Genre: Informational
Age Appropriateness: primary, intermediate
Media: mixed media on watercolor board
Review: This book is talking about what baseball hour is, what you do, who you do it with, why teamwork is important, and what all happens during baseball hour. Without saying it out loud until the end is that teamwork is important and is needed in order to play well and possibly even win.
Critique: This is a good informational book because it teaches kids what baseball hour is, allows them to feel like they can try baseball hour because they know more than they did before reading this book. This book teaches kids about baseball in a way that they understand and can apply it in their life. Also, it gives little known facts which allow the kids to connect what they already know to what they do not know.

This is one incredibly gorgeous book! The illustrations just blast off the pages! The text is very basic, just one sentence per two pages, so it is good for early readers! And I really like that there are girls in several of the action scenes! But really, the artwork is amazing! ( )

Great to teach about baseball

As a baseball fan, I am always interested in books for children about baseball. Because baseball is a sport for older children, most books do not resonate at the the toddler level. This book, however, stays true to the spirit of baseball yet speaks to younger children.

The text is simple and rhyming, following a multicultural group of children through an hour of baseball practice, "We sit to stretch, our legs in V's, bend our heads down to our knees. We circle arms and twist our backs, count and count off jumping jacks." I particularly like the story's end, as all the team members stand in a circle, arms in spoke formation, hands atop each other's hands in a typical show of teamwork.

Thomson's mixed media, double-spread illustrations are evocative of photography, showing detail is every earnest face, well-worn bat, or leather glove. All of the illustrations are sepia-toned, with the exception of the brilliant white and red-stitched baseball that appears in many of the illustrations.

A great introduction to the joy of playing baseball. I can envision this as a great storytime book; complete with warm-up excercises! ( )