Here is a great mini-biography, a part of the Ordinary People Change the World series. It grabs the attention of the reader with its full color comic illustrations including the conversation bubbles. It is written in first person narrative.

Little Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was often scared as a child, but sports, of any kind, made him happy. “Those childhood games were some of the only times I wasn’t judged by the color of my skin.” In the 1920s and 1930s Jackie experienced not being able to go swimming in the all white pool until people complained. Then, “Every Wednesday, from 2 to 5 P.M., they’d open the pool to anybody black, Mexican, or Asian.” Later, Jackie was the first UCLA student to letter in four sports: baseball, football, basketball, and track. His white teammates would sometimes try to injure him, perhaps out of jealousy. Prior to World War II all white and all black sports teams played in separate leagues.  Due to the war, sports teams were short on players. Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, needed baseball players. After scouting out black players, Rickey approached Robinson with a job offer. On April 18, 1946, Jackie Robinson played his first baseball game for Branch Rickey’s farm team, at the age of 27 yrs.

During his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers players purposely hit him in the head with baseballs, cleated him, spat on him, and threatened his family. “Was I mad? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. But I never let it stop me… for real change to come, you need to lead by example… When others see your example, they’ll stand with you. It’s the only way the world ever gets changed: Together.”

The “Dodgers won 6 penants in his 10 seasons“.

Following this powerful message there is a timeline of Jackie’s life through April 15, 2004 and 5 black and white photos of him.