Authors relate stories of dignity and self-control Jordan and Paige profiled for kids

Do you have a son or daughter who relishes a good sports story? Three lively biographies of African-American athletes are sure to hold his/her attention. As a boon to parents they carry important messages about triumphing over adversity, maintaining one’s dignity and self control when confronted with hatred and prejudice, sticking together to survive as a family, and believing in oneself.

Keith Brandt’s “Jackie Robinson” dramatically chronicles the rise of the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson was the fifth child born into a family of impoverished tenant farmers. In his native Georgia blacks had no civil rights. They couldn’t even vote.

When Robinson’s father abandoned the family his mother took her children to California. Until she was able to work as a domestic servant they had to subsist on stale bread donated by a baker and sugar water. Even her modest success had a price. When she was finally able to afford a home their new neighbors did not want to have a black family living near them.

Robinson had natural athletic ability and a strong drive to keep up with his siblings. He discovered quickly that in sports he was able to compete with whites on an equal footing. After he served in the Armed Forces in World War II he played professional baseball in the Negro leagues. In 1947 he became a member of the all-white Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the target of cruelty from prejudiced opponents and fans and even members of his own team.

Lesa Cline-Ransome’s “Satchel Paige” is a visual treat. Illustrator James Ransome brings the eloquent text vividly to life. The expressions from Paige’s mother’s proud glow as she cradles her infant son to his look of fierce concentration as he winds up to pitch are rich and evocative. And each painting is charged with dynamic action. Cline-Ransome’s intimate narrative style conveys the feeling of personally sitting down with a gifted story teller.

Paige earned his famous nickname carrying bags for train passengers. The seventh of 12 children, he had to contribute to the support of his family at a very early age. To supplement his clients’ dimes he turned to stealing. At the age of 12 he was sentenced to reform school.

“That event proved to be the turning point in Paige’s life. He was able to play baseball on the school team and develop his pitching skill. A coach advised him that if he concentrated on the game he might make something of himself. Talk about an understatement! After decades in the Negro leagues where had to play a grueling two or three games a day and sleep outdoors on the road because of hotels’ whites only policies, he earned a spot on the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first African-American to pitch in a major league World Series and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Salt in His Shoes” by DeLoris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan gives a real insider look at basketball superstar Michael Jordan’s childhood from his mother’s and sister’s memories. Every Saturday Jordan would tag along with his older brothers, hoping to be included in their game. Often he was taunted and thwarted by a bully. How wanted to grow taller! His mother had quite an unusual remedy for his height problem.

Here again the art beautifully captures the text. The family pictures convey warmth and security. And young Jordan is a study in determination. Readers young and old will really root for him when he gets a chance to show that bully what he can do!

Jackie Robinson, by Keith Brandt, Troll Communications, 48 pages, $3.50; Satchel Paige, by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome, Simon & Schuster, N.Y., N.Y. 10020, 34 pages, $16; Salt In His Shoes, by Deloris Jordan with Roslyn M. Jordan, Simon & Schuster, N.Y., N.Y. 10020, 32 pages, $16.95