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Summary
Summary
During the summer of 1941 , the entire country had turned their attention to America's national pastime. JOE DiMAGGIO of the New York Yankees was on his way to hitting in fifty-six straight games, TED WILLIAMS of the Boston Red Sox was working toward finishing the season with a batting average over .400. What's just as impressive is that both players' records ate still standing today!
Phil Bildner mixes fun baseball facts and statistics with exciting scenes pulled straight from history in this celebration of two of baseball's greatest players to ever reach the top of the record books.
Step up to the plate with these Baseball Hall of Famers and witness the incredible record-breaking 1941 season!
TED WILLIAMS JOE DiMAFFIO
Author Notes
Phil Bildner received a B. A. in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1990 and a J. D. from New York University School of Law in 1993. He was admitted to the bar in both New York and New Jersey and got a job as an associate at a large Manhattan law firm. After practicing law for a year, he decided to pursue a career in education. He received a master's degree in early childhood and elementary education from Long Island University in 1995. He stopped teaching in 2006 in order to write full time.
His picture books include Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy, The Shot Heard 'Round the World, Twenty-One Elephants, Turkey Bowl, The Hallelujah Flight, and The Soccer Fence. Marvelous Cornelius won the 2016 Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children's Literature. His young adult novels include Playing the Field and Busted. He also co-created the Sluggers series with Loren Long.
In 2007, he began chaperoning student-volunteer trips to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. He co-founded The NOLA Tree, a non-profit service organization.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-This warm tribute recounts the achievements of baseball greats DiMaggio and Williams in the 1941 season. Bildner emphasizes their sportsmanship and hails their work ethic and grace under pressure. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak inspired songs and was followed by fans everywhere; when it came to an end, the Yankee Clipper noted that he was not happy, but relieved. And Williams chose to play on the final day of the season, even though it jeopardized his chance to keep his average above the .400 mark. Fans will relish the number of facts sprinkled throughout. Joe's younger brother, Dominic, makes an appearance: a baseball great in his own right, he was a Red Sox teammate and friend of Williams. Schindler's pen, ink, and gouache illustrations ably complement the text, and the book sports a handsome, retro look with lots of white space around the text and oversize illustrations. In an author's note, Bildner describes records set by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Hank Aaron, and observes: "you never know when a player just might start a quest to bat .400 or begin a record-breaking hitting streak." This winning picture book should be welcomed by baseball enthusiasts everywhere. Even non-sports fans will appreciate how Bildner and Schindler weave period details into this engaging account of one remarkable season.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a narrative that's conversational yet informative, Bildner dives into the baseball season of 1941, alternately focusing on Yankee slugger DiMaggio, who had a 56-game hitting streak, and Red Sox star Williams, who ended the season with a batting average of .406. Bildner builds suspense with taut descriptions of critical on-field moments ("...on that warm spring afternoon in the Bronx, the Streak began"), while Schindler's paintings capture the ballpark energy, with authentic period details and solid likenesses of DiMaggio, Williams, and other players. Bildner and Schindler effectively evoke the baseball fever ignited by these two performances, which established records that have yet to be broken-a fact that makes this story all the more satisfying. Ages 7-9. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Baseball fans know numbers, and they know these numbers: Babe Ruth's record-setting sixty-home-run season in 1927; Lou Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive games played for the New York Yankees; Babe Ruth's homerun total of 714 for his career. No one thought these records would ever be broken, but they were. Bildner decorously steps around the steroid controversies behind some of the current baseball records and notes only that Roger Maris hit sixty-one home runs in 1961, Cal Ripkin Jr. broke Gehrig's endurance record, and Hank Aaron set a new lifetime homerun record with 755. Two records, though, both set in the 1941 season, have never been broken: Joe DiMaggio hit safely in fifty-six consecutive games, and Ted Williams hit for a .406 average, considered by some to be the greatest of all achievements in baseball. Bildner, in a prose style as easy and matter-of-fact as fielding a slow bouncer to short, tells the stories of DiMaggio and Williams in alternating sections, successfully heightening the tension as each player approaches the record. Schindler's ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations are perfect for this light and affectionate glimpse of baseball history. Bildner doesn't assume these records will never be broken. In fact, he tells readers, "there will be another season as unforgettable as 1941," so young readers can look forward to their lives as sports fans rooting for the next baseball hero. dean Schneider (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
(Picture book. 6-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Baseball lives on its statistics. Numbers are the sinew that keeps the game's history supple, yet it's difficult for young fans to grasp the significance of most hitting and pitching records. By focusing on one year, 1941, when the game's two most remarkable statistics were compiled, Bildner brings life to the numbers. In the summer of 1941, with the specter of world war looming, fans were consumed by two records in the making. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak started quietly, as all streaks do, but as the season progressed, and the Yankee outfielder continued to hit safely at least once in every game, the drama built. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox's Ted Williams was working toward a feat of his own: a single-season batting average of more than .400 (no one had achieved that peak in 10 years). Bildner tells the story by isolating particular moments DiMaggio breaking the existing record for a hitting streak by passing 41 games; Williams entering the last two games of the year with a .400 average but insisting on playing rather than sitting out to preserve the record (he finished the year at .406) and Schindler's vibrant art captures the excitement effectively. Yet there are missteps, mainly in the details of the art: DiMaggio starting his streak with an awkward swing, his left elbow bent on the follow-through (DiMaggio was known for his long, swooping follow-through), or Williams hitting a towering home run with what appears to be a chopping, downward motion. Young readers won't notice, but it doesn't help that Schindler's rendering of Williams, though capturing his slender physique, misses the mark widely on facial resemblance. It's odd, too, that Bildner devotes four pages to the 1941 All-Star Game; Williams' game-winning homer was dramatic, but it had nothing to do with his hitting record. Still, the inherent drama of tha. unforgettable seaso. makes a great story for fans of any age. Both records remain unbroken 70 years later and are commonly considered unapproachable today.--Ott, Bil. Copyright 2010 Booklist