And sort of the fun part about writing a picture book is you tell it in the moment. I already did, I thought of him as a hero, and it make me think of him even more as a hero. So the amount of courage – it just made me think of him even more as a hero. And it dawned on me only as he was stepping way out there in – on his – by himself in the middle of that frozen lake that he couldn’t swim. So when it came time to – for winter and the lake freezing, we asked Dad, you know, can we go ice skating and he said yes, very reluctantly. And we had great fun in that lake all the way through the seasons and my father always stayed on shore. ![]() ROBINSON: Because – Well, we moved into our house in 1955 and it – on the bottom – at the bottom of the hill, we had a lake that ran from our house all the way down the road. And I wonder – I want to ask you why you chose this incident on the frozen pond to convey who your father was. And only whites were allowed in the major leagues, and it wasn’t a written code, it was a – but it was a formal verbal code between owners.ĬAVANAUGH: I think, Sharon, the way that you have related – You use this story to tell the entire story of who Jackie Robinson was, and the kind of man he was is really quite astounding. So if you were brown-skinned, black, Hispanic, you played in the Negro Leagues if you wanted to play professional baseball. So if you were – And it was based on color of skin. It actually – He played in the Negro Leagues and was with the Kansas City Monarchs and since the turn of the century, baseball was segregated. ROBINSON: Yes, in 1947, my father broke the color barrier in major league baseball and became a Brooklyn Dodger. And the consistency between the two, I felt, would stand out in this particular story.ĬAVANAUGH: Now I can’t believe anybody doesn’t know who Jackie Robinson is but if there are a couple of perhaps very young people out there listening, can you tell us his – his claim to fame in baseball history? And this is a favorite memory and a perfect way, I felt, to introduce younger children to Jackie Robinson the dad, as well as Jackie Robinson the baseball hero. We – He had done covers of my novel series. ROBINSON: Well, Kadir and I agreed to do an illustrated book together. We love it as well, so we’re – and the reaction has just been great.ĬAVANAUGH: Now why did you decide to write this children’s book about your father? Sharon Robinson is the daughter of Jackie Robinson, vice chairman of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and she wrote the children’s book, “Testing the Ice: A True Story about Jackie Robinson.” Using engaging text and beautiful pictures, it shows how Robinson's children learned their gentle father was also one of the bravest men of his generation. It tells a personal story from the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. So, a new illustrated children's book called "Testing the Ice" has taken up the challenge. And kids often need more than lessons from a history class to engage their imaginations and touch their hearts. But it would be very bad if the history of segregation and the heroes of this nation's struggle for civil rights were also unknown to our younger generation. ![]() ![]() Not many American kids today can envision a world where people are segregated by the color of their skin, and that is a very good thing. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson will be at The Yellow Book Road today at 10:30 am. Local illustrator Kadir Nelson captures legendary baseball great Jackie Robinson in the new children's book "Testing the Ice: A True Story of Jackie Robinson."
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