The Shot Heard 'Round the World [Hardcover]

Phil Bildner (Author), C. F. Payne (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2005 | Age Level: 5 and up

If you lived in Brooklyn in 1951, your life revolved around the Brooklyn Dodgers. Come summertime you bled Dodger blue. And it was in that summer of '51 that "Dem Bums"-what we lovingly called our Dodgers-caused their biggest stir of all. Ages 7-10 years.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4–The creators of Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy (S & S, 2002) again turn a nostalgic eye toward baseball's past. Here, an unnamed narrator looks back on the summer of 1951 when his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers appear headed for the World Series. Then, the New York Giants go on a winning streak, forcing a playoff with the Dodgers to determine who will face the Yankees. This reminiscence combines baseball lore with a fond glimpse of a time when a big game could cause shops to close and fans to huddle by their radios. The folksy storytelling, strongly supplemented by the mixed-media artwork, conveys a warmly sentimental picture of that era. The painterly illustrations do a nice job of depicting both the action and the setting. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't fare as well. Slowed by the shifts from ballpark to Brooklyn neighborhoods, the story fails to engage readers as it moves to a predictable climax. Though Bildner slips in authentic phrases and details, the tone is sometimes forced and annoying in phrases such as "…down at Lundy's in Sheepshead Bay, the fussy old ladies, forever complainin' about their flounder and snapper, put a fork in their whinin'." This book will hold its greatest appeal for fans looking to relive the events of an earlier time.–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2--4, younger for reading aloud. Baseball in New York in the 1950s was the sport's golden age, but does it have much appeal for today's picture-book set? Perhaps only with the help of a baby boomer turned grandpa. The story of Bobby Thomson's home run in the Polo Grounds on October 2, 1951--the deciding blow in a three-game National League Championship playoff between the victorious New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers--has been retold thousands of times. Like Doris Kearns Goodwin in Wait till Next Year (1997), Bildner reprises the tale from the perspective of the losing team's young fans. The account progresses from the Dodgers' seemingly insurmountable midsummer lead through the Giants' comeback to Thomson's fateful homer, with the text showing how baseball in the pretelevision era was a community passion, shared on front stoops and around radios. Payne's painterly mixed-media illustrations are bathed in attractive autumnal colors, suggesting the October setting as well as the melancholy of the Dodgers' defeat. A chestnut of a story supported by evocative pictures. A winning combination, if only young readers cared as much about Bobby Thomson as they do Bobby Bonds. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (February 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689862733
• ISBN-13: 978-0689862731
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,835,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am Phil.

I used to be a middle school teacher in the New York City Public Schools. Now I write books for kids. I get to travel around the country in order to visit schools and talk to students about my books and writing. How lucky can one person be?

I live in Brooklyn, New York in a killer loft in Clinton Hill. Before Brooklyn, I lived in Manhattan for over a decade, mostly in the West Village. And before that, I grew up on Long Island (but I like to keep that on the dl).

I mos def like to have a good time. I'm incredibly active. I'm a gym-junkie. I like to go running and do pretty much anything outdoors. I used to play hoops 24/7, but unfortunately, the legs don't allow me to do the things I was once able to do.

I live with my boyfriend of fourteen years. He likes to have almost as much fun as I do. Like me, he's a big kid. I've never met anyone so genuine and so real in my entire life. He has the kindest heart and the most gentle soul. He's beautiful, expressive and a freakin' riot.

Welcome to my world!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars christopher jennison, April 3, 2005

By 

Chris Jennison "baseball writer" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shot Heard 'Round the World (Hardcover)

Perfect! The account and the pictures combine to elicit the joys and the agonies of what it was like to root for the Dodgers in the 1950s. Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds are here, with some glorious images of Brooklyn landmarks. I too listened to the final inning of the game, transfixed by the miracle. I lived it again, thanks to this marvelous book.