BEHIND THE DESK WITH...MATT CHRISTOPHER: The #1 Sports Writer for Kids - A Biography
by Dale Christopher
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316109525
Ages 8-12
128 pages

Perhaps more than any other children's author, the prolific Matt Christopher reminds kids that in order to succeed in life, you must work hard and never give up. After entertaining youngsters for more than forty years with dozens of stories that contain this important message, his son Dale now tells his story.

The son of Italian immigrants, Matt Christopher was born in 1917. A good student, and a better athlete, he had hopes of becoming a major league ballplayer. He actually played in the minors for a time before realizing he didn't quite have what it took to make it all the way. Perhaps it was this experience that made him sympathetic to the yearnings of his readers and more realistic in their eyes.

His family could not afford to send him to college, so Christopher held many jobs as a young adult. But in the back of his mind, he always wanted to be a writer. As any member of that profession can tell you, it's a very difficult career, one that can be quite harsh in bursting dreams of aspiring authors. Christopher suffered many drawbacks in the form of rejections for his stories, but it never stopped him. His persistence was rewarded fifty years ago when his manuscript for THE LUCKY BASEBALL BAT was accepted by Little, Brown and the book was published in 1954.

Following this debut, Christopher kept coming up with new ideas, updating his stories with the changing times to incorporate other sports as they became more popular, such as soccer and skateboarding, and using girls as his main characters rather than in supporting roles. (He also published mysteries for young readers, although his publisher insisted he do so under a pen name.)

Christopher also wrote several sports biographies for kids, including such inspirational favorites as Lance Armstrong, Wayne Gretzky, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Michael Jordan, Mark McGuire and Tiger Woods, among others.

Dale Christopher's examination of his father --- who passed away in 1997 --- is affectionate, proud and honest. Things weren't always easy for the Christopher family, but they stuck together and were favored with a degree of fame within the children's literary community. At the conclusion of this tribute, the son cites the father's philosophy, which was the focal point in many of his stories:

"Don't ever stop doing what you believe. Don't ever let anyone stop you from realizing your dream."

   --- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan (ronk23@aol.com)

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