Summary
The story of famous baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson is told. While he was a great batter he had trouble batting in the major leagues. He feels that the bat is the reason he cannot hit as well and goes to his old friend, Ol' Charlie Ferguson. Each time Joe visits Ferguson he is given a new set of directions to use in order to be a better batter. First he is given a beautiful new bat, which works well in the minors but not in the major leagues. He calls the bat Black Betsy. Next his bat is made black but that still only work in the minor leagues. He is eventually told to sleep with his bat, massage his bat. Eventually he does make a great batter in the major leagues.
Bibliographic Citation
Personal Impressions
This is a well written book. The afterword in the back provides specific information, ,including dates about Shoeless Joe. This is a great example of how nonfiction should be written. The bright, large illustrations provide readers with a great visual to guide them through the story.
Reviews
Bill Ott (Booklist, Feb. 15, 2002 (Vol. 98, No. 12))
Bildner turns the story of baseball star Shoeless Joe Jackson into an amusing picture-book tall tale. Worried about succeeding in the minor leagues, Joe has his friend Ol' Charlie make him a special bat, which he names Betsy after Betsy Ross. (It becomes Black Betsy when Joe has Charlie coat it with tobacco juice.) The hits come in bunches until Jackson is called up to the majors. More trips to Charlie ensue, with the old-timer dispensing sage advice: "Don't you know Black Betsy needs warmth and love? She needs to sleep in your bed every night." Finally, Joe treats Betsy just right, and his rookie season is a triumph. Payne's realistic mixed-media illustrations do the story justice, capturing the look of baseball in the teens and '20s and helping make a costar of Black Betsy. A lengthy afterword discussing Jackson's role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal fails to mention that, while Joe didn't participate in throwing the World Series, most sources agree that he did accept money to do so. Younger children with good attention spans may enjoy hearing this read aloud. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2002, Simon & Schuster, $17. Gr. 2-4.
Bill Ott (Booklist, Feb. 15, 2002 (Vol. 98, No. 12))
Bildner turns the story of baseball star Shoeless Joe Jackson into an amusing picture-book tall tale. Worried about succeeding in the minor leagues, Joe has his friend Ol' Charlie make him a special bat, which he names Betsy after Betsy Ross. (It becomes Black Betsy when Joe has Charlie coat it with tobacco juice.) The hits come in bunches until Jackson is called up to the majors. More trips to Charlie ensue, with the old-timer dispensing sage advice: "Don't you know Black Betsy needs warmth and love? She needs to sleep in your bed every night." Finally, Joe treats Betsy just right, and his rookie season is a triumph. Payne's realistic mixed-media illustrations do the story justice, capturing the look of baseball in the teens and '20s and helping make a costar of Black Betsy. A lengthy afterword discussing Jackson's role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal fails to mention that, while Joe didn't participate in throwing the World Series, most sources agree that he did accept money to do so. Younger children with good attention spans may enjoy hearing this read aloud. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2002, Simon & Schuster, $17. Gr. 2-4.
Laura Hummel (Children's Literature)
Many baseball fans claim that Shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the greatest hitters to play the game. He earned his nickname when he participated in a game wearing socks, not shoes, on account of blisters. Why was he such a great hitter? Why, it was because of his bat, Black Betsy. Just before he was to play in the minors, Joe fell into a terrible hitting slump. He paid a visit to his friend, Ol' Charlie Ferguson who agreed to make Joe a bat. Shoeless Joe named his bat after Betsy Ross so people would honor it just like they honor the flag. Ol' Charlie needed to make several bats and gave Joe specific instructions on how to rub Betsy with tobacco juice for the dark and scary-looking color. When Shoeless Joe moved up to the majors, he batted .408. No other rookie has managed to beat his record. Incredible multi-media drawings that evoke the spirit of the era accompany a beautiful nostalgic story. An Afterword tells more of Joe's life, his career, and of the BlackSox scandal of 1919 that banished him from the game he loved. 2002, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Ages 5 to 10.
Many baseball fans claim that Shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the greatest hitters to play the game. He earned his nickname when he participated in a game wearing socks, not shoes, on account of blisters. Why was he such a great hitter? Why, it was because of his bat, Black Betsy. Just before he was to play in the minors, Joe fell into a terrible hitting slump. He paid a visit to his friend, Ol' Charlie Ferguson who agreed to make Joe a bat. Shoeless Joe named his bat after Betsy Ross so people would honor it just like they honor the flag. Ol' Charlie needed to make several bats and gave Joe specific instructions on how to rub Betsy with tobacco juice for the dark and scary-looking color. When Shoeless Joe moved up to the majors, he batted .408. No other rookie has managed to beat his record. Incredible multi-media drawings that evoke the spirit of the era accompany a beautiful nostalgic story. An Afterword tells more of Joe's life, his career, and of the BlackSox scandal of 1919 that banished him from the game he loved. 2002, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Ages 5 to 10.
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 24))
Is great hitting in the clean, natural swing of the batter-or the perfectly balanced feel of the bat? As kids know when they start playing baseball, small details must converge just right to overcome the edge between winning and losing, hitting and striking out. Sometimes this translates into superstitions or quirky behavior. First-time author Bildner toes this question in the quirks of Shoeless JoeJackson and his feared bat, Black Betsy. Joe, who played in the major leagues from 1908 to 1920, does well in the minor leagues, but can't seem to move up without the help of his South Carolina friend, the great bat-maker Charlie Ferguson. While Charlie knows how to make the best bat, it's not hard to decide which needs tweaking more, the bat or Joe's mind so he can finally realize his great potential. From Joe sleeping with the bat to his wrapping it in the cotton of his southern roots, Bildner sticks mostly to the main facts and resists a romanticization of the game. Players who know the perfect, sweeping amalgamation of hand, eye, and sweet spot might expect to hear its dramatic tenor when Joe cracks the ball with Black Betsy, but this is a story finished by statistics. Payne's ("Brave Harriet", p. 944, etc.) mixed-media illustrations are gorgeous: the fuzz is in the flannel and the light is just right. And so are his perspectives, angles, and other compositional choices that make for the right mix of mystery and narrative to draw the reader in. A lengthy synopsis of Joe's entire career and his statistics are appended. 2002, Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 5 to 8. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
Is great hitting in the clean, natural swing of the batter-or the perfectly balanced feel of the bat? As kids know when they start playing baseball, small details must converge just right to overcome the edge between winning and losing, hitting and striking out. Sometimes this translates into superstitions or quirky behavior. First-time author Bildner toes this question in the quirks of Shoeless JoeJackson and his feared bat, Black Betsy. Joe, who played in the major leagues from 1908 to 1920, does well in the minor leagues, but can't seem to move up without the help of his South Carolina friend, the great bat-maker Charlie Ferguson. While Charlie knows how to make the best bat, it's not hard to decide which needs tweaking more, the bat or Joe's mind so he can finally realize his great potential. From Joe sleeping with the bat to his wrapping it in the cotton of his southern roots, Bildner sticks mostly to the main facts and resists a romanticization of the game. Players who know the perfect, sweeping amalgamation of hand, eye, and sweet spot might expect to hear its dramatic tenor when Joe cracks the ball with Black Betsy, but this is a story finished by statistics. Payne's ("Brave Harriet", p. 944, etc.) mixed-media illustrations are gorgeous: the fuzz is in the flannel and the light is just right. And so are his perspectives, angles, and other compositional choices that make for the right mix of mystery and narrative to draw the reader in. A lengthy synopsis of Joe's entire career and his statistics are appended. 2002, Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 5 to 8. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2002 (Vol. 55, No. 6))
Plummeting from star slugger to an outcast besmirched by scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson is the eponym for baseball drama, but this tall-tale rendering of his early career zeroes in on the relatively tepid theme of Jackson’s persnickety quest for the perfect bat, realized at last in the form of his fabled Black Betsy. Blaming each batting slump and subsequent fall from major-league grace on inadequate equipment, Joe continually consults Ol’ Charlie, the consummate craftsman who not only fashions his forty-eight-ounce bats but also instructs him in their care and feeding: “When you get up north to Cleveland, you make sure you wrap her in cotton cloth every night. The South is the land of cotton, Shoeless Joe, and a good Southerner must always be true to his roots.” Folksy idiom and repetition brush a folkloric patina over the proceedings, but the slim plotting cannot justify the rambling text; Payne’s mixed-media illustrations capture flap-eared, ham-handed Joe at some startling and original angles, but they awkwardly cast the semi-tragic figure in a comic light. Four pages of concluding notes comment on the 1919 World Series debacle that saw Jackson tossed from the pros, and it’s here that aficionados will find the satisfying intrigue. Readers sufficiently outraged by Shoeless Joe’s banishment can pursue the closing reference (that seems to pass as a wildly biased source note) to his booster club at www.blackbetsy.com and nutz the Baseball Commissioner for Jackson’s posthumous reinstatement. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2002, Simon, 40p, $17.00. Ages 5-9 yrs.
Plummeting from star slugger to an outcast besmirched by scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson is the eponym for baseball drama, but this tall-tale rendering of his early career zeroes in on the relatively tepid theme of Jackson’s persnickety quest for the perfect bat, realized at last in the form of his fabled Black Betsy. Blaming each batting slump and subsequent fall from major-league grace on inadequate equipment, Joe continually consults Ol’ Charlie, the consummate craftsman who not only fashions his forty-eight-ounce bats but also instructs him in their care and feeding: “When you get up north to Cleveland, you make sure you wrap her in cotton cloth every night. The South is the land of cotton, Shoeless Joe, and a good Southerner must always be true to his roots.” Folksy idiom and repetition brush a folkloric patina over the proceedings, but the slim plotting cannot justify the rambling text; Payne’s mixed-media illustrations capture flap-eared, ham-handed Joe at some startling and original angles, but they awkwardly cast the semi-tragic figure in a comic light. Four pages of concluding notes comment on the 1919 World Series debacle that saw Jackson tossed from the pros, and it’s here that aficionados will find the satisfying intrigue. Readers sufficiently outraged by Shoeless Joe’s banishment can pursue the closing reference (that seems to pass as a wildly biased source note) to his booster club at www.blackbetsy.com and nutz the Baseball Commissioner for Jackson’s posthumous reinstatement. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2002, Simon, 40p, $17.00. Ages 5-9 yrs.
Dawn Cobb (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 15, No. 1))
This story follows the ups and downs of baseball player Shoeless Joe's career and his unique relationship with his bat, Black Betsy. The story line was good, but the author's notes at the end of the book need to be shared because it adds so much more to the actual story. The illustrator lovingly details the characters in the story, which appealed to this reader. This book should appeal to sports enthusiasts. Fiction. Grades K-3. 2002, Simon & Schuster, Unpaged, $17.00. Ages 5 to 9.
This story follows the ups and downs of baseball player Shoeless Joe's career and his unique relationship with his bat, Black Betsy. The story line was good, but the author's notes at the end of the book need to be shared because it adds so much more to the actual story. The illustrator lovingly details the characters in the story, which appealed to this reader. This book should appeal to sports enthusiasts. Fiction. Grades K-3. 2002, Simon & Schuster, Unpaged, $17.00. Ages 5 to 9.
Elementary Library Uses
The excellent afterword at the end of the would be great to use for making a timeline. Second through fourth grade students would be great at this. Fourth and fifth graders would be great at comparing and analyzing the statistics at the end of the book as well.
The excellent afterword at the end of the would be great to use for making a timeline. Second through fourth grade students would be great at this. Fourth and fifth graders would be great at comparing and analyzing the statistics at the end of the book as well.
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