MESHON, Aaron. Take Me Out to the Yakyu. S & S/Atheneum. 2013. ISBN 9781442441774. JLG Level: NEK : Nonfiction Early Elementary (Grades K–2).

A young boy hits a double header―one grandfather takes him to American baseball games and his other grandfather (ji ji) takes him to games in Japan. In America, he goes to a stadium. In Japan, he goes to the dome. Transportation to the game is different. In Japan, he rides a short red bus that turns into a train; in America his pop pop drives the station wagon. Snacks are different and so are the souvenirs. Both countries sing at the seventh inning stretch―but they sing different songs. No matter the differences, going to a baseball game is wonderful!

An interesting author’s note continues to compare the Japanese and American versions of the sport. Perfect for use with CCSS initiatives, educators won’t strike out with this picture book.

MOSS, Marissa. Barbed Wire Baseball. illus. by Yuko Shimizu. Abrams. 2013. ISBN 9781419705212. JLG Level: SE : Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6).

Kenichi Zenimura was small. He was barely five feet tall and weighed about one hundred pounds, but he wanted to play baseball. Born in Japan, his family moved to California where Zeni got the chance to play in the Fresno Leagues. He played with three other teammates in an exhibition game along with star members of the New York Yankees. He went to his homeland and played there. But life took a different direction when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The American government rounded up Japanese Americans and sent them to internment camps. Zeni and his family tried to make a home for themselves in an Arizona camp. Though it was not a prison, having nothing to do made it feel like one. So, he decided to play baseball, but first he would need to build a field in the hot desert. He inspired others to join him and make the best of their difficult circumstances.

While researching internment camps Moss came upon a picture of Zenimura and the exhibition team. She looked at other pictures of the field that the Japanese Americans built. The characters’ determination in the face of adversity is a powerful example of how our choices can make a difference not just to ourselves, but to those around us.

TAVARES, Matt. Becoming Babe Ruth. Candlewick. 2013. ISBN 9780763656461. JLG Level: SE : Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6).

George Herman Ruth would never be called “well behaved.” When he was seven, his parents finally sent him to Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. Though it wasn’t truly a prison, the 800 residents called themselves the “inmates.” Run by the Catholic Church, they learned to follow rules, work, and play baseball. Brother Matthias took a special interest in George, teaching him how to play every position on the field. When he turned sixteen, crowds of people came to watch him play―including a baseball scout for the minor league team Baltimore Orioles. After observing him pitch for 30 minutes, the scout offers Ruth a contract “right then and there.” The youngest kid on the team, he quickly becomes known as “the Babe.” By 1920, Babe Ruth is sold to the New York Yankees for $125,000―the largest amount ever paid for a player. Later that year a fire burned down Saint Mary’s, and the baseball giant did not forget the man who taught him what he knows. He wrote a letter to Brother Matthias, and what he did would be forever remembered by the school’s inmates.

Tavares’s tribute to Ruth and the school that gave him a second chance to direct his path is an inspiration to all those who struggle with life’s lessons.

For strategies about how to use these books and links to supportive sites, check out the Junior Library Guild blog, Shelf Life.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

Able to Play: Overcoming Physical Challenges. By Glenn Stout. (Good Sports Series). Houghton/Sandpiper. 2012. pap. $5.99. ISBN 978-0-547-41733-2; ebook $5.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82283-9.

Gr 3-6—Well-written and fast-reading profiles introduce four individuals who overcame physical disabilities to make their dream of playing in the major leagues a reality: Mordecai Brown, who pitched his way into the Hall of Fame despite having lost most of his finger in a childhood accident; third-baseman Ron Santo, who played almost his entire career with type 1 diabetes; one-armed hurler Jim Abbott, who pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees in 1993; and deaf outfielder Chris Pride, veteran of 11 successful seasons. Play-by-play action blends with personal trials and triumphs in this uplifting and informative look at gutsy athletes who are true role models.

Becoming Babe Ruth. By Matt Tavares. illus. by author. Candlewick. 2013. RTE. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5646-1.

Gr 1-4—Tavares’s lively narrative and glowing sepia-toned paintings zoom in on George Herman Ruth’s early years, introducing a tomato-throwing troublemaker who landed in a Baltimore reform school at age seven, and was taken under the wing of the baseball-whacking Brother Matthias who helped him hone his skills. Later on, earning big-league fame as the Sultan of Swat, Ruth never forgot his roots, and when tragedy struck Saint Mary’s School, he proved that his heart was just as big as his bat. An entrancing introduction to an iconic figure.

Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. By Audrey Vernick. illus.by Steven Salerno. Clarion. 2012. RTE. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-38557-0; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82285-3.

K-Gr 3—Set during the 1930s and ‘40s, this charmer spotlights the history of the Acerras, a baseball-loving family with 16 children, 12 of them boys who formed their own semi-pro team in New Jersey with their father as coach. Over the course of an incredible 14-year career, the siblings faced many ups and downs, including small-town stardom and hardships spanning from injury to war-time service, but always stuck together. Illustrated with stunning tinged-with-nostalgia artwork, this enjoyable tale of brotherly camaraderie pairs entertaining baseball feats with plenty of heart.

Just as Good: How Larry Doby Changed America’s Game. By Chris Crowe. illus. by Mike Benny. Candlewick. 2012. RTE. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5026-1.

Gr 1-4—Crowe introduces an unsung hero, the first African American player to sign with the American League 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. Just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larry Doby signed with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first African American player in the American League. Crowe conveys this important bit of history through the eyes of a young boy, recently banned from his Little League team because of his race, who remains glued to the radio along with his dad as the action of a 1948 World Series game unfolds and Doby proves indisputably that African-American players are equal to anyone on the field. The first-person narrative adds immediacy and intimacy to the tale, and the expansive acrylic paintings effectively depict the action and emotion, both inside the ballpark and out.

Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud that Changed Baseball. By David A. Kelly. illus. by Oliver Dominguez. Millbrook. 2013. RTE $16.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-8092-4; ebook $12.95. ISBN 978-1-4677-1052-7.

Gr 2-4—In this lushly illustrated, blithely told picture book, readers meet an early 20^th-century player who earned a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame not for his fielding or hitting abilities, but for devising a clever solution to a longstanding problem. For years, players had tried numerous ways to break in shiny and slick brand-new balls, everything from soaking them in dirty water to rubbing them with spit and tobacco juice, with disappointing—and often stinky—results. While visiting a fishing hole near his New Jersey home, Lena stepped in gooey mud, an experience that led to an epiphany…and a new business packaging and selling Baseball Rubbing Mud, still used in ballparks today.

Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings. By Douglas Florian. illus. by author. Houghton Harcourt. 2012. RTE.$16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-68838-1; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-68843-5.

Gr 2-6—Florian hits the sweet spot with 15 dynamic offerings filled with bounce-to-first rhythms and ear-pleasing wordplay. Amusing first-person poems convey a kid’s-eye perspective, introducing a lineup that includes a long-ball-hitting superstar (“Our slugger can zing/Each pitch you may hurl./And one other thing:/Our slugger’s a girl”), a day-dreaming “Right Fielder” (“They say I’m lazy./But I know how/To pick a daisy”), and an ace “Pitcher” (“I’m the scourge of all hitters,/The starter of slumps./I make batters bitter,/Turn bats into stumps”). A grand-slam read-aloud, vibrantly illustrated with exuberant summer-hued paintings.

Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio. By Robert Skead. illus. by Floyd Cooper. Carolrhoda. 2013. RTE $16.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-6619-5; ebook $12.95. 978-1-4677-0954-5.

Gr 2-4—In 1936, the New York Yankees decided to test the potential of their latest prospect, a skinny 21-year-old named Joe DiMaggio, and called in the best pitcher in the country. Though a true marvel on the mound, Negro-League-star Satchel Paige was excluded from the majors “because of the color of his skin.” When DiMaggio (backed by a lineup of professional sluggers) and Paige (leading a “gang of semi-pro pickup players”) faced off in a ballpark in California, both men had something important to prove. Suspenseful play-by-play action, delightfully descriptive language, and dynamic artwork speckled with infield dirt and honest emotion introduce two of the game’s greatest players, while shining light on the injustices of segregation.

Take Me Out to the Yakyu. By Aaron Meshon. illus. by author. Atheneum. 2013. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-4177-4; ebook $12.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-4178-1.

K-Gr 2—An obsessed-with-baseball boy excitedly describes attending games with his two grandfathers on opposite sides of the world—Pop Pop in America and Ji Ji in Japan—and the many differences and similarities in cultural traditions that go along with the experience. The book’s straightforward text, clean design, and sky-bright acrylic illustrations touch upon transportation, souvenirs and snacks, variations in game play, and more, while conveying an appealingly childlike enthusiasm that transcends national borders. A list of English/Japanese words is appended, along with a brief history of baseball in both countries.

You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! By Jonah Winter. illus. by Terry Widener. Random/Schwarz and Wade. 2013. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86844-3; PLB  $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96844-0; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98782-3.

Gr 1-4—Dreaming of being the next Joltin’ Joe, a boy from Alabama relied on boundless talent and dogged perseverance to make his way to the majors, where he electrified the slumping NY Giants and eventually proved to a TV-watching America that a black player really could be “…like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Joe DiMaggio all rolled into one.” Winter’s folksy text fairly hums as he describes one “jaw-droppin’” play after another. Beginning with a striking lenticular cover image of the Say Hey Kid swinging for the stands, Widener’s dusky artwork depicts game action along with Mays’s hard-playing grit. A real winner and worthy companion to You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! (Random, 2009).

Bottom of the Ninth (Ryan Woodard Art & Animation)

Baseball season may be coming to an end, but a true fan’s enthusiasm for the sport never wanes. Reason enough to consider two new digital products for your iPad: Ryan Woodward’s Bottom of the Ninth and The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The first is an animated graphic novel, the second, a reference guide. Here’s what our reviewers had to say about these releases.

Many graphic novelists and artists are grappling with how comics can be presented in a digital format. Professional animator Ryan Woodward offers a strong template with his app for iOS devices, Bottom of the Ninth (Ryan Woodward Art and Animation, 2012; $3.99; Gr 9 Up). The story takes place 200 years in the future and features Candy Cunningham, a teenager with a phenomenal pitching arm who wants to play “New Baseball.” While technology has made the game faster, more exciting, and somewhat dangerous, attitudes toward women on and off the field haven’t evolved. This first chapter of the story signals a promising start as the tale has both a retro and futuristic feel to it. More chapters are in the works, but it might be a while before the entire story can be told.

Page layouts resemble those found in comic books, and each page offers some well-integrated, fluid animation. The sepia-toned artwork is stylish and appealing, with baseball memorabilia (ticket stubs, scorecards, etc.) worked into the images. The narration and sound effects also evoke the ballpark and include sports commentary and a cheering crowd. Some panels exhibit a speaker icon that can be tapped for extra audio and a touch to any word balloon will trigger audio dialog (sometimes enhanced). Both the narration and the music soundtrack are of high quality. Drawbacks include slow updates and the need to purchase on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Still, the app is a significant accomplishment artistically and technologically and will likely influence future graphic novelists moving into digital.—(Mark Richardson, Cedar Mill Community Library, Portland, OR)

A poignant foreword by award-winning sport’s journalist Joe Posnanski introduces the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum  (The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum/RareWire, $3.99; Gr 4 Up), a spotlight tour of the best Negro League players who, except for a few, never competed in the Major Leagues. Navigating this app is reminiscent of walking through the museum, located in Kansas City, MO.

The first exhibit is an illustrated timeline beginning in the 1860s and ending in the 1950s, by which time nine Major League MVP awards had been won by former Negro Leaguers. The timeline concisely covers major events in U.S. history, African-American history, Negro League baseball history, and baseball history. Though one excellent video of a clown team playing ‘pepper ball’ (think comedic baseball play in the spirit of the Harlem Globe Trotters) is embedded, the chronology doesn’t  explore the impact of events in any depth or link to text that will aid young viewers in understanding causality. For example, the Jim Crow laws that are mentioned made it difficult, if not impossible at times, for the heavy-traveling barnstorming Negro League teams to find hotel and restaurant accommodations, especially in the South.

The next section provides a selection of Negro League team histories, rosters, and team photos navigated by map, while a third section, titled “Field of Legends,” crisply presents bronzed baseball card images to provide succinct player profiles. The final section, a digital scrapbook, wraps up this brief but broad and clear overview of Negro League Baseball history.—(Nicole Politi, The Ocean County Library, NJ)

Eds. note: After a brief hiatus during the transition to our new website, our app reviews are back. —moving from School Library Journal’s blog roll into a column, and pushing out in our Extra Helping enewsletter. Archived reviews can be found on the SLJ website under “Blogs and Columns.” However, to ensure you receive all of our postings, be sure to add “Touch and Go” to your RSS feed.