Though I’d skimmed through Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007) in the book store soon after it was published, only recently did I pick up a copy to share with my third grade class.

Here’s what we loved:

* First off – the illustrations.  Aren’t they amazing?  The eyes on each of the characters, the placement and line of the mouths, the angular noses.  There’s something unique and genuinely fun about McCarthy’s bold – almost cartoon-like-but-only-in-the-best-way - art.  Her use of muted and bright colors, frames, speech bubbles, and more appealed to both me and my students.

* Secondly – one of the difficult tasks an author must face when writing a nonfiction picture book is the necessity to carefully choose which events to include in a story. Some need only a brief mention in order to provide the necessary context for what follows. Some events can be entirely omitted.

I thought this line from the very first page was genius: “Although Angelo didn’t know it yet, he would go on to do great things.” That line alone is but one indication of McCarthy’s skill.  From this point, the story smoothly transitions from Charles Atlas’s arrival to Ellis Island as a small boy to the events that led to his decision to “do something to stop the bullies.”

*Also – the book contains two end notes: “Try It Yourself” – four exercises for kids (One of my students immediately recognized the ‘Downward Dog’) and an “Author’s Note” in which McCarthy provides further information about her research findings, including the observation that Charles Atlas, “a man of many firsts” had become, over time, a “real-life Paul Bunyan” who “lived a very private life, so private that all that remains are the idealized stories.”

All in all, I am inspired to search out more of Megan McCarthy’s work.  And I know my students will be pleased that I did!