Jackie Robinson: He Was the First (A First biography) [Library Binding]

David A. Adler (Author), Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1989 | Age Level: 7 and up | Series: A First biography

Traces the life of the talented and determined athlete who broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947 by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In simple, fluid language, Adler writes of the sports hero who paved the way for other minorities by being one of the best athletes of this century. Jackie Robinson wasn't offered fat scholarships or mind-boggling salaries for his sports skills. He simply outplayed and outhit and outran his teammates and became the first black to play major league baseball. Adler emphasizes Robinson's life in sports, mentioning his marriage and children only briefly. The illustrations are serviceable, and help move the action along, but most children will read this because it is so approachable, certain to pique further interest. A list of important dates is included, as is an index. Ages 8-10.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-- Adler describes the life of baseball player and civil rights activist Jackie Robinson in eight chapters accompanied by numerous black-and-white illustrations. A chronological list of important dates in Robinson's life is included. Doing justice to a person of Robinson's stature in a 48-page biography aimed at elementary grade readers is a difficult task. Adler does an admirable job of presenting Robinson as both a baseball player and as the central figure in the integration of major league baseball, documenting both his skill as an athlete and the tremendous amount of adversity he faced because of his race. Mention is also made of some of the less positive periods in Robinson's life, including his belonging to a gang in his youth and his son's battle with drugs. The drawings are of marginal quality and do little to enhance the text. --Tom S. Hurlburt, Minneapolis Public Library .
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Library Binding: 48 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (April 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823407349
• ISBN-13: 978-0823407347
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,604,028 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.