Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy
Zachary's Ball
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Taking kids straight to the plateREVIEW BY RON KAPLANBaseball fans might think it a bit strange to make Joseph Jefferson Jackson the hero of a children's book. After all, "Shoeless Joe" was one of eight Chicago White Sox players banned for life for allegedly throwing the World Series in 1919. But in Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy, Phil Bildner looks beyond this transgression and concentrates on Jackson's metamorphosis into one of the greatest players of all time. Even the mighty Babe Ruth once expressed his awe, remarking how he patterned his swing after Jackson's. As legend has it, Joe earned the moniker "Shoeless" by doffing his brand-new, too-tight spikes to play in his stockinged feet. As with most lore of this type, there are several explanations, some of which might even be true. Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy is a tale of determination and success that kids can apply to everyday life: hard work will get you where you want to go. Bildner centers his story around Jackson's attempt to graduate from the minor leagues to the majors. Joe, despite his natural talent, has all sorts of trouble hitting the ball. He seeks the advice of his friend, Ol' Charlie, a master bat-maker, for help with his problem. Carefully following his counsel, the ballplayer has immediate success, but he falls back into a slump. He tries Charlie's various suggestions -- rubbing his bat with oil, rubbing it with a bone to help toughen the grain and make it stronger, even taking it to bed with him. The solution, however, finally comes down not to the piece of wood, but to Jackson's belief in his own abilities. Athletes are a quirky lot and full of superstitions. Joe treated his bats like some people treat their pets. He even took them home with him to South Carolina after the baseball season was over because, as he was fond of saying, "bats don't like to freeze no more than me." C. F. Payne's illustrations relay the sense of warmth and freshness that a day at the ballpark or in the country can hold. His lush greens give a sense of being on the field. Bildner includes an afterword with background information on Jackson and the ill-fated Black Sox. While this holds historical significance, it might be more than young readers will find interesting. There's also a page containing Jackson's statistics, proving him to be one of baseball's true, if tragic, greats. Another inspiring sports story is told by Matt Tavares in Zachary's Ball. Originally published in 2000, this baseball classic, which won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award, is now available in paperback. The story conveys the power a baseball can have through a foul ball that's caught and treasured by a young boy named Zachary. More than just a souvenir, the ball is a talisman which transports Zachary to heroic deeds on the diamond of his imagination. As sports fans grow older and other responsibilities take hold of their lives, the power of childhood joys can weaken. They get replaced or, in Zachary's case, misplaced. How he rediscovers his youthful enjoyment, and helps others discover theirs, is Tavares' message. His illustrations, done in pencil, evoke a simple world where the partnership of baseball and youth is a basic "black and white" fact. Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy and Zachary's Ball are, in a sense, opposite sides of the coin. On the one hand, Shoeless Joe extols the virtues of hard work and believing in yourself. On the flip side, Zachary's Ball still holds onto the childlike belief that anything is possible in the imagination. A team of winning books young readers will love. Ron Kaplan writes from Montclair, New Jersey.
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