Stealing Home: Jackie Robinson: Against the Odds
Grade 1–4—This well-intentioned picture book tribute is marred by a disjointed narrative. While double-page paintings capture the intense excitement of the play as the Hall of Famer steals home, a few lines of free verse detail the action. Meanwhile, along with each painting and verse, a box of text introduces an aspect of Robinson's life and career. One, for example, briefly limns the segregated nature of baseball in 1946; others focus on the athlete's base-running skills, his family, his rookie season, his best season, the Brooklyn Dodgers' rivalry with the Yankees, and his early life. These snippets of information (two to three paragraphs each) are superimposed on facsimiles of old baseball cards; in small-sized font against a slate-colored background, they are frustratingly hard to read. Some of the factoids are interesting and Wimmer's oils are attractive and well done, but with its lack of a cohesive narrative, this effort falls short. Baseball fans will welcome the book despite its flaws; but for straightforward introductions, steer readers to Carin T. Ford'sJackie Robinson: Hero of Baseball(Enslow, 2006) or Sharon Robinson'sJackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By(Scholastic, 2001).—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.