Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful artwork!!!
Review: First, the artwork in this book is simply stellar. My son is 3 and has several dozen story books. We also take him to the library regularly and we've read him several dozen others now. Of all the story books I've seen, the art in this is the most amazing. Worth the twice the price simply for the art.

Also, this is not so much a story, as it is an epic poem of The Babe's love for baseball, and his desire to compete and excell. While there are narrative texts on each page that address some statistics and history of Ruth's career, these don't really make a story when you put them together. I'm a rabid San Francisco Giants fan, and I get even more of a sense of what a great player the Babe was from watching Barry Bonds playing baseball... both are the premier players of their era, simultaneously feared and respected, yet for different reasons.

Most importantly, my son simply loves this book. And, that's the most important criteria in evaluating a children's book in my opinion. When we read it together, I'll pause at a key point in the story/poem and he'll fill in the last word or three of the line; we've read it so many times he practically has memorized it from hearing it so often. This book is a beautiful and excellent combination of poetry and art about baseball.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful artwork!!!
Review: First, the artwork in this book is simply stellar. My son is 3 and has several dozen story books. We also take him to the library regularly and we've read him several dozen others now. Of all the story books I've seen, the art in this is the most amazing. Worth the twice the price simply for the art.

Also, this is not so much a story, as it is an epic poem of The Babe's love for baseball, and his desire to compete and excell. While there are narrative texts on each page that address some statistics and history of Ruth's career, these don't really make a story when you put them together. I'm a rabid San Francisco Giants fan, and I get even more of a sense of what a great player the Babe was from watching Barry Bonds playing baseball... both are the premier players of their era, simultaneously feared and respected, yet for different reasons.

Most importantly, my son simply loves this book. And, that's the most important criteria in evaluating a children's book in my opinion. When we read it together, I'll pause at a key point in the story/poem and he'll fill in the last word or three of the line; we've read it so many times he practically has memorized it from hearing it so often. This book is a beautiful and excellent combination of poetry and art about baseball.

Rating:
Summary: For the child who loves baseball and has two left feet.
Review: Purchased this for my nephew who is overweight, uncoordinated and loves playing baseball. Reading this to him increased his joy of the game and gave him confidence to keep trying to improve his own skills. Taught him to do best with the skills he had right now and even how to deal with successes in life. This level of understanding was terrific for children and adult alike. Excellent book for sharing special time with children.

Rating:
Summary: For the child who loves baseball and has two left feet.
Review: Purchased this for my nephew who is overweight, uncoordinated and loves playing baseball. Reading this to him increased his joy of the game and gave him confidence to keep trying to improve his own skills. Taught him to do best with the skills he had right now and even how to deal with successes in life. This level of understanding was terrific for children and adult alike. Excellent book for sharing special time with children.

Rating:
Summary: Lyrical pictures of the Babe hitting a home run
Review: When I first saw the cover painting by Mike Wimmer on "Home Run" I was not sure if it was supposed to be Babe Ruth. In his glory days the Bambino had a body like an inverted pyramid, with those broad shoulders tapering down to those thin little ankles and tiny feet, and there are some paintings in "Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth" that do not especially look like the Babe. However, those are few and far between.

The text by Robert Burleigh comes in two parts. First, there is the book's narrative, a sort of lyric ode to the Babe that combines his discovering his "pretty" swing as a boy with a home run he hits off of a Red Sox pitcher years later. Second, under the narrative text there is the back of a faux-baseball card (from "The World Champion" series), that has biographical and statistical details about Ruth.

However, the centerpiece of this book is the time at bat that takes up the last half of the book. Earlier there is a striking painting of Ruth launching a pop-up; the view is from behind the catcher who has taken off his mask, all eyes turned to the sky and the small white ball rising into the sky. Wimmer offers several unique and compelling perspectives during the home run episode as well: the Red Sox first baseman craning his neck to follow the flight of the unseen ball, the eyes of Ruth watching it disappear into the stands, the Babe's foot on first base as the pitcher stands dejectedly on the mound.

There is a quote on the back-flap of the dust-jacket that says the "Chicago Sun-Times" described Wimmer's illustrations as "reminiscent of some of Normal Rockwell's best." Certainly there are strong similarities, especially in the painting of the fans reacting to Ruth's homerun. But with his emphasis on key details to tell the story Wimmer offers a decidedly different perspective from Rockwell that I really liked. Ultimately, it is the artwork rather than the narrative that makes this a lyrical book.

Rating:
Summary: Lyrical pictures of the Babe hitting a home run
Review: When I first saw the cover painting by Mike Wimmer on "Home Run" I was not sure if it was supposed to be Babe Ruth. In his glory days the Bambino had a body like an inverted pyramid, with those broad shoulders tapering down to those thin little ankles and tiny feet, and there are some paintings in "Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth" that do not especially look like the Babe. However, those are few and far between.

The text by Robert Burleigh comes in two parts. First, there is the book's narrative, a sort of lyric ode to the Babe that combines his discovering his "pretty" swing as a boy with a home run he hits off of a Red Sox pitcher years later. Second, under the narrative text there is the back of a faux-baseball card (from "The World Champion" series), that has biographical and statistical details about Ruth.

However, the centerpiece of this book is the time at bat that takes up the last half of the book. Earlier there is a striking painting of Ruth launching a pop-up; the view is from behind the catcher who has taken off his mask, all eyes turned to the sky and the small white ball rising into the sky. Wimmer offers several unique and compelling perspectives during the home run episode as well: the Red Sox first baseman craning his neck to follow the flight of the unseen ball, the eyes of Ruth watching it disappear into the stands, the Babe's foot on first base as the pitcher stands dejectedly on the mound.

There is a quote on the back-flap of the dust-jacket that says the "Chicago Sun-Times" described Wimmer's illustrations as "reminiscent of some of Normal Rockwell's best." Certainly there are strong similarities, especially in the painting of the fans reacting to Ruth's homerun. But with his emphasis on key details to tell the story Wimmer offers a decidedly different perspective from Rockwell that I really liked. Ultimately, it is the artwork rather than the narrative that makes this a lyrical book.