Still, as well as a browser’s delight, a wide-angled, if fragmentary and heavily pixelated, overview of the sport as it was...
Even confirmed students of the sport will have something to learn from this fannish assemblage of baseball facts and trivia.
In no particular order, Sylvester describes different types of bats and gloves, playing-field layout and dimensions, what’s inside a baseball, where select foreign-born major leaguers come from, what player salaries have looked like down the years, what tickets and concessions cost in 1950 and today, plus a few records, trends, and feats. Along with players renowned (Babe Ruth) and less so (Mario Mendoza), he also drops names of prominent announcers, umpires, and women in the sport. Nor does he neglect scandals, drug use, home run records with asterisks, or a tally of the foreign substances (including pee) that pitchers have used. Cartoon illustrations mix uniformed figures (some of them recognizable) with easy-to-understand diagrams and infographics. The book bobbles a bit. The author never does get around to the basic rules of play and leaves explanations for some of the items on a sample line of season batting stats (BB, SL, OPS) until a later page. Moreover, though many of his tantalizing facts and anecdotes will leave readers hot to know more, he closes with a mix of review and trivia questions rather than, as he puts it, a “really boring” list of “websites you should go visit, et cetera.”
Still, as well as a browser’s delight, a wide-angled, if fragmentary and heavily pixelated, overview of the sport as it was and is today. (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: July 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55451-708-4
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
At its best when the emphasis is on the skill and artistry of Mime’s most accomplished practitioner—alas, too much of the...
The legendary mime is introduced to a new generation, though not entirely successfully.
As a child, Marceau loved to silently entertain his friends, like his idol, Charlie Chaplin. During the Nazi occupation of France, Marcel and his brother took on new identities in the French Underground, where they forged documents for Jewish children and helped many to escape to Switzerland. Spielman assumes that her young audience will understand references to deportation and concentration camps; unfortunately for those that don't, her matter-of-fact tone speaks more of adventure than deadly peril. Her tone subtly changes when she lovingly describes Marceau’s training and development as a mime and his stage persona of Bip the clown, admiring his skills in the “art of silence” that won him international renown. But here too, comparisons to the Little Tramp and Pierrot may be outside readers’ frame of reference. Though the illustrations carefully complement the textual content with period details, Gauthier’s cartoon faces are all nearly identical, with only the screen image of Chaplin and Marceau’s Bip having distinctive features. A double-page spread at the conclusion provides photographs of Bip in action and is the only clear indication of Marceau’s stagecraft.
At its best when the emphasis is on the skill and artistry of Mime’s most accomplished practitioner—alas, too much of the book looks elsewhere. (Picture book/biography. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-3961-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective.
The author of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (2004) tells her father’s tale again, for younger readers.
Though using a less personal tone this time and referring to herself in the third person, Robinson still devotes as much attention to his family life, youth and post-baseball career as she does to his achievements on the field. Writing in short sentences and simple language, she presents a clear picture of the era’s racial attitudes and the pressures he faced both in the military service and in baseball—offering plenty of clear reasons to regard him not just as a champion athlete, but as a hero too. An early remark about how he ran with “a bunch of black, Japanese, and Mexican boys” while growing up in Pasadena is insensitively phrased, and a sweeping claim that by 1949 “[t]he racial tension was broken” in baseball is simplistic. Nevertheless, by and large her account covers the bases adequately. The many photos include an admixture of family snapshots, and a closing Q-and-A allows the author to announce the imminent release of a new feature film about Robinson.
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective. (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-54006-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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