How to Train with a T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals

by Michael Phelps, Alan Abrahamson, Ward Jenkins (Illustrator)

What does it take to win eight gold medals?

Napping away three summer vacations?

Eating enough broccoli to fill the back of a pickup truck?

Swimming the length of the Great Wall of China three times?

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Childrens, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2009

About the author

Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23),Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.

Phelps is the long course world record holder in the 100 meter butterfly, 200 meter butterfly, and 400 meter individual medley as well as the former long course world record holder in the 200 meter freestyle and 200 meter individual medley. He has won 83 medals in major international long course competition, of which 66 were gold, 14 silver, and 3 bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps's international titles and record-breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award eight times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven times, a 2016 SwimSwam Swammy Award for Male Swimmer of the Year as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.

After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael Phelps Foundation, which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. Phelps retired following the 2012 Olympics, but in April 2014 he made a comeback. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, his fifth Olympics, he won five golds and one silver. Phelps was chosen to be a captain of the 2016 US Olympic team, and was also voted by his team to be the flag bearer of the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

You might call this book a cash grab, and wouldn't necessarily be wrong. How to Train with a T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals is more than that, though: it takes a close look at the level of sacrifice required to accomplish something unprecedented, as Michael Phelps did by winning eight gold medals in eight tries at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kids who dream of competing for a gold medal of their own will learn in these pages what it takes to have a shot at Olympic glory.

How did Michael Fred Phelps II go undefeated against the world's great swimmers in Beijing? For six years he trained with hardly a day's rest, swimming 60,000 meters per week, or 12,480 miles over the six-year span. That's the same as swimming the length of the Great Wall of China three times, Phelps points out. He napped for three hours daily, adding up to 273 full days, not including his normal nightly sleep. To sustain energy Phelps consumed 10,000 calories a day, equivalent to 912 pizzas each year. He could leg press 18,000 total pounds in a single workout—the weight of a Tyrannosaurus rex and ten velociraptors—and once he made it to Beijing, he swam seventeen races in nine days, a daunting schedule. After all that pain and self-denial, in his final individual race at Beijing, Phelps edged out his closest opponent by one one-hundredth of a second in the 100-meter butterfly, taking gold by the length of a human fingernail. All those years of fanatical focus were barely enough to achieve eight golds in one Olympics, and Phelps would add to his legacy in the years to come.

Every kid wants to grow up and do something extraordinary, but bringing fantasy to fruition is tough. Doing something no one has done requires you to work on days you'd rather not, cultivating your strength and skill while the other guy is resting. But if you were wowed by the show Michael Phelps put on at the 2008 Olympics, you know hard work can yield rich reward. Are you willing to test your potential as Phelps was? It's entirely your decision. How to Train with a T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals perhaps dwells too much on specifics of Phelps's training regimen, and I'm not impressed by Ward Jenkins's illustrations, but I rate the book two and a half stars because the message resounds. I've been a Michael Phelps fan most of my life, and I'm pleased he chose to try his hand at children's literature. He's not the second coming of E.B. White, but his sporting career was one of a kind.

[Janni]

Too much Michael Phelps, not enough T-Rex.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of hubris...maybe well-earned, but it's just a big, long brag-fest by Michael Phelps. However, to give Michael Phelps his due, he is one fine-tuned athlete and this really fun picture book celebrates the fact. It's a first-person "narrative" with cute, cartoonish illustrations where Phelps describes the kind of training he did to win his 8 Olympic gold medals. He swam 60,000 every week = 12,480 miles in 6 years - that's the same as 183,040 trips around the bases or swimming the Great Wall of China 3 times. These are the kind of facts the book is made up of and I think kids will get a kick out of it.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

My three-year-old tends to pick library books at random, and this was in the most recent batch. Ugh. It is pretty much a wow-look-at-me presentation of Phelps training regimen.

If your kid is an aspiring Olympian (or a Phelps fan?), maybe there is value here. Otherwise? Meh. Needs more dinosaurs.

[Lupine · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Michael Phelps did to train for the Olympics but put into comparisons so you can actually visualize it. Quite interesting and I can see the appeal to boys especially. I have yet to figure out what the T. Rex has to do with anything though. Did I miss something?

[Jovita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to read with kids during the Olympics. It gave my kids a good idea of how Olympic athletes train and for how long. They also knew who Michael Phelps was when we it came time for him to swim. They were able to cheer him on and keep track of his medals.

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly decent book with fun ways to look at numbers. The illustrations are nice as well.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can bet I'll be using this book in math! Also, mega mega points to Ward Jenkins for featuring a T. Rex trying to lift weights with his/her little wimpy arms on the cover. :)

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable biography for young children. They wil like the dinosaur and the message of hard work pays off is simple enough it won't be lost on them.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than I expected. But definitely interesting! It shows how much hard work it takes to succeed. Always glad to teach my kids that principle!

[Brianna Crall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, think my students will enjoy the visuals.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't impressed with Michael Phelps' How to Train with a T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals. For one, the title is quite misleading as the only part of the book with a T. Rex is when Phelps mentions "I could leg-press a Tyrannosaurus Rex and 10 velociraptors!" The book is mostly about all the things Phelps had to do in order to win eight gold medals, and puts the training into perspective for the kids, like training for six years and barely taking a day off ("that's a kindergartner's whole life!"), to swimming 60,000 meters in practice racking up over 12,480 miles in six years ("That's 183,040 trips around the bases [in baseball]") While the info is interesting, I wasn't a fan of the presentation. There is no mention of anyone else who helped him on his journey (we see an illustration of what I assume is his coach standing at the side with a stopwatch but that's it!) and it was all just "I did this, I did that", so I found the whole thing kind of self-aggrandizing and annoying. Still, my kids were interested in the numbers and the various aspects of training, so I can't bring myself to give it only two stars. A low three stars it is.

[Christine Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Michael Phelps fan, but I started to feel like this book was way too much tooting of his own horn. Never will I deny he is an amazing athlete and will be the first to admit his training regimen is not for the faint of heart. His attempt to break down his six-year schedule, turning the number of meters into more tangible estimates, was lost on my child. It helped to show her some YouTube videos of his outstanding performance in 2008, but other than that, she could not conceptualize the amount of dedication that went into his training. Sorry, Michael, but I think you should just stick to swimming than authoring children’s books.

[Stephanie Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool children’s picture book about all the hard work Michael Phelps had to do to end up winning 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Fun illustrations and great themes of hard work and pursuing dreams. It would also be great in a math lesson on ratios and/or converting units—tons to pounds, hours to days, miles per day, etc. There are some pretty incredible comparisons in here that all elementary-aged kids would love!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I think young elementary students might be a better fit for this book, it was more engaging to my (active/wiggly) preschool Olympics-themed storytime crew than I thought it would be. I forsee myself using it again in 4 years.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected. Neat connections to math.

[Homewood Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

For two weeks every four years, athletes from around the world come together to compete in the Olympics. Every four years, new stars emerge from the competition. One star will be remembered for generations because during the XXX Olympiad in London he accomplished what no other human has done before: win nineteen Olympic Gold Medals.

How to train with a T.Rex and win eight Gold Medals., by Micheal Phelps and Ward Jenkins is a autobiography by the unquestionable star of the London Games. This is his story of what it takes to accomplish what he has done in his sport. Over the next few months I am certain new publications about his accomplishments during these games will be written.
Ms. Dona - 2012

[Ann Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Phelps goes through the training he had to do in order to win eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. This nonfiction picture book has the goal of getting its readers interested in math as Michael Phelps compares how many meters he swam during a given time to the distance between Baltimore and the North Pole, or the Great Wall of China. I think children who are fans of Michael Phelps will appreciate this book. The pictures are fun and I think it successfully encourages the reader to practice math. I think it would be suitable for older elementary aged children and would appeal to boys especially.

[Melanie, Aaron, Annie, and Mary Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by: Mary
Author: Michael Phelps with Alan Abrahamson Illustrator: Ward Jenkins
Genre: Autobiography
Interest Level: K-3
Grade Level Equivalent: 3

This book is a kid friendly book which has easy to read text and entertaining pictures that will bring the reader in. It tells of all the accomplishments of Michael Phelps in the Beijing Olympics. It describes the handwork and effort he had to maintain in order to succeed.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe it was appropriate that we read this on a "...day that will live in infamy..." While an attempt at teaching math w/in the story of Michael Phelps quest for gold, it comes off as a rush to press to cash in on fame. What makes the least amount of sense is the discussion of all of this in terms of his training from 1998 - 2003--what about the five years leading up to the Olympics in Beijing.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

My bias against Michael Phelps probably isn't helping my lack of enthusiasm for this book. It's cute and has a good message: hard work will take you far. And I get that his accomplishments were all about athletics. But I would have liked this book much better if there had been some mention of keeping up with schoolwork in the middle of all this Olympic training.

[Children's Literature Project · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was no reading level information available, but the book is recommended for ages 4-8.

Michael Phelps talks about winning eight gold medals in Beijing. He discusses his workout routine and eating habits. The comparisons he uses in the book are kid-friendly and the illustrations help describe the text very well.

This book is great for grades K-3.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of braggy, and I can't help thinking about Mr. Phelps' 3 hour a day naps and his food binges in relation to his pot smoking... but this book is cute and explains some of the work involved in getting to the olympics. Only one page actually has a t-rex on it tho...

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was looking for a book to read on Read Aloud day and came across this book and I gotta admit I wasn't expecting much of it but it's hilarious and I'm sure the kids will love it! Not so sure how good it's for read aloud day but it's pretty cool.

[Literacy Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Phelps won eight gold metals in the summer of 2008 in Beijing. How did he do it? He trained for six years straight. Every week in practice he swam 60,000 meters. Every day he took a three-hour nap. He ate as much as 10,000 calories every day.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at the statistics of Michael Phelps training and Olympic exploits leading up to and during the 2008 Olympics. It tries really hard to be both entertaining and inspiring, but I think that it falls short.

[Leann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big hit in Olympics storytime, but probably not very useful the other 3 and a half years around the Summer Olympics. The numbers are a really fun visual way for the kids to understand what training looks like.

[Mr. T.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this picture book as a read aloud for third, fourth and fifth graders to inspire them and inform them how hard Michael Phelps had to work for 6 years to get to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and win 8 gold medals. Then his work becomes a great reference to what hard work really looks like.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures, good book for numbers and comparing them to things that a child would recognize

[Cymiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

if i ate 10,000 calories a day and napped 3 hours a day, could i be like michael phelps? cute story and great pics!