A dynamic author-illustrator team follows the threetime heavyweight champ through twelve rounds of a remarkable life. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. . . . I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived!" From the moment a fired-up teenager from Kentucky won 1960 Olympic gold to the day in 1996 when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson's, returned to raise the Olympic torch, the boxer known as "The Greatest" waged many a fight. Some were in the ring, against opponents like Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier; others were against societal prejudice and against a war he refused to support because of his Islamic faith. Charles R. Smith Jr.'s rap-inspired verse weaves and bobs and jabs with relentless energy, while Bryan Collier's bold collage artwork matches every move capturing the "Louisville loudmouth with the great gift of rhyme" who shed the name Cassius Clay to take on the world as Muhammad Ali.

Charles R. Smith Jr. is the author of HOOP QUEENS and its companion, HOPP KINGS. He also wrote and illustrated the American Library Association Notable Book RIMSHOTS: BASKETBALL PIX, ROLLS, AND RHYTHMS, among other titles. Charles R. Smith Jr. lives in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Bryan Collier is the illustrator of several award-winning books, including UPTOWN and the Coretta Scott King winners A FREEDOM RIVER, MARTIN'S BIG WORDS, and VISITING LANGSTON. MARTIN'S BIG WORDS was also named a Caldecott Honor Book. Bryan Collier lives in New York.