The Big Loop by Claire Huchet Bishop 1955 Viking Press, Andre Girard Tour de France Book

The Big Loop by Claire Huchet Bishop 1955 Viking Press

1955 Viking Press HC in Good dust jacket, DJ has some small tears.

About the book:
In France bicycle-racing is as popular as baseball is in America, and the ""Big Loop,"" or Tour de France, takes the place of our World Series. For twenty-one days more than a hundred contestants race 3000 miles in a big loop around France. Festivity and tense excitement follow them wherever they go.

This is the story of André Girard, who grew up in La Mouff, a poor section of Paris, and whose dreams of being a great bicycle-racer finally came true. The story begins when he is a schoolboy of twelve, when rivals tease him and say he will never be strong enough to be a professional racer, and when André himself doesn't know when he will ever have the money to buy a bicycle. But determination can overcome great obstacles, and in the end, due to his character and self-discipline, due to training and teamwork, André is the champion of Tricolores.

More than just thrilling sports reporting, this is the story of daily life in La Mouff; of André's school; of his friends Jack and Michel and Miquette; of the workers in the factory where he got a job; and of his hard-working Maman, who helped in every way she could. It is a story of generosity and sacrifice, of loyalty and solidarity, and of ""victory over oneself"". Like all Claire Bishop's books, it is written with style and verve and with a deep feeling for humanity.

About the author:
Claire Huchet Bishop (December 30 1898 – 13 March 1993) was a Swiss-born American children's novelist and librarian. She was the winner of the Newbery Honor Medal for ""Pancakes-Paris"" and ""All Alone,"" and won the Josette Frank Award for ""Twenty and Ten."" Her children's book ""The Five Chinese Brothers"" won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1959.

An American born in Geneva, Switzerland, Bishop grew up in France and Geneva. She attended the Sorbonne and started the first children's library in France.
After marrying American concert pianist Frank Bishop, she moved to the United States. She worked for the New York City Public Library from 1932-1936. She was an apologist for Roman Catholicism and an opponent of antisemitism.

She was a lecturer and storyteller throughout the U.S., and a children's book editor. Beal was the President of International Council of Christians & Jews from 1975–1977, and the President of the Jewish-Christian Fellowship of France from 1976-1981.

After residing in New York for 50 years, Bishop returned to France and died in Paris in 1993. She was 94 years old.
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