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Little league reads
As sure as flowers bloom in spring, baseball fever strikes Americans young and old when the weather warms. Every sunny afternoon at a grassy lot in my neighborhood, cars line the street and parents visit while their 8- to 12-year-olds get out their bats, balls, and gloves to play ball. Here are some good new baseball books that will give kids even more baseball fun. |
REVIEWS BY JEFF STEPHENS
Cooper's purposefully vague drawings encourage readers to fill in details in their own minds and identify with the game -- the people could be anybody; they could be you! At the same time, the few words used reveal insights that create new interest. Cooper blends isolated bits and pieces to create a coherent and engrossing account.
By Elisha Cooper Greenwillow, $15 ISBN 0688157556
Along with factual information describing the production process, Thomson includes sections on hitters, pitchers, and a short history of baseball. Gloria Kamen's colorful illustrations are based on a visit to the Worth factory in Tennessee to see the various processes in making bats and balls for kids.
By Peggy Thomson Albert Whitman, $14.95 ISBN 0807577375
By Gavin Curtis Simon & Schuster, $16 ISBN 0689800991
Janeczko captures the experience of being there in a book that children of different ages will like for different reasons. Although the metaphors may escape younger readers, they will enjoy the illustrations, which look as if they were drawn with chalk. Older children will appreciate the humor, symbolism, and wide range of subjects found in Janeczko's poetry.
By Paul B. Janeczko Atheneum Books, $16 ISBN 068980735
Jeff Stephens is a baseball fan and father of ten-year-old twins, who enjoyed reading all four books.
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With remarkably few strokes of his pen, Elisha Cooper's sketches and brief descriptions in Ballpark convey the essence of baseball. The simplicity of his illustrations and the creative placement of words on the page make this tour of a day at the ballpark a visual experience sure to be enjoyed by children of various ages and reading abilities.
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Take Me out to the Bat and Ball Factory, written by Peggy Thomson and illustrated by Gloria Kamen, is for the child who could give curiosity lessons to a cat. In this book, Thomson answers more questions than most adults (but not their kids) would think to ask about the crafting of bats and balls.
Does it really matter if you call it a violin or a fiddle? It does to Reginald, a young violinist, who somewhat reluctantly becomes a batboy for the Dukes, "the worst team in the Negro National League." In The Bat Boy and His Violin, Gavin Curtis tells a clever and tender story of the relationship between a father, who is a member of the team, and his son. Set against the backdrop of baseball in 1948, the sometimes touching, sometimes humorous story will appeal to children regardless of their age or interest in sports. Curtis's careful use of language, "I sashay my bow across the violin strings the way a mosquito skims a summer pond," combined with E.B. Lewis's detailed and realistic illustrations spark the imagination.
If you've ever been to a professional baseball game, you know a baseball player has got to know how to spit! That's just one of the things that Paul B. Janeczko describes in his poems in That Sweet Diamond: Baseball Poems, illustrated by Carol Katchen. You'll find yourself laughing and thinking, Yeah, I've seen that! And the next time you go to a game, you'll know what to do during a rain delay!