Campy: The Story of Roy Campanella [Hardcover]

David A. Adler (Author), Gordon James (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Roy Campanella loved baseball. A professional player from the age of fifteen, he later became the first African-American catcher to integrate Major League Baseball. Fans and players adored Campy for his good nature, and cheered his multiple MVP awards as a Brooklyn Dodger. But in 1958, his career ended when a car accident left him a quadriplegic. Refusing to give in to self-pity, Campy became a Dodgers coach, held baseball clinics for teenagers, and bravely advocated for the disabled.

With honesty and affection, award-winning author David A. Adler tells the story—complemented by stunning oil paintings by Gordon C. James—of a man who was so much more than a sports hero.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2–4—Adler crafts a portrait of an individual whose zeal for life enabled him to stay positive and productive even after a car crash left him a quadriplegic. Campy always loved baseball, signing with the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro Leagues when he was only 15. In 1945, Branch Rickey invited him to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He became major league baseball's first African-American catcher in 1948, and won league MVP in 1951, 1953, and 1955. Left paralyzed in 1958, he regained some basic skills and eventually was able to become a baseball coach. Adler's account is lively and concise; though the author is clearly a fan, he manages to keep sentimentality at bay. James's oil paintings are a lovely complement to the story, adding detail and character. The book is an accessible introduction to this inspiring athlete's story.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Roy Campanella, one of the greatest catchers in baseball history, was the second African American signed by Branch Rickey to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers,. He joined the team in 1948, one year after his teammate, Jackie Robinson, broke the color line. Adler, author of the Cam Jansen mystery series as well as numerous historical biographies for young readers, capably reprises Campy's on-field triumphs (three-time National League Most Valuable Player) and off-field tragedy (he was paralyzed in a car accident in 1958), while James delivers evocative illustrations in the soft-focus, pastel-heavy style that has become standard for baseball nostalgia. There is no shortage of picture books about the Brooklyn Dodgers, but Campy's inspirational life story, less well known among today's children than Robinson's, deserves to be heard, and baseball-loving baby-boomer grandparents, who came of age in the 1950s, will relish the chance to tell it. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (March 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670060410
• ISBN-13: 978-0670060412
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.