Wednesdays I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other
#kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.
The intention of today's blog post is to give professionals that work in the
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use
with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.
Can you feel Spring coming? For us in the midwest, it varies day to day... well really hour to hour as our temperatures can drop 30 degrees in that amount of time! One sign for me that spring is just around the corner is when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training and then the spring training games begin! It's just a matter of time before the end of March is here and baseball begins... sometimes while snowflakes flurry, but let's hope that won't happen this spring! Regardless of the weather, it's time to take out those baseball books and get them into the hands of readers! There is a book that has recently published you'll want to add to your collection!
Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of
Baseball Legend Yogi Berra
written by Barb Rosenstock
illustrated by Terry Widener
published by Calkins Creek
There is so much to love about this book! The narrative gives us Yogi's backstory and information about how he got to the major leagues. We learn about Yogi's family and how he first started playing ball with friends when he was growing up in St. Louis. Baseball was Yogi's passion and he played ball much better than he performed at school or held down jobs.
What is going to stick with me is the details Rosenstock gives about how Yogi played the game. He was so passionate about the game, he was willing to listen, learn, ask questions so he could continue to play and play better! I loved learning how Yogi was always having fun on the field... even if it came at a cost to his opponents! I laughed out loud reading that Yogi, while playing the position of catcher, would ask questions to opposing hitters... I could only imagine how frustrated the batters would get, ha! I'm also going to remember the adversity Yogi faced while playing. The names he was called and the way he could ignore them and rise above is something I'll think about for awhile. We all know you hear and internalize words - ignoring them and doing your best to not let them get to you is hard. What a great conversation you can have around this!
The backmatter in this book is extensive. I could see someone who loves going through stats getting lost in these pages for days! Rosenstock includes an author's note, photographs, Yogi's stats, a section about "Yogi-isms", and an extensive bibliography and source notes for the quotes.
Speaking of quotes, I love how Rosenstock sprinkles some of the great Yogi quotes throughout the story. Yogi Berra was known for some of his original thoughts on baseball. Adding these quotes in throughout the text really adds to the voice of the story!
Lucky for you, Boyd's Mills Press is generously donating a copy of Yogi to a reader! Open to teachers and librarians of the United States through Opening Day of baseball - March 28th!
Thank you author Barb Rosenstock and illustrator Terry Widener for this fantastic book!
Be sure to follow along on the blog tour for this book! Lots to love about Yogi, don't miss the other stops!
Friday, 3/29 Unleashing Readers
Some other baseball books you may want to check out during the month of April!
Mighty Jackie - The Strike-Out Queen by Marissa Moss
Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburn and the Secret Mud That Changed Baseball by David A. Kelly
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss
Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick
Baseball Is... by Louise Borden
Oh my, my nonfiction stacks have gotten OUT OF CONTROL! I really need to read and post. I'm hoping to have a month worth of new(er) nonfiction to share with you in the upcoming weeks. Be sure to check back on Wednesdays, here's what's coming:
1. books for little foodies!
2. picture book biographies featuring men
3. picture book biographies featuring women, part 1
4. picture book biographies featuring women, part 2
5. celebrating baseball - Yogi Berra blog tour
6. animal nonfiction books, part 1
7. animal nonfiction books, part 2
8. the world around us, part 1
9. the world around us, part 2
Oh, so excited that I might win this, Michele. We are having a sale at the store of baseball books, all used of course, but we have a few fun ones! This sounds terrific. I grew up in Missouri so remember how excited we were about Yogi playing. And my son-in-law is a big baseball fan. I may have to get this for him! Thanks very much!
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to getting my hands on this book!
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