rhythmic! I agree and would recommend this book for self- selected readings.
Although I am a fan of basketball, hence the reason I selected this book, I felt that the layout could be a bit distracting for a kids who are not fluent in reading. The words are not conventional placed on the pages. So it could be difficult for a child to follow along. Now, for a more fluent reader with an interest in basketball this is a good choice. The words are strategically placed to almost take the the rhythm of a bouncing ball. The stories are presented in a way that even if you are not a basketball fan you still feel as though you are on the court. The author uses language that allows you to visualize.
As one reviewer has written " Like the game, the poems are quick, energetic, and highly rhythmic! I agree and would recommend this book for self- selected readings.
February 18, 2010
This is a collection of poems about some of the triumphs and hardships of the game of basketball.
Bold face, colored, and shaped letter attract many readers to this book of poetry. Picture text is a main element of the poems in this book. Every poem has some interesting word work that draws the reader’s attention. Some of the poems are written with backward letters or stretched text. Some entire poems are written in different shapes to capture meaning. When the poem is written in a shape the reader already has an idea what the poem is going to about before they even read the words. The book is written about an interesting topic, but the most interesting part of the book is the author’s use of text.
Bold face, colored, and shaped letter attract many readers to this book of poetry. Picture text is a main element of the poems in this book. Every poem has some interesting word work that draws the reader’s attention. Some of the poems are written with backward letters or stretched text. Some entire poems are written in different shapes to capture meaning. When the poem is written in a shape the reader already has an idea what the poem is going to about before they even read the words. The book is written about an interesting topic, but the most interesting part of the book is the author’s use of text.
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September 24, 2009I really liked this book because I can relate to the author about his passion for basketball and life lessons. The author did a great job using vintage pictures for the art work. All the pictures in the book look like somewhere I played or somewhere I lived. The literature in the book was really good as well. I was interested in how he alternated his story throughout the book about basketball and life. I also enjoyed how he used color and big font for words he really wanted the reader to see and feel. Anybody that plays a team sport can relate to this book. The book was more advanced than I had expected it to be.
October 18, 2009
A book of poems about basketball; free verse, concrete, word splash, etc. A great title for my classroom!
Update: It turns out that the poem "The Sweetest Roll" was a major hit with a few classes full of 7th grade kids. They were actually arguing about the literal meaning of a few lines! Had enough poetic merit to be a great tool for sharpening poetry reading skills and was interesting enough for them to want to do it.
Update: It turns out that the poem "The Sweetest Roll" was a major hit with a few classes full of 7th grade kids. They were actually arguing about the literal meaning of a few lines! Had enough poetic merit to be a great tool for sharpening poetry reading skills and was interesting enough for them to want to do it.
December 4, 2012
The book has a good way of explaining the works of basketball. In addiotion, it also describes how an individual can improve both mentally and physically. I'm not a big basketball fan, but the way the author thinks on how to improve as a player and quit making excuses reminded me of how every athlete in every sport should think. It was a good book for any child who is willing to start a sport or give a positive influence to do so.
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September 7, 2011I'm not a huge fan of poetry, but I am fan of basketball. It was neat to read a book that uses words so well that I could almost see what was happening. This would be good to use in a unit on poetry to show students they can write poems about anything. I think that boys especially would like it. I put it in the picture book and poetry bookshelves. I got this book from the IUS Library.
March 29, 2012
I think it was a good book it talks in rhyme and tells a lot about basketball and when people play bad they have excuses like my shoes to tight my shorts are to long and like the ball is to big I would recommend it.
December 2, 2009
Boys especially like this book of poems about basketball
September 13, 2010
This is a poetry book about basketball. interesting read.
January 26, 2011
Great example of multigenre!
January 4, 2012
It has good rhythms and talks about basketball.
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June 26, 2018a book of poems all about basketball. The fonts and colors make it appealing to all school agers. Some poems are lengthy but still roll of the tongue. My favorite are the poems written vertically or different shapes.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews