Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man

Rating:
Summary: This book left my son a sad feeling.
Review: After readind this book to my son, only once, I felt very sad about what happened. Maybe because my son is only 4, his reaction to this book was a lot of sadness, rather than liking the story, or learning about Baseball. I had to spend quite a bit of time explaining to him we (mom and dad) will not die and go to heaven just yet. He was so concerned we would not be around, and started asking so many questions about DEATH. My whole purpose of buying this book was to teach him about the sport, since he is getting so interested in it, and the experience was not even close to it. It is a good book to have and read about Lou Gehrig's history, but not for a 4 year old who just wants to understand and learn more about Baseball.

Rating:
Summary: The tragic irony of the death of baseball's Iron Horse
Review: Like in "The Pride of the Yankees," telling the life of Lou Gehrig always seems to end with his famous speech at Yankee Stadium where he assured the world he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." But in "Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man," author David A. Adler continues to follow Gehrig through his finals months facing the debilitating disease of the central nervous system that would claim his life. This book sketches out Gehrig's entire life, from how he played baseball against the wishes of his mother . Most juvenile biographies of Gehrig do not spend time with dealing with the sports legend on his actual death bed, but this book wants to the man's baseball career with the way he faced death. Baseball fans have always been moved by the tragic irony that the "Iron Horse" was robbed on the use of his strong body and have been impressed by the eloquence of his speech that day at Yankee Stadium, but have largely ignored the qualities of strength and dignity which defined Gehrig on the playing field did not desert him in his final days.

The illustrations by Terry Widener are a stylized version of American primitive art, which is quite appropriate for telling the story of Gehrig. However, I must comment that in the painting of Gehrig greeting Ruth crossing home plate after hitting a home run, the Bambino's bottom is a lot bigger than his top, which is the exact opposite of his iconic image. The first time I looked at the picture I could only figure out which figure was which because we all know Ruth batted third and Gehrig fourth. Widener is clearly captivated by the baggy uniforms but he also pays attention to details: one of the few times we see a number on a Yankee it is 8, which was Bill Dickey's number during the 30's (before it became Yogi Berra's), and he has includes the Baseball Centennial patch on the 1939 uniforms. I especially like the painting where Gehrig replaces Wally Pipp: the view is from the dugout and obscures Gehrig's head and shoulders, instead focusing on the powerful legs and the emergence into the sunlight field, and, of course, baseball immortality. Also, Gehrig's death is eloquently represented by a two-page spread of Yankee Stadium on a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: This book is sweet! Lovely text, and awesome drawings!
Review: This book is the sad story of Lou Gehrig, a true hero of New York. The up-beat drawings of the 1920's and 30's, really bring out the vibrant text.