Terry Fox

Terry Fox loved nearly every sport there is. He was training to become a sports teacher when a cancer diagnosis changed his plans: one of his legs would have to be amputated. Having lived through the illness as a patient, he resolved to do something to raise money and awareness for cancer research.

His answer was the Marathon of Hope, a journey in which he ran for 143 days across Canada, covering the distance of a full marathon every day. The effort raised millions of dollars for his fellow Canadians. The book, illustrated in a distinctive, playful style, closes with extra material: a timeline of his life with historical photographs, and a detailed profile of the man himself.

This title belongs to the Little People, BIG DREAMS series, which introduces readers to remarkable people from designers and artists to scientists and activists. Each of them, the series notes, began life as a child with a dream, and the series is aimed at children of all ages. The books come in several formats: board books with simple sentences for reading aloud to babies and toddlers, hardbacks with fuller stories for beginning readers, and boxed gift sets that group titles by theme. Matching games and other learning tools offer further ways for children to explore these lives.