A second picture book from Cooper (Country Fair, 1997), cataloging the timeless pleasures of baseball. Small watercolor and pencil figures, intensely expressive in a few lines and blots of color, fill some pages but move to the lower border of spreads when the ballpark appears—a wide green swath. Cooper’s language is simple but evocative: the groundskeeper tasting a blade of grass, the locker room smelling of “cool lotion and warm feet,” the batter gazing at the outfield as though “looking for birds,” and the manager and umpire posing “belly to belly.” Everything that might happen at a ball game, from a small furry creature on the field to a rain delay, is illustrated, as well as the hive of activity before, during, after (reporters sharpening pencils and booting up computers, players spitting sunflower seeds). Sports fans or not, spectators or athletes, children will be engaged for the full nine innings. (Picture book. 5-9)
