MY BASEBALL BOOK

This small, square picture book introduction to our national pastime is accurate but unexciting. Brief information about equipment, clothing, positions, and basic play is conveyed through short, declarative sentences, illustrations, and a concluding 1-page glossary. Gibbons focuses on children at play in an open field and emphasizes having fun whether you’re a player or spectator. Her recognizable cartoon illustrations in full color feature both girls and boys, some shaded to represent African-Americans. This complements Margaret Blackstone’s livelier book, This is Baseball, which has a briefer text and follows an adult game played at a stadium. Though flatly told, it would probably be perfect for reading to a young child who is about to attend a baseball game for the first time. A companion volume is My Soccer Book. (Nonfiction. 3-7)