Chip and the Karate Kick (Good Sports) - Hardcover

K-Gr. 2. Chip the rabbit signs up for karate lessons so that he can be just like martial arts champion Striper Mee. The problem is that early karate training involves a lot more quiet listening than shouting "Hiyaaah!" After learning respectful protocol, deep breathing, and some Japanese vocabulary, it's on to the fun stuff; soon Chip can even break a wooden board. But when will he get his yellow belt? It's pretty clear that the delay has something to do with his snotty impatience with the mental dimension of the sport. Indeed, it's not until Chip helps a younger friend harassed by a bully, thus demonstrating the true "spirit of karate," that he finally earns his promotion. The impulse to fuse citizenship with athletics is as thinly veiled here as it was in the earlier volumes in Rockwell and Meisel's Good Sports series. More enticing than the message is Meisel's cast of animal characters, each one endearingly outfitted in a belted gi, and the inclusion of lots of facts about the art form's history and practice. Jennifer Mattson
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