Book Description
This is the only fully illustrated children's book available about the 66 year old All-American Soap Box Derby.

It includes the history about how it all began, and tells the story of a family finding out how to become involved in the home-built racecar event.It is beautifully illustrated in fully colored watercolor paintings.

Find out how the children are truely treated like champions at this All-American event.Learn about how other countries like New Zealand, Japan, and Germany also participate each year.Children make lasting friendships all across our great country and the world.There are also some physics lessons that have to be solved when the children try to make their racecar faster than all of the others.

It is so exciting, that even NASCAR drivers, movie stars and Olympic Athletes go to the event every year.

"This is such a wonderful event for children, that I wanted to help other children find out about it!" says the author and illustrator Kathy g. Johnson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book!Nice story and very informative.
We really enjoyed this book.We have been looking for a book about soap box derby racing and finally we found this one.It has really colorful illustrations that the kids enjoyed.It tells everything about how to build a car and start racing.I love the ending.What a great book! ... Read more

Book Description
With scrap lumber and a dream, young Bob Turner became the first All-American Soap Box Derby world champion in 1934. Over the next seventy years, pushed by curiosity, ingenuity, and determination, thousands more follow in his footsteps to try--for at least one day--to become the most famous kid in America.
Champions, Cheaters, and Childhood Dreams provides a history of the race from its beginning on a hillside in Dayton, to the corporate-sponsored star-studded event it became in the 1950s and 1960s. It chronicles an era of near-obscurity after the event was rocked by the withdrawal of its major corporate sponsor and by a legendary cheating scandal.
Through first-person accounts, the book reveals influences of the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights and feminist movements, Vietnam, and Watergate, which helped shape the race, transforming it from a simple amateur event into an American icon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Stories From The Soapbox
The soapbox derby.

Originating during the thirties, what had been a simple kids game would grow to gigantic proportions and come to symbolize America at its finest.Akron, Ohio would become the Mecca of the soapbox derby.Every summer hundreds of boys would gather to race against each other.Qualifing for the Akron race was a feat in itself, each participant already having won several other matches to qualify for the honor.

Winning the soapbox derby meant riches, fame, fortune, college scholarships, the moon!The sponsors were guaranteed popularity to the infinite power, it seemed everyone came out on top!Times would pass, though, and the soapbox derby would face problems.There were inevitable instances of racisim and sexism when African-American children and girls got involved.In the seventies the derby was nearly destroyed when a key sponser pulled out in 1972 and a cheating scandal occurred in 1973.Fortunately it came back, though, and, while not as popular as it once was, still has a definite following.The history of this sport, those involved, and the numerous persona, both good and bad, that made up the sport are covered in "Champions, Cheaters, and Childhood Dreams".

Melanie Payne has gone to great detail to describe the origins of soapbox derby racing and those responsible for it.We learn how it progressed from a simple kid's hobby to a father-son (and eventually father-daughter) bonding experience, how it grew and grew and grew.There are the noble stories of intergration of black youths, of girl drivers coming into their own.Of course, there are also the not-so-noble stories of questionable decisions that left some contestants crying foul, of cover-ups on the part of officials, and of the notorious 1973 soapbox derby racing scandal in which an attempt to use an electromagnet would mushroom into a mess that tarred the entire industry as dishonest.Punches are not pulled, praise is given when praise is due, criticism is levelled when called for.

Not everyone gave this book thumbs-up, officials at the Akron soapbox derby races were so incensed by it that they refused to sell it at their meet and tried to have parts censored.

Personally, I am glad it was printed as is.It reminds us that an institution is only as noble as those that run it, and rules are made to be followed, not ignored or broken.

This is an excellent essay on a popular piece of Americana.

The best book on SBD
I was in Akron and Gil Klecan came into the room with a copy. I read a few pages and had to get the book.I have read it over several times.It is the best book I have ever read on the Derby.She did a lot of research to come up with a very true account.I have been in and out of the Derby since 1946. I know most of the people she mentions. Some of the stories I had heard off hand. I never have spoken with Ballard, Gronen, and Lunn.I knew of their experiences. She Filled in the missing spaces. I have spoken with quite a few of my old friends from the Derby and they all say the same thing."The book is better then they though". For someone who knew very little about the Derby she learned it fast.Had she written a fiction book on the Derby, I would not have taken it free. I raced in 1946,7,& 8. My children raced in the 70's My oldest son placed 3rd and holds the fastest time on the Akron Hill.
The chapter on The Durham Champions is superb. Sam Moore was an old friend, and a good one. Sam never told me the things he told Melanie. He was a real credit to Durham.
Gronen said,"My hat is off to the sincere and honest boys and girls who raced in the Soap Box Derby.I extend an apology to them." I take my hat off to HIM for HIS honesty.
The title Champions, Cheaters, and Childhood Dreams is the only title this book can have.
"Cheaters?" Yes, on both sides of the fence.
"Childhood Dreams?" Yes, I had them. My son made them come true. As an old SBD friend said,"Winning the local and going to Akron was like dying and going straight to heaven."

Champions, Cheaters, and Childhood Dreams: Memories of the A
Just curious...I wrote a review a week ago and it has yet to appear....?

CHAMPIONS CHEATERS AND CHILDHOOD DREAMS
"A WARM AND REFRESHING LOOK AT THE WORLD'S GREATEST YOUTH EVENT... ISAVORED EVERY PAGE.. READING SOME PAGES TWICE TO MAKE IT LAST LONGER"

IT COVERS SOME STORIES FROM THE DERBY THAT I DIDN'T REALIZE HAPPENED.. SUCH AS THE LINE OF BLACK CHAMPS FROM DURHAM NORTH CAROLINA..AND I HAVE BEEN A DERBY FAN FOR MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS.

Stan Howard

Americana
What a trip! "Champions and Cheaters" brought me memories of my childhood, those days when jumping into any garage-made contraption and rolling it downhill was a thrill.But there was more to Champions than the glide down memory lane. While America was changing, nudging girls and children of color into the mainstream, so was the Derby.
And it wasn't until I read this book that I realized that anyone could cheat in a soapbox derby. Imagine my surprise when I heard that it happened again this year.
I found especially poignant the author's interviews with race participants. It is powerful stuff. After so many years, the gut-wrenching disappointments and the jubilation over wins, obviously, are still potently felt by participants. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from U.S. Kids, published by Children's Better Health Institute on July 1, 2005. The length of the article is 471 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Racers on a roll!(soap box derby racer)
Publication: U.S. Kids (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2005
Publisher: Children's Better Health Institute
Volume: 18Issue: 4Page: 12(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Jack & Jill, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 477 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Racers on a roll!(Perrin Norris, Soap Box Derby 2004 champion )(Interview)
Publication: Jack & Jill (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 67Issue: 5Page: 16(3)

Article Type: Interview

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more