Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra - a review

It's baseball season—my favorite season of the year! What better way to kick off the season than with a review of a new baseball book? I'm no Yankee fan—anyone who knows me in person or online will attest to my affinity for the Phils, but it's hard not to admire Yogi Berra.

Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra
By Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by Terry Widener
Calkins Creek, 2019

In this picture book for older readers, Barb Rosenstock offers a well-rounded look at baseball legend, Yogi Berra. Yogi is well-known for his many unintentionally humorous quotes, or "Yogi-isms," but no one would know of these if it were not for his phenomenally successful baseball career.  From childhood to retirement, Rosenstock shows that there was more to Yogi than skill and humor. Yogi was short, unattractive, and the son of Italian immigrants during a time when that was often a cause for ridicule or discrimination—but that did not hamper his good nature, determination, or enthusiasm for baseball.  When fans or players taunted him for being ugly,

"So?" Yogi said. "I don't hit with my face."  He ignored the name-calling and let his bat do the talking.

Yogi loved his family, his friends, his country, and baseball. Terri Widener's acrylic illustrations eschew details in favor of creating illustrations that convey the mood or action of the the text on each page. The text is unobtrusive in a small black font, however, "Yogi-isms" appear in larger blue font with quotation marks. In most illustrations, Yogi is closely outlined in white, presumably so that kids will easily be able to pick him out of each illustration. Widener captures Yogi's endearing personality and his baseball prowess and acumen.

Author's Note, photographs, statistics, quotes, Bibliography, and Source Notes round out this picture book biography for older readers.  Sure to be a hit for baseball season—especially for Yankee fans.

Some Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra extras are below.






Peek inside Yogi here.





According to USA Today Sports, Yogi once said, "I’m lucky. Usually you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine."  If you're ever in the neighborhood of Little Falls, NJ, you can check out the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, too.
 My copy of Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra was provided by the publisher.

The Bambino and Me - an audiobook review

Hyman, Zachary. 2014. The Bambino and Me. Plattsburgh, NY: Tundra.  Read by Jason Alexander.
(Advance Listener Copy)

Huge baseball fan, Jason Alexander (of Seinfeld fame), reads this fictional memoir of 10-yr-old Yankee fan,George Henry Alexander, in The Bambino and Me. The story simply begs to be read by Jason Alexander who certainly needs no accent coaching to create this believable boy from the Bronx in the summer of 1927.

Babe Ruth has been sold to the Yankees and George is his biggest fan.  When he gets a ticket to a Yankees/Red Sox game for his birthday, he couldn't be more excited! But then comes the error - his Uncle Alvin has given him a Red Sox jersey to wear to the game! His mother insists that he wear it. Enemy colors! What could be worse?

The audio version is filled with the wonderful sounds of baseball and summer - jazz music, the chatter of kids on the street, the crack of a bat, the roar of a crowd. If this audio book were a baseball game, it would be a perfect one.

Recommended for ages 6-9, and unabashed lovers of America's Pastime.

This is "hands-down" the best audio book that I've listened to since Three Times Lucky.

"And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces."

From Field of Dreams, 1989. Directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson, based upon the book Shoeless Joe (1982) by W. P. Kinsella



Note:
 Although it looks wonderful, I can't offer comment on the printed version of The Bambino and Me. I picked up the CD at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, and asked if I could have the accompanying book. I was told that I could only have the CD, which I tossed in my bag where it sat unnoticed and unremembered until this week when I had a lull between audio book reviewing assignments. I'm so glad I remembered it!

The Streak - a review

Rosenstock, Barb. 2014. The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio became America's Hero. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek. Ill. by Terry Widener
(Advance Reader Copy)

If you know only one baseball statistic, you likely know its one "unbreakable" record - Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.  According to the Author's Note, its probability for occurrence is once every 746 to 18,519 years.  It was the most talked about news story of 1941, even edging out  news of the war raging in Europe.

Oil-painted illustrations evoke the bygone era; references to new immigrants and mention of the war in Europe place the story in the context of history. However, The Streak is essentially a story of baseball, one man, and his favorite bat, Betsy Ann.

When DiMaggio was up, he strolled to home plate.  He didn't pull at his cap, scuff his feet, or make Betsy Ann dance behind his head.  He rubbed dirt on his hands, tapped the plate just once, and set his wide-legged stance.  For a minute, Joe stood perfectly still, then he and Betsy Ann went to work.

The book includes: Author's Note, Statistics, Source Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgments

Baseball, it's my favorite season of the year.  Enjoy The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio became America's Hero, and be sure to take in a baseball game this summer.  You may witness history in the making.  You never know.

Other reviews at

• Kirkus
• Publishers Weekly (starred review)
• Kids Reads

If you're looking for another great picture book about Joe DiMaggio, the 1941 baseball season, or "the streak," be sure to check out The Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and the Record-Setting Summer of '41.

This YouTube link will let you see Joe DiMaggio's famous swing and hear Les Brown's popular song of the day, "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio."

Today is Nonfiction Monday.  Check it out.

Baseball Animals - a review

Whether or not you buy MLB's position that Opening Day is March 22, 2014 in Australia (Sorry Australia, baseball "down under" just doesn't feel right), baseball season, will soon be here. Opening Day for the US and Canada is March 31.

If you are a baseball fan, are raising a young baseball fan, or are trying to connect with a young baseball fan, here's the book for you - a marriage of baseball and animals!


Jordan, Christopher. 2014. Baseball Animals. Plattsburgh, NY: Fenn/Tundra.

Which MLB team shares its name with a songbird that loves acorns?

This blue, black and white bird is thought to be responsible for spreading the oak tree across North America.

If the beautiful photograph of my favorite bird on a stark white background doesn't give you the answer, just turn the page to reveal a full-page action shot of a Toronto Blue Jays batter. (Sorry that I don't know which one. Since they beat the Phillies in the 1993 World Series, I refuse to pay attention to the Blue Jays. We fans have long memories.)

Each baseball page features the team's logo, a full-page action photo taken at the ballpark, and some team uniform trivia.  Did you know that the Cardinals (often called the Redbirds) were not named for the beautiful bird, but rather for the color of their original uniforms? Their uniforms were cardinal red. So, presumably they are named after the traditional color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock.  Now that's a great baseball trivia question!

Fun and informative, this is a must-have for little baseball fans. I don't know why someone didn't think of it earlier!  An Appendix of MLB Teams and Logos rounds out the book - featuring all of the teams - even those sans animals on their logos.


Advance Reader Copy supplied by LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.



In addition to being St. Patrick's Day, today is Nonfiction Monday.  Be sure to stop by the Nonfiction Monday blog for all of today's featured books.

Hit By Pitch - a review

Many months ago, I requested a copy of Hit By Pitch from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.  I was thrilled that I was chosen to receive a copy, but it never showed up -- until last week, when I eagerly devoured it, and was not disappointed. This one's not for *kids, but certainly suitable for young adults.


Lawless, Molly. 2012. Hit By Pitch: Ray Chapman, Carl Mays and the Fatal Fastball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

If you've ever watched a player get beaned by a baseball, you've experienced the sickening feeling that occurs merely from watching.  In 1920, fifty years before the mandated use of batting helmets, Cleveland Indian shortstop, Ray "Chappie" Chapman, became the first and only major league baseball player to be killed by a pitched ball.  This is his story and the story of  pitcher, Carl Mays of the New York Yankees.

In some ways, it is easy to write about sports as the statisticians make the research simple  - dates, times, players, locations, runs, hits, balls, strikes, averages - it's all recorded history.  However, the single entry in the scorer's book for the game at the Polo Grounds between the Cleveland Indians the New York Yankees, "hit by pitch," cannot explain the tragic story of baseball's only fatal beaning on August 16, 1920.  Molly Lawless uses black and white drawings, period quotes, newspaper articles, and sportswriter commentaries to animate this story for a new generation.

A more perfect tragedy could not be conceived if it were a work of fiction - the odd, sullen and nearly friendless "villain," Carl Mays, versus the cheerful, handsome and beloved athlete, businessman, husband and friend, "Chappie." One will live and one will die.  Both stories end in tragedy.

Fascinating, well-researched, and told with a keen eye for the game and all its intricacies and idiosyncrasies. Ms. Lawless' respect for (and love of) baseball is apparent in every page. Her black and white illustrations evoke the time and spirit of the game in the "deadball era," and an American public, still processing the effects of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal and the relatively new phenomenon of Prohibition. Fans of baseball, graphic novels, history or tragedy will love this book.

• Amazon.com offers a peek inside Hit By Pitch.  Be sure to check it out!
• Click here to see the box score as it appeared in the newspaper.

*For younger readers interested in this topic, Dan Gutman's, Ray & Me (Harper Collins, 2009), tells the tragic story as part of his Baseball Card Adventures series, combining fact, fiction and a hint of fantasy as the young protagonist travels back in time to great moments in baseball history.

Today's Nonfiction Monday is hosted by author, Anastasia Suen, at her Booktalking blog.

Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a Phillies fan and hail from New Jersey - but did you know that New Jersey is home to Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, the mud discovered by one-time Phillies player, Lena Blackburne? The mud used to take the slick shine off balls used in major league baseball?

In fact, as readers will learn in Miracle Mud,

"Lena's mud is the only thing that's allowed on major-league balls.  Players can't use water or spit or shoe polish.  Just mud.  Lena's mud."

And it comes from South Jersey, but Miracle Mud won't tell you from where - that's a secret!

Oliver Dominguez' nostalgic, double-spread, painted illustrations are the perfect complement to this short and engaging biography of Lena Blackburne (1886-1968) and his famous mud. You may view eleven of the book's paintings at Oliver Dominguez' website.  The front and rear end papers are the best - clean baseballs up front, muddy ones in the back!

An Author's Note and Lena Blackburne's official stats round out this great introduction to Lena Blackburne. He never made it to the Hall of Fame, but his mud did! A great choice for baseball fans of all ages.

Kelly, David A. 2013. Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud that Changed Baseball. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

Don't believe it?  Want to learn more?
Check out:

• the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum article
• an in-depth article and video by MLB.com's Doug Miller, "The Mudville Line: The legend of mud rubbing" 
• CNN's segment, "Harvesting baseball's magic mud," by Thomas Andres

It's Nonfiction Monday.  Today's roundup of nonfiction posts can be found at Playing by the book.

Picture Book Roundup - Nonfiction Monday

It's Nonfiction Monday again (where did the week go?).    It's also spring and baseball season.  With those in mind, I'll highlight two books that feature America and her national pastime.

• Bates, Katherine Lee. 2013. America the Beautiful: Together We Stand. New York: Scholastic.

With illustrations by a group of stellar artists (including Yuyi Morales, Bryan Collier and Mary GrandPré) and appropriate margin quotes from selected US presidents, this is a large and beautiful picture book rendition of one of America's favorite songs, "America the Beautiful." Rounded out with a collection of useful facts about the nation and its system of government, this is a "must-have" book.

• Tavares, Matt. 2013. Becoming Babe Ruth. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Baseball, the Babe, and Matt Tavares - if that's not a triple play, I don't know what is!  Matt Tavares' reverence for the sport of baseball shines through in this inspirational and entertaining third-person bio, focusing on the earlier years of one of baseball's greatest players.  Get an inside glance at the author's website. An Author's Note, Stats, and Bibliography are included. For young and old alike.

And on a baseball-related note, my family went to see 42: The True Story of an American Legend on Friday.  A great movie - not just for baseball fans!  I highly recommend it.  Watch the trailer here.

That's the best of America.  Here's the downside - it's April 15th - tax day.  Although we can only wish that we could print our own money, kids may enjoy this video of how the government does it.

 

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at NC Teacher Stuff. Stop by.

Play Ball! Baseball books for the very young

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

Jay Schyler Raadt CC-BY-SA-3.0

Baseball Hall of Fame baseball player, Rogers Hornsby
Source: Baseball Almanac

Yes, it's January and the temperatures have been in the teens, but soon catchers and pitchers will report to spring training, and on February 21, Spring Training games will begin.

Here are two new books for the littlest of fans:

• Kawa, Katie. 2013. My First Trip to a Baseball Game. New York: Gareth Stevens.  (part of the My First Adventures series)

In three very simple chapters, this little book introduces children to a baseball game, offering information on the park, the food and the game.  From the chapter, "At the Baseball Park,"

My dad holds our tickets.  They tell us where to sit. We get food to eat. My mom and dad get hot dogs.

The illustrations are simple cartoon-style depictions of a family's trip to the game with a heavy focus on the family's activities.  If just a little bit of baseball is what you're seeking, this will do fine.
A Table of Contents, Index, and Words to Know make this one perfect for school use, however, it's also suitable for adding a little nonfiction to storytime.

Reading Level: Grade K 
Fountas & Pinell: C 
Dewey: 796.357 
Specifications: 7 5/8" x 7 1/8", 24 pages 
Lexile Level: 130

Less perfunctory and more enjoyable is Goodnight Baseball.

• Dahl, Michael. 2013. Goodnight Baseball. N. Mankato, MN: Capstone. (Illustrated by Christina Forshay)

(Advance copy provided by NetGalley)

Beginning with a sing-song rhythm,

The great big stadium is outside of town.
Fans and friends come from miles around.

and ending with a nod to Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon,

Goodnight, popcorn boxes under the stands

Goodnight, mascot and goodnight, fans!
Goodnight, friends. Goodnight, cars.
Goodnight, stadium, under the stars ...

Goodnight Baseball takes the reader on a baseball outing with a small boy and his father. Snacks, caps, and even a foul ball are part of a winning day. Brightly colored full-bleed illustrations offer a broad view of the game, the fans, and the park with a focus not on the boy and his dad, but rather, on their place in the larger context of the day.  Expressive faces show the myriad expressions seen during a day at the park - excitement, determination, surprise (no sadness here - the home town wins). Creative endpapers evoke the Green Monster, the boy's favorite team, and tickets stuffed in the pocket of denim jeans.  Goodnight Baseball is a hit.
(Due on shelves March 1, 2013)

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at author Laura Purdie Salas' blog, laurasalas.

Satchel Paige - a review

Well, baseball season is winding down, and my beloved Phillies have been all but statistically eliminated from any hope of the playoffs, but it was baseball season, and that's always good enough for me.  I'll wrap up the season with a baseball-themed book.  Below is my review of the book and CD, Satchel Paige, as it appeared in the September 2012, edition of School Library Journal.

Satchel Paige. By Lesa Cline-Ransome. CD. 21:14 min. Live Oak Media. 2012. CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-1-4301-1088-0: $29.95; CD with paperback book, ISBN 978-1-4301-1087-3: $18.95

Gr 1-4 -- Leroy Paige was born into a poor family in Mobile, Alabama, around 1906. He earned the nickname "Satchel," while working at Mobile's train depot, carrying satchels for travelers. In his family of 12 children, money was always tight. A talented pitcher, he never considered baseball as a career until he landed in reform school for stealing. A coach suggested he focus on baseball; after that, there was no stopping him. His blend of talent and showmanship propelled him from semi-pro ball to stardom in the Negro Leagues to pitch in the newly integrated Major Leagues, earning a spot in Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball's greatest anecdotes usually have an air of tall-tale about them, and Satchel's winning ways and personality make for a biography that is as entertaining as fiction. Imagine facing his famous "bee ball," which would always "be" where he wanted it to be. Lesa Cline-Ransome writes in a folksy manner, and Dion Graham's relaxed Southern voice is a perfect complement, enhanced with sound effects and music. Though long on text, the book's large size and Graham's narration combine to offer children a chance to pore over visual details. Playing in the Negro Leagues was not always a bed of roses, but James Ransome's oil paintings highlight Paige's joi de vivre and joi de baseball. Page-turn signals are optional.

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Library Journals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

 

Silent Star: The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy - a review

Wise, Bill. 2012. Silent Star: The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer Willliam Hoy. Ill. by Adam Gustavson. New York: Lee & Low.

No one today would call a deaf person "dummy," but from 1888-1902, Major League Baseball player, William Ellsworth Hoy, wore that nickname with pride. 

Deaf from the age of three, his chances of becoming a major league baseball star were slim to none.  At the turn of the century, deafness itself was a great hurdle to overcome.  Attitudes were different, and his early years were difficult until his parents sent him to the Ohio School for the Deaf, where,

Nobody stared or pointed him.  Nobody felt sorry for him.

Presumably, this is where he learned the confidence and persistence (he already had a love for baseball), that helped propel him to the top of his game as a major league outfielder. Bill Wise chronicles his early life, his rise to stardom, and the unique challenges he faced in the game of baseball.  His baseball challenges were not necessarily due to his disability, but rather, just the way the game is played. If the opposing team has a weakness, exploit it.

Because he could not hear the home plate umpire shouting balls and strikes when he was at bat, Hoy had to turn around to look at the ump after each pitch.  The umpire would repeat the call, and as Hoy read the ump's lips, opposing pitchers often quick pitched Hoy, throwing the next ball before he was ready to bat.

This didn't stop Hoy for long, though.  There's a "workaround" for nearly everything.  Some historians argue that Hoy's deafness may have been the impetus for the umpire's use of hand signals.  In any case, the fans loved him - knowing that he could not hear their cheers, fans waved their arms and hats and threw confetti to show their approval.

Gustavson's mostly double-spread illustrations depict Hoy as a determined and confident young man.

 Much of the text is presented in text boxes which appear as aged scrapbook or autograph pages outlined in faded fountain pen.  The subdued tones of the illustrations, along with the many undefined faces, help give Silent Star the appropriate "old time" feel.

The Afterword offers additional information and photos of Hoy's baseball card and a Hoy-autographed baseball.  Biographical sources are included on the dedication page.  As for baseball sources, they're unnecessary, for that is one of the many beauties of baseball.  There are official statistics for everything! (read or watch Moneyball, anyone?)

See all of "Dummy" Hoy’s major league stats here.

Although he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, you may read two entries about William Hoy on the Hall of Fame's website: http://baseballhall.org/search/node/william%2520hoy

This is a particularly worthwhile addition to the growing collection of nonfiction, baseball-themed picture books because of the inspiring nature of Hoy's story.

I received this review copy from the publisher, Lee & Low, who could not have chosen a more interested or appreciative reviewer. It’s no secret that I’m an avid baseball fan, but I have also become interested in deaf culture, and am slowly learning sign language thanks to a very kind and patient deaf co-worker. I may not always get the right sign, but we sure have some good laughs - mostly at my expense. Who knew that counting past ten could be so difficult!

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at Books 4 Learning.

Jinxed! a review

It's opening day for MLB!  Let's start off the season with another baseball book.

Scaletta, Kurtis. 2012. Jinxed! A Topps League Story. Illustrated by Eric Wright. New York: Amulet.
(Advance Reader Copy supplied by publisher)


I don't review too many early chapter books, and I admit that I'm not usually (OK, almost never) fond of "tie-in" books, but here's an exception. Topps, of trading card fame, has teamed up with Amulet books for a series of baseball-themed chapter books - complete with trading cards. So, what's the trade-off here? What does Topps get from this publishing deal? It appears that the books' protagonist, Chad, a young baseball fan with a huge baseball card collection, will use information about real players from real cards to help solve problems within the story line.  But hey, baseball cards have worked out well for Dan Gutman (his latest is Ted & Me, Harper Collins, 2012), and I think they'll work out well for Kurtis Scaletta as well. Here's why ...

he knows baseball, he can write with a boy's voice, and he's pretty funny.  What more do you need?

Jinxed! begins with Chad hoping to land a job as a batboy for the minor league Porcupines. His dad suggests that he send a resume.

     "What's a rez-u-may?" I asked him.  That's how he said it: "rez-u-may."
     "It's a list of all your past jobs and your accomplishments," he said.
     "I've never had a job."
     "Good point," my dad said.  "But you do have a lot of accomplishments."
     So I got on the computer and typed up my accomplishments.  It took me all day.

 [an image of Chad's resume appears here]

     "I've never seen "I have my own resume" on a person's resume before," Dad said when I was done.
     "But I worked really hard on it."
     "Good point.  It looks great.  Let's mail it tomorrow."

         
Chad gets the job with the Porcupines, along with another boy from his class.  He's thrilled to find that one of his major league heroes, Mike Stammer, is down with the Porcupines, though it's due largely to the fact that he's getting on in years and slumping badly.  Everyone is convinced that Mike has the jinx. Could Chad be the guy to break it?


A perfect choice for elementary school fans of baseball and series books.  My library doesn't have these yet, but I hope I'll be seeing them soon.

The illustrations will be done by Eric Wight (of Frankie Pickle fame), but were not completed in my galley proof. Here's a link to one illustration on the author's website.
The second book in the series, Steal that Base!, is also on shelves now.

Note:
It's opening day. "Hope springs eternal ..." (Alexander Pope)
In baseball, there is no day filled with more possibility than this one. Go Phils!

There Goes Ted Williams - a review

Tavares, Matt. 2012. There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived. Somerville, MA:Candlewick.

Whether I review a book or not, I tag it, rate it, and add it to my LibraryThing account.  LT makes it easy to sort through books by tag or date when the title escapes me and patrons await me.  I've been doing it for years, but somehow I never noticed that there is an option to add a haiku summary of each book. Once I saw it, I had to try,

Ted Williams, the best 

living and breathing baseball

Swing! it’s a home run

Of course, a haiku review leaves me no room to gush over Matt Tavares' illustrations - the green of the field just pops out at you when you begin the story - the same way that it does inside the ballpark when you exit the cool darkness of the breezeway, face the field, and step out into the open air as you head for your seat. Ah, there's nothing like it, and Matt Tavares gets it right.

Fenway Park turns100 this year. 
This photo is from my vacation in 2011.

I'm not a Sox fan, but you can't deny the greatness of Ted Williams (my aunt would have my head if I did!).  This is a stirring book about Ted Williams, but also about what makes baseball so great.  I love it! It's a home run.

One video just isn't enough.  Watch 'em both!

Opening day can't come soon enough for me!  I've already got tickets to see the Baltimore Orioles, the Durham Bulls, and the Lakewood Blue Claws - and that's just for April. 

Today's Nonfiction Monday Round-up is at Rasco from RIF.

Odd Ball: Hilarious, Unusual & Bizarre Baseball Moments

Tocher, Timothy. 2011. Odd Ball: Hilarious, Unusual, & Bizarre Baseball Moments.  Ill. by Stacy Curtis. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

It's Nonfiction Monday again.  Today's roundup is at Practically Paradise.  Be sure to check it out!

Odd Ball is divided into nine chapters or innings, with  titles such as "This Game is for the Birds," which features incidents in which our fine feathered friends have played a role in America's Pastime, and "Missing and Spare Parts," which features true stories of successful ballplayers with physical disabilities that would normally preclude a career in baseball.  (Anyone remember one-handed pitcher Jim Abbott? He played eleven seasons!)

The stories run the gamut of baseball history, from the earliest days, when some of the greatest shenanigans took place, to modern history, which still offers the occasional outrageous incident.
Pages are white with simple font, black text.  The majority of each baseball story, however, is told in the black ink illustrations of Stacy Curtis. Most of the illustrations are done in six-panel, comic style, though some feature fewer, and some are single sketches.  The illustrations evoke the style of old comic strips from the 50's and 60's or the daily Jumble in the newspaper, a style fitting the many zany anecdotes featured in Odd Ball.

My favorite story coincidentally features my favorite team, the Phillies, and one of its most famous players, Richie Ashburn.  On August 17, 1957, Ashburn hit a foul ball into the seats and struck Alice Roth on the nose.  As Alice was being removed from the game on a stretcher, Ashburn his another foul ball, striking the stretcher-ridden Alice in the leg! What are the odds?! All of this is humorously illustrated in a six-panel comic strip, so I assume that Ms. Roth escaped with little more than a whopper of a baseball story.  I hope she got to keep the balls.

"Odd Facts About the Players" rounds out the final inning.

At 64 pages, this is a quick, fun read for baseball fans ages 8 and up.

A Nonfiction Monday note: I was able to meet our esteemed Nonfiction Monday organizer and author, Anastasia Suen, at BookExpo.  We shared a bite to eat at a crowded counter and ending up sitting next to, and swapping stories with Is your Mama a Llama author, Deborah Guarino.  A fun lunch for me!

Branch Rickey

...an adult book today. Either indulge me in my annual adult nonfiction baseball read, or come back later in the week when I hope to have great things from BookExpo America in New York. Thanks!

Breslin, Jimmy. 2011. Branch Rickey. New York: Penguin . 

     The two men sat across from each other at Joe's Restaurant.  Breaking salt rolls into crumbs, Rickey immediately told Barber, "Mrs. Rickey and my family say I'm too old at sixty-four, and my health is not up to it.  They say I've gone through enough baseball and [taken enough] from the newspapers.  That every hand is baseball will be against me.  But I'm, going to do it."

     "He looked straight into my eyes," remembered [Red] Barber, fixing my attention."

     Rickey said, "I'm going to bring a Negro to the Brooklyn Dodgers."
 Barber remembered Branch Rickey speaking slowly as he said it.  "I'm going to bring a Negro to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

   Barber sat straight and silent.

    "I don't know who he is," continued Rickey, "or where he is, but he is coming."

Whatever one may think of the controversial Jimmy Breslin, it's difficult to deny that he's a great writer, and due to his long career and many connections to the sports world and New York in general, he was the perfect choice to write this book on Branch Rickey for the Penguin Lives series. Although he, himself, met Rickey only once, Breslin read extensively about him, and interviewed many people who still remembered the man who brought Jackie Robinson, the first African American, player into Major League Baseball.

What little I knew about Rickey came from watching Ken Burns' documentary, Baseball, and from reading books about Jackie Robinson; but I always wanted to know more about man who put the wheels of integration in motion.  What motivated Rickey?  Altruism?  Money? Religion? Baseball?
It was all of these, and yet it was none. In the simplest explanation, it was Rickey's sense of fairness that drove him to integrate Major League Baseball.  That he was the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers gave him the opportunity to make his dream of equality take root in the game of baseball.  That he was a religious man, made him see the righteousness of his cause and allowed him to bring other like-minded individuals into the fold.  When faced with those who were neither fair nor religious, Rickey appealed to their sense of business acumen.  These talented young African Americans were the future of baseball.  He saw it as a good financial investment (although it was devastating to the Negro Leagues), and wasn't afraid to sell the concept on its business merits, and make money in the process, too.  In short, he was a clever, fair, and honest man with a dream of racial equality.  It took him years of planning and the ideal choice of Jackie Robinson to make it happen, but Branch Rickey, can be credited with the integration of Major League Baseball. Not bad for a poor boy "from the hills and swamps of Southern Ohio."

Told in a largely anecdotal style, Branch Rickey is a short, fascinating read for baseball and history fans, regaling the reader with little-known stories of baseball lore. At one point, the always opinionated Breslin (once a heavy drinker) inserts his own theory on alocohol, smoking, and cancer, opposing Rickey's ardent lifetime antipathy towards liquor. This is the one digression that detracts from the story, which otherwise reads like an old friend telling well-worn family lore. (perhaps old friends may be forgiven a digression or two)

And with long-practiced ease, Breslin artfully weaves the story of Branch Rickey into the context of today, pulling the ends of the story together in the middle, with people cheering the election of Barack Obama from their local polling place - Jackie Robinson High School.  How fitting.

I love baseball.

This is an adult nonfiction title, but get your glasses out, because its font is better suited for much younger eyes! (Centennial LT Std 45 Light, if you're interested)

Listen here to an interview with Jimmy Breslin about writing Branch Rickey.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game - review

Norworth, Jack. 2011. Take Me out to the Ball Game. Ill. by Smiko Hirao.  Performed by Carly Simon. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

In 1908, Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." In 1994, Carly Simon recorded the song for Ken Burns' epic documentary, Baseball. In 2011, Amiko Hirao created brightly colored, anthropomorphic characters to accompany the story,  Giraffes, elephants, flamingos, dogs and cats, gathering together for a day at the ball park.

Put them all together and you've got a delightful baseball story, sung by the renowned artist, Carly Simon.  A longer version than the "seventh inning stretch song," this collaboration begins with Katie Casey,

Katie Casey was baseball mad. 
She had the fever and she had it bad.
Just to root for the hometown crew,
every cent, that Katie spent.

When Katie's beau invites her to a show, she says,

"No, I'll tell you what you can do,"

He takes her out to the ball game, of course, and well, you know the rest.

This is a large book (11x12) with double-spread, action-packed illustrations throughout. The lyrics are classic, and Carly Simon's voice is clear and warm - singing slowly enough so that kids can follow the story as the pages are turned, but with all the enthusiasm of the ball game.

A fun book for little baseball fans!

Have a listen ...

Take Me Out To The Ballgame by Carly Simon - Official

The accompanying CD also contains two completely unrelated songs, "Scarborough Fair" and "I Gave my Love a Cherry,"  two old classics that I remember singing as a child. An odd pairing, but it might work well used as a bedtime story followed by two lullabies.

An added Performer's Note reveals the interesting fact that Jackie Robinson and his family lived with Carly Simon's family in 1954 and 1955 while the Robinson's home was under construction in the neighborhood.

Vacation photos

A few vacation photos and books to accompany them.

Be back soon!

Picture book reviews - diamond and square edition

My book bags have been overflowing!  Here are two more great choices.

I'll start with my favorite topic - you guessed it - baseball!

Abrahams, Peter. 2011. Quacky Baseball. Ill. by Frank Morrison. New York: Harper.

It's Thumby Duckling's first start for the Webbies, and they're playing rival duck team, the Quackers.  Put on your best play-by-play voice for this one,

Been a long day at the ball field.  Top of the ninth.  Two on, two out for the Quackers.  The Webbies need an out!  Here comes the pitch, and ... it's a long drive to right!  Can Thumby duckling get there?  Thumby makes the catch! Out number three.  How about that!

Line score boxes help the baseball fan follow the action.  Insets offer batting tips,

Watch the ball like a hawk- even though hawks don't play baseball.

Colorful, rough-edged artwork by Frank Morrison adds a wonderful ruggedness to the game. I will definitely be sharing this one in my baseball storytime!

Look inside Quacky Baseball.

Now we go from the baseball diamond to the square.

Hall, Michael. 2011. Perfect Square. New York: Greenwillow.

What happened when a perfectly happy perfect square was

cut into pieces and poked full of holes (?)

 It made itself into a fountain that babbled and giggled and clapped.

Each day of the week, the perfect square is crumpled, ripped, shredded and snipped; and each day it transforms itself into something wonderful. Bursting with color, this is a perfect book to teach colors or days of the week.  It's also a wonderful jumping off point for an imaginative craft.  What can you make with a square?

Look inside Perfect Square

The Unforgettable Season - book review

Bildner, Phil. 2011. The Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record-Setting Summer of '41.  Ill. by S.D. Schindler. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

First, a little backstory -

My grandfather, though living in Connecticut when my mother and aunt were born, was born and raised in Massachusetts.  He never gave up his love for the Boston Red Sox; never adopted the team closer to his Connecticut home, the New York Yankees.  My aunt, the eldest and the apple of his eye, naturally became a Red Sox fan.  For my mother, well, what's a younger sister to do?  It was Yankees, of course.

Throughout the 1940s, these room-sharing sisters carried their love/hate of the Yankees/Red Sox to the extreme - even placing a tape line through the middle of the room, right through the bed they shared! - declaring one half to be Yankee territory and one side to be Red Sox country.  They listened to the games on the radio, went when they could, and idolized their favorite players - Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.

And so it was that I grew up hearing stories of the famous rivalry between two of the greatest hitters to ever play the game of baseball.

Phil Bildner's, The Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio and the Record-Setting Summer of '41, is, to paraphrase a favorite movie, like dipping myself in magic waters, transporting myself to the childhood of my mother and aunt - to the summer of 1941, when Joe DiMaggio hit "the streak," batting safely in fifty-six straight games, and Ted Williams finished the summer with a .406 batting average.  Neither record has ever been broken.

Bildner's prose carries readers back to 1941,

After the All-Star break, Joltin' Joe picked up where he left off.  his record-setting hitting streak rolled on. Radio broadcasts were interrupted for "DiMag Bulletins."  During long meetings at the Capitol, congressmen waited for the latest DiMaggio updates.  How long could he keep it going?

and when the streak ended at 56 games, all eyes turned to Ted Williams, the Splendid Splinter,

On the season's final day, heading into a doubleheader against the Athletics, his batting average had dipped to .39955.  
     "Do you want to sit today?" Red Sox manager Joe Cronin asked Ted before that Sunday's first game.  "If you do, you got your .400 average." A .39955 average would be rounded up to .400 for the record books.
     "No," Ted replied.  "I'm going to play.  If I'm going to be a .400 hitter, I'm not going to slip in through the back door. I'm not going to do it sitting on the bench. I'm playing both games."

Ted finished the season at .406.

The game of baseball hasn't changed that much in the years that have passed since 1941.  Yes, the uniforms were  baggier and the socks were higher, but the game itself remains much the same. Schindler's pen and watercolor illustrations subtly highlight the changes in our culture - well-dressed fans in hats and suits, families gathered around the radio, newspaper boys in caps - yelling out the headlines - all commonplace in the Unforgettable Season.

The final pages exhort the reader to keep an eye out, for the next unforgettable season might be this one.  You never know.  Ah, baseball - you gotta' love it!


Center fielder, Joseph (Joe) Paul DiMaggio was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

Left fielder, Theodore (Ted) Samuel Williams, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

A footnote: My aunt has long since retired and moved to Florida - Ft. Myers, of course, spring training home of her beloved Sox.  My mother, upon moving to New Jersey in the 60's, joined her husband in cheering for the fledgling New York Mets, although she still has a soft spot for the Yankees.

Today's Nonfiction Monday host is The Children's War, a journal about books

 for children and teens set in WWII.

Good Sports: Baseball Heroes

Stout, Glenn. 2011. Good Sports: Baseball Heroes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

This book is not what I thought it would be!  When I saw it's small size and paperback format, I didn't give it much of a glance - instead, putting on the cart to be shelved.  Later, when searching for books on female athletes to display for Women's History Month, this book popped up in the catalog.  Huh?  I gave it a second look, and I'm glad I did.

Baseball Heroes contains the stories of four ball players who overcame enormous odds to rise to the top of the game they loved - Jackie Robinson, the first African American player in the major leagues, Hank Greenberg - who paved the way for Jewish ball players, Fernando Valenzuela - Mexico's first major league superstar, and Ila Borders.  Ila Borders?

No, I had never heard of Ila either, but her story is no less impressive than the rest. Born in 1975 to a baseball-loving family, Ila was as talented a baseball player as any of the boys her age.  Despite catcalls and complaints from parents and some coaches, she played Little League with the boys, pitching her way through elementary and junior high school.  When she enrolled in high school, however, the law said that she had to play on the school's girls' softball team.  But that didn't stop Ila.  With the support of her family, she enrolled in a private school where she earned a spot on the varsity team,

and when players from the opposition tried to show her up by blowing her kisses from the batter's box or acting disrespectful in other ways, Ila knew what to do. "I just brush them back," she later told a reporter, meaning she threw the ball close to them.  "It's my favorite pitch."

(I love this girl already!)  But high school was not the end of Ila's career.  She went on to pitch in college, and rebuffed by the major league teams, Ila Borders found a home playing professional baseball for an independent league, pitching for the Duluth-Superior Dukes, before retiring to finish college in 2000.

"You never know how far you're going to go," she said.  You just work your tail off and see what happens."

A truly inspirational chapter - perfect to share for Women's History Month.

Baseball Heroes is the first in a planned series, Good Sports. Good Sports is a good idea. I wish Mr. Stout good luck and better copy editing with the rest of the series.  The cover contains two errors that will be corrected in future editions.  For the record, Glenn Stout's correct web address is http://www.goodsportsbyglennstout.com/.  Baseball Heroes is a good book that deserved a better kickoff.
A parent and teacher guide for baseball heroes is available from the author.

Look for a great post later this month from Audrey Vernick, author of She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story on Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month!


Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at Picture Book of the Day,

Batter up! Baseball book reviews

Opening day for the 2011 baseball season is March 31. (not that I'm counting or anything) Informed of my fondness for America's Pastime, Sleeping Bear Press sent me their spring baseball offerings.

First up,

Michelson, Richard. 2011. Lipman Pike: America's First Home Run King. Ill. by Zachary Pullen. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear.

Everyone is familiar with Babe Ruth, but Lipman Pike has hardly been a household name.  Nevertheless, he was America's first home run king, and arguably, its first professional ball player.  Born in 1845 to Jewish immigrants from Holland, Lipman Pike joined the amateur National Association of Base Ball Players.  He became a star, playing for teams in New Jersey and New York.  However, more than just the story of his baseball career, Lipman Pike, is also a glimpse into society, politics, and daily life in Civil War era America.  The game of base ball was so popular at the time that even the infamous Boss Tweed was involved,

He joined the New Jersey Irvingtons until a man named Boss Tweed invited him to play closer to home.  Lip was excited because the New York Mutuals were one of the best clubs in the league.

"Of course, we can't pay you, " Boss Tweed explained.  "That would be against Base Ball Association policy, and as New York's Commissioner of Public Works, I would never break the rules."  He waved Lip closer so he could whisper.  "But I can offer you a job in our government office at Tammany Hall.  You would have little work to do and plenty of time to play ball."

Of course, many players were paid, and the league went professional soon after, in 1871.  Throughout his career, Lipman Pike was known as a gentleman as well as a slugger.

Follow-up information on Lipman's career and life, and an author's note complete the book, but no sources are offered.  The illustrations and primarily brown text on sepia-toned pages firmly establish the story in the mid 19th century.  Zachary Pullen's illustrations feature over sized heads with great detail and expression. An interesting picture book biography for older readers and baseball fans in general. How I wish that more teachers would accept picture books for middle grade biography projects.  In any case, this one could easily be shared in school, relating to units on biography or immigration.
Teacher's Guide available here.
On shelves now.

Herzog, Brad. I Spy with my Little Eye: Baseball. Ill. by David Milne. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear.

Each double-spread, mirror (or is it?) illustration features an "I spy" rhyme,

I spy with my little eye, a colorful cardboard collection. Pennants switch places, cards get new faces, and a Tiger changes direction.

along with a baseball-related Photo Fact, and a challenge to spot the differences on the two pages.  A great gift for baseball fans, and a great way to pass the time on trips, doctor visits, etc.  I love "I spy!"

On shelves now.

also by Brad Herzog,

Little Baseball

A small board book with baseball riddles,

Give yourself a great big hand.  It's where a batted ball might land.

Answer: Baseball glove.

This will make a fun and interactive book to share at storytime.  The riddles are difficult enough so that kids won't guess them right away, but not hard enough to be frustrating.

My only frustration is the fact that this will be published in board book format. I wouldn't hand this one to a toddler - too difficult.  This seems to be a trend with many publishers lately. We can no longer count on board books to be simple, concept offerings. Still, this is a fun book with catchy rhymes and upbeat illustrations.
 
Due on shelves in April.
 
Review copies were galley proofs, not final copies.

Today's Nonfiction Monday is at Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian.