“I am the greatest”, “I am America”, “I am the greatest fighter in the world”, “I am the greatest poet in the world”. These are the quotes that open the book, but then, right before you flip the page, you read “God gave me this physical impairment to remind me that I’m not the greatest. He is.”. This is the quote that changed my view of Muhammad Ali and made me decide to give him another chance. I enjoyed this book much more than I did the other. It talks more about Muhammad’s life and the black community. The book focuses more on how Muhammad’s life experiences shaped him and made him who he is. For me, he was a very cocky person and I don’t like that very much but towards the end of the book it shows a humble side and that was a nice touch. The book is well written and the illustrations are colorful and unique. ( )

A story about the life of Muhammad Ali. It goes through how he was inspired to be a boxer, a Muslim, and a civil rights leader. A great book that explores different aspects of his life and has beautiful illustrations that depict the fast movement Ali used in his fights. ( )

Genre: Biography
Age: Middle School
Media: oil pastels
Review/ Critique: This book follows Muhammad Ali's careers as a boxer and explains the important civil rights implications. The art is really intense and cool. The biography is interesting and true to fact, not only discussing this person, but also what was going on socially and politically at the time. Enjoyment of this book greatly depends on interest in subject area. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's always so great to learn about the small things that influenced people like Muhammad Ali to be the people they became. His career as a heavyweight boxer began just because someone had stolen his bike. Although the timeline of his life and accomplishments were written very well, there were random mentions of race and race problems going on at the time that disrupted the flow of the biography. Overall, the book was great. ( )

RGG: Very informative, concise biography. The illustrations are powerful and supportive of the text.