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At age eight, Noah Ross was the co-author of the All-Star Hockey Activity Book (Polestar $6.95) with his father Julian Ross, publisher of Bluefield Books (and former publisher of Polestar Press). Noah's younger brother Jesse also helped.
Working on The All-Star Hockey Activity Book, by Noah Ross, age 16:
"Everything gets slower when you add more people, because there's more difference of opinion, and that's especially true when the people you add are family. You really have to keep asking yourself whether something is worth arguing about, or not. For instance, I'd done a feature on the NHL's top fighters--who got the most points, what was the relationship between fights and games played, etc.--and my dad wanted to title it "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again." He liked it because it was a stupid song, and a stupid title, but I let him win because it wasn't worth arguing about.
Sometimes I'd want to change stuff in Jesse or Dad's work, but it's hard to make too many suggestions without hurting people's feelings. You wouldn't have to worry about this if you were working alone. My main problem in doing this book was that I'm now older than the book's age range and a lot of the hockey stats and trivia that really interested me--like old-time hockey history or indepth stat analysis--proved to be too detailed for the book. So I had to adapt my writing style a bit."
(See also Ross, Julian and Ross, Jesse)
[BCBW 2003]
Working on The All-Star Hockey Activity Book, by Noah Ross, age 16:
"Everything gets slower when you add more people, because there's more difference of opinion, and that's especially true when the people you add are family. You really have to keep asking yourself whether something is worth arguing about, or not. For instance, I'd done a feature on the NHL's top fighters--who got the most points, what was the relationship between fights and games played, etc.--and my dad wanted to title it "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again." He liked it because it was a stupid song, and a stupid title, but I let him win because it wasn't worth arguing about.
Sometimes I'd want to change stuff in Jesse or Dad's work, but it's hard to make too many suggestions without hurting people's feelings. You wouldn't have to worry about this if you were working alone. My main problem in doing this book was that I'm now older than the book's age range and a lot of the hockey stats and trivia that really interested me--like old-time hockey history or indepth stat analysis--proved to be too detailed for the book. So I had to adapt my writing style a bit."
(See also Ross, Julian and Ross, Jesse)
[BCBW 2003]
Articles: 1 Article for this author
All-Star Hockey Activity Book
Article
When he wasn't learning how to skate on the frozen Slocan River, Noah Ross of Winlaw, B.C. learned how to read by studying his collection of 1,400 hockey cards.
He learned computer programming by cataloguing his hockey cards and he learned math by studying hockey stats. By age seven, the educated-at-home son of Polestar Press publisher Julian Ross had started his own hockey newsletter.
Now father and eight-year-old Noah have teamed up for the All-Star Hockey Activity Book (Polestar $6.95), a hockey book for kids.
Noah's ideas for the book include a listing of weird hockey facts--like the time the Stanley Cup went missing for a year because it was mistakenly used as a flower pot--and original stats such as the average age at which a hockey player scores his most points in a season.
Ever wondered what's the most common name for a hockey player? What's the correlation between the average age of a team and its position in the standings? Noah Ross intends to let us know.
As well, the activity book will include a Rookie Board Game (you sleep in, you miss the team bus, etc.), reviews of hockey books and videos, new quizes and critical listings for 20 hockey card collecting shops that the Rosses have visited across Canada (each rated for prices, stock and friendliness towards kids).
The book will also feature cartoons, mazes, photos of stars, a behind-the-scenes tour of a hockey card factory, plus a report on a visit to the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame.
And so what does Noah Ross want to be when he grows up?
A soccer player.
BCBW 1990
