Post by SeainDennis on Aug 4, 2003 9:51:09 GMT -5
MAY-MAY ALI: Writes children's book about her famous dad.
by Kenya Yarbrough
May-May Ali
(Aug. 4, 2003) Leila Ali isn't the only Muhammad Ali offspring doing big things. The Greatest’s eldest is making a name for herself as a children’s author, and helping carry on her father’s name at the same time. May-May is set to release her first published project next month.
The book, still untitled, chronicles her father’s life story as the legendary boxer, activist, and humanitarian, and does it in such a way as to awe young readers.
“I haven’t been pleased with many of the children’s books I’ve seen on him – there aren’t that many, but this one really teaches a lot of inspirational messages through his life story and I’ve also illustrated some of the tall tales and poetry that he had, which is really cool for kids,” she described with enthusiasm.
When you stop and think about it, those playful rhymes the champ tossed out at his opponents and sports commentators alike, rang in our ears as kids, preteens, and adults. His rhymes entertained the world almost as much as his KOs.
“Wrestle with an alligator, tussle with a whale, handcuff lightening, put thunder in jail,” May-May recited. “There’s a picture of him doing that stuff. So I brought his stuff to life. There’s a saying he used to say: ‘I’m so fast, I can tennis by myself,’ and there’s a picture of him playing tennis by himself. So in telling the story, there are these little sheets where the poetry’s illustrated for kids.”
May-May assures that the book will be a real tyke page-turner. After all, it was a tyke that sparked the idea.
“I took a six-year-old boy I was babysitting to see ‘When We Were Kings.’ And when my dad was saying the poetry, [the boy] walked out and said, ‘Miss May-May, your dad said he wrestled with an alligator! Your dad said he made medicine sick!’ And I thought, ‘Oh my God – ding – a book.’ This kid, when he was born, my dad had retired, but ‘When We Were Kings’ had enthralled him.”
May-May ran with the idea, realizing she herself had never been really satisfied with the juvenile books she’d thumbed through that talked about her famous father.
“There’d never been a really good children’s picture book about my father, and also, I wanted my great grandkids to know who their great-great grandfather was, and I want their friends to know, but do it the way they can understand. You know, they might watch the movie ‘Ali’ and that’s a great film, but [it’s] adult. Hopefully, this will be the first really powerful children’s book of fantasy," May-May said.
“It’s a children’s book that teaches about the history of who Mohammad Ali was, so it’s accurate, not made up. It has the details of when he converted to Islam, and why. (And) why he didn’t go to the Vietnam War.”
But in telling the story, it’s true to the voice of a child, and exciting enough, with prize-worthy illustrations to hold a child’s attention.
“I worked with kids for many years and another thing that made me want to do it was, I would read stories to kids when I was in college, when I worked in a daycare, and I would always – for the boring books – I would change the words, and they would say, ‘Miss May-May, use your words!’ So I had a way with kids to describe things to them that would hold their attention for a long period of time. Bottom line, the book isn’t good if the kids don’t like it,” she said.
Unfortunately, you won’t initially be able to hear Ali’s enthralling daughter deliver the book’s dialog, but May-May says an audio version of the text isn’t totally off the table. She says that she s looking into the idea after the publishers see how the book does on its own.
Next up for May-May? She’s going to continue in the way of the pen, she said, keeping in mind the kids.
“Writing is just what I’m doing right now. I’m screenwriting for TV, and this will be my first book. I also work with children in a gang prevention program and I want to do something to express the climate in the inner city because a lot of people don’t understand the war that’s going on – the dysfunction, the trauma. I definitely want them to be the topic of my next children’s book.”
by Kenya Yarbrough
May-May Ali
(Aug. 4, 2003) Leila Ali isn't the only Muhammad Ali offspring doing big things. The Greatest’s eldest is making a name for herself as a children’s author, and helping carry on her father’s name at the same time. May-May is set to release her first published project next month.
The book, still untitled, chronicles her father’s life story as the legendary boxer, activist, and humanitarian, and does it in such a way as to awe young readers.
“I haven’t been pleased with many of the children’s books I’ve seen on him – there aren’t that many, but this one really teaches a lot of inspirational messages through his life story and I’ve also illustrated some of the tall tales and poetry that he had, which is really cool for kids,” she described with enthusiasm.
When you stop and think about it, those playful rhymes the champ tossed out at his opponents and sports commentators alike, rang in our ears as kids, preteens, and adults. His rhymes entertained the world almost as much as his KOs.
“Wrestle with an alligator, tussle with a whale, handcuff lightening, put thunder in jail,” May-May recited. “There’s a picture of him doing that stuff. So I brought his stuff to life. There’s a saying he used to say: ‘I’m so fast, I can tennis by myself,’ and there’s a picture of him playing tennis by himself. So in telling the story, there are these little sheets where the poetry’s illustrated for kids.”
May-May assures that the book will be a real tyke page-turner. After all, it was a tyke that sparked the idea.
“I took a six-year-old boy I was babysitting to see ‘When We Were Kings.’ And when my dad was saying the poetry, [the boy] walked out and said, ‘Miss May-May, your dad said he wrestled with an alligator! Your dad said he made medicine sick!’ And I thought, ‘Oh my God – ding – a book.’ This kid, when he was born, my dad had retired, but ‘When We Were Kings’ had enthralled him.”
May-May ran with the idea, realizing she herself had never been really satisfied with the juvenile books she’d thumbed through that talked about her famous father.
“There’d never been a really good children’s picture book about my father, and also, I wanted my great grandkids to know who their great-great grandfather was, and I want their friends to know, but do it the way they can understand. You know, they might watch the movie ‘Ali’ and that’s a great film, but [it’s] adult. Hopefully, this will be the first really powerful children’s book of fantasy," May-May said.
“It’s a children’s book that teaches about the history of who Mohammad Ali was, so it’s accurate, not made up. It has the details of when he converted to Islam, and why. (And) why he didn’t go to the Vietnam War.”
But in telling the story, it’s true to the voice of a child, and exciting enough, with prize-worthy illustrations to hold a child’s attention.
“I worked with kids for many years and another thing that made me want to do it was, I would read stories to kids when I was in college, when I worked in a daycare, and I would always – for the boring books – I would change the words, and they would say, ‘Miss May-May, use your words!’ So I had a way with kids to describe things to them that would hold their attention for a long period of time. Bottom line, the book isn’t good if the kids don’t like it,” she said.
Unfortunately, you won’t initially be able to hear Ali’s enthralling daughter deliver the book’s dialog, but May-May says an audio version of the text isn’t totally off the table. She says that she s looking into the idea after the publishers see how the book does on its own.
Next up for May-May? She’s going to continue in the way of the pen, she said, keeping in mind the kids.
“Writing is just what I’m doing right now. I’m screenwriting for TV, and this will be my first book. I also work with children in a gang prevention program and I want to do something to express the climate in the inner city because a lot of people don’t understand the war that’s going on – the dysfunction, the trauma. I definitely want them to be the topic of my next children’s book.”