Are you a Jeopardy! fan? If so, and maybe even if you aren’t, it’s been hard to miss news of the current champion’s incredible winning streak. As of May 21, James Holzhauer, a Naperville native now living in Las Vegas, has won $1.78 million and is still going.
All this winning has been great news for libraries. Why? Because libraries are part of the secret to Holzhauer’s success. In interview after interview, he extolls the virtue of children’s books. Any time he needed to learn about a new subject he took a trip to the children’s department in his local library. There, he gathered easy to understand books on the classics, mythology, animals, geography, science, and any subject he needed to fill in his knowledge gaps.
As a result, he is on an incredible winning streak. When will it end? I guess you’ll have to tune in to find out. Libraries hope it goes for a while because he’ll continue to talk them up and he has already made a generous donation to his local library.
So, if you want to read like a champion and grow up to be a Jeopardy! star, don’t forget to Check the Library. You’ll find everything you need to start you on your way.
Here’s a sampling of books that put James on the path to his winning streak:
The Call of the Wild by Chuck Dixon
Emily Dickinson: Poetry for Kids by Emily Dickinson
Everything Big Cats by Elizabeth Carney
Macbeth for Kids by Lois Burdett