Salt In His Shoes: A Comparative Analysis

In order to create an activity where students can compare and contrast two books, the books must have at least one thing in common. This could be having the same author, characters, themes, cultures, or plots. Comparing and contrasting has many benefits for students. Comparing and contrasting can strengthen a student’s ability to remember, help create higher-order thinking skills, and enhance a student’s comprehension skills. (Silver, 2010) The two books I chose to compare and contrast are Salt in His Shoes by Deloris and Roslyn M. Jordan and Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Salt in His Shoes is written by Michael Jordan’s mother and sister and is about Michael Jordan as a young boy. It is the story of how Michael used to play basketball with his older brothers as a child and how an older boy who was much taller than Michael always daunted him. The book goes on to tell how Michael followed his dream by practicing basketball everyday and saying a prayer every night. With

Some of the main similarities are that both Michael and Wilson had a passion for a certain hobby and never gave up that passion because of others. They both worked hard and practiced all the time to better themselves. At the end, they both end up achieving their dreams and becoming famous. Some of the differences in the two books were that in Salt in His Shoes Michael’s passion is for basketball and he had a long career in the NBA and is a well-known professional athlete. Wilson on the other hand in Snowflake Bentley had a passion to capture microphotographs of snowflakes and to share his findings about the uniqueness of each snowflake and how no two snowflakes are alike with the world. Wilson Bentley wasn’t able to experience being famous due to his death. He did have several fans before he passed, but his legacy lives on long after his death. His research and findings continue to teach students and adults all over the