Mudball by Matt Tavares, Candlewick Press, 2005, ISBN 0-7636-2387-3
PS: During a rainy Minneapolis Millers baseball game in 1903, Little Andy Oyler has the chance to become a hero by hitting the shortest and muddiest home run in history.
I really love this book, but it's a natural: I love baseball and I love historical fiction. The brown, gray, and black and white illustrations are perfect to convey the rainy, gloomy day on which this record-breaking home run takes place. Kids will enjoy the suspense created by the author (won't tell you why) and cheer with "Little" Andy Oyler in the end. Another great lesson about NOT judging something by just looking at it (you never know what's inside).
Use Mudball to introduce the history of baseball. You'll find all the information you need in:
Ballpark: the Story of America's Baseball Fields by Lynn Curlee, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005, ISBN 0-689-86742-5
For the true baseball fan, this book presents historical baseball fields and facts in a picture book format making it good for older elementary students. Diagrams of some fields are included, as well as historical events which occurred on certain fields. Great players are mentioned, including Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Jackie Robinson. This will be a book that students will want to read over several days, exploring a portion each time.
Author Lynn Curlee, who won the Sibert Honor Award for Brooklyn Bridge, has penned other historical books: Liberty, Ships of the Air, Into the Ice: The Story of Arctic Explorations, Rushmore, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Capital, and Parthenon. Find the books at the publisher's website. See his work at Curlee Art.com.
Check out this list of Baseball Books at Embracing the Child.
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