Negro Leagues: All-Black Baseball (GB) (Smart About History) [Library Binding]

Laura Driscoll (Author), Tracy Mitchell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 2002 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Smart About History

Emily loves to play on her Little League baseball team. She visits the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and learns about the Negro Leagues that were formed when black players were banned from major league teams. Emily's report includes information about the early players, the greatest superstars, and the story of Jackie Robinson, who broke the "color line" in 1947. This title captures all the fun and excitement of baseball, while also exploring the serious issue of segregation in America.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This book opens with a teacher giving her class a vague assignment to "write about something that happened thousands of years ago or about something that happened not so very long ago-." Emily chooses to write about her visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame where she saw an entire room dedicated to the Negro Leagues. She records interesting facts such as how players often rode through the towns on bikes or dressed in fancy clothes to get people to attend their games and how pitchers used Vaseline or sandpaper on the balls to make them jump and dip. There is little substance here beyond the mention of a handful of players. Emily editorializes throughout her report-"Finally, in 1947, baseball changed. By then, more and more white people thought it wasn't fair that black players couldn't be in the major leagues. (I don't know why it took them so long to figure that out.)" Black-and-white vintage photos are surrounded by colorful drawings. On the final page, Ms. Brandt writes a note back to Emily and mentions Ken Burns's TV documentary, but there is no bibliography appended to extend this reference for those who would like to view the video. Lawrence S. Ritter's Leagues Apart: The Men and Times of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Morrow, 1995) tells the story better, but for an older audience.
Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. "I love baseball. I know a lot about it. But before last fall, I had never heard of the Negro Leagues," begins Emily Brooks, who, as Driscoll's narrator, relates what she learned in Cooperstown in a report for class. The enthusiastic, clear delivery makes this entry in the Smart about History series a solid choice for middle-graders. Emily takes readers back to the late 1800s when Bud Fowler (credited with inventing shin guards because white players kept spiking him) played on a pro team and then follows the history through the creation of the Negro Leagues in the 1920s to the 1969 election of Satchel Paige to the Baseball Hall of Fame. There's nothing about current black players, but Emily certainly gives kids a clear view of the racism that marked the past and introduces them to a few of the great African American players of their day. The vintage black-and-white photos are fascinating, and the lively artwork keeps to the spirit of the game without trivializing the racial inequity. Too bad there is no bibliography so kids can read on. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Library Binding: 31 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (July 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448428210
• ISBN-13: 978-0448428215
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,641,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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