Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J 796.357 FIS | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi) | J 796.357 FIS | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Jackie and Hank were born eight years and one thousand miles apart. Nobody knew these babies would grow up and play baseball. Nobody knew Jackie and Hank would meet and become heroes.
Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg were two very different people. But they both became Major League Baseball players, and they both faced a lot of the same challenges in their lives and careers. For Jackie, it was because of his skin color. For Hank, it was because of his religion.
On May 17, 1947 these two men met for the first time colliding at first base in a close play. While the crowd urged them to fight, Jackie and Hank chose a different path.
This is the story of two men who went on to break the barriers of race and religion in American sports and became baseball legends in the process.
Beautiful text by Cathy Goldberg Fishman is paired with sumptuous paintings by Mark Elliott. Generous back matter material includes a photo and prose biography of each man, timelines, quotes, resources to learn more, and a selected bibliography.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-This year marks the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, and this book touches on that event while also recognizing the efforts of Hank Greenberg, one of the first Jewish players in the Major Leagues. Fishman uses distance as a literary device to emphasize two individuals who, while far apart physically for most of their lives, were in fact in close proximity due to their efforts to ensure equality within the world of professional baseball. She often mentions the mileage between them, yet distance is continually trumped by similarities and experiences. When a single play finally brought them side by side on the first-base line at Forbes Field, these two men met with a handshake and mutual admiration, though it is suggested that the crowd was hoping to see a fight. The author includes biographical information about each player as well as time lines of important dates in their lives, but in all of her extensive notes and recommended sources, she does not reveal if there was any actual impact from the incident at the time. Nonetheless, the book is thought-provoking because it shows how shared purposes can connect, even if only in passing. The acrylic illustrations support the text with several split-page portraits, showing Jackie and Hank sharing similar experiences long before they actually met. The book will certainly have appeal to baseball fans, and is a good recommendation for older readers who still like to read picture books.-Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Fishman profiles two groundbreaking ballplayers-Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg-highlighting the difficulties both men faced on the way to becoming the household names they are today. A theme of distance runs through the story ("Hank and his brothers lived with their parents in a New York City apartment more than 2,000 miles away from Pasadena" where Robinson grew up), but Fishman finds many similarities in the lives of both men, from their early days of playing baseball on the street to the discrimination they endured for being black or Jewish and even their military service during WWII. When the gap between the two players finally closes, and they meet at a 1947 game between the Dodgers and the Pirates, a friendship is born. Elliott makes effective use of parallel imagery in "split-screen" acrylic paintings and sepia-toned side-by-side illustrations to underscore the commonalities between these storied players. Ages 7-10. Agent: Anna Olswanger, Liza Dawson Associates. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
This joint biography parallels Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg--baseball players who both faced prejudice because Robinson was African American and Greenberg was Jewish. Beginning with their births, Fishman traces their careers until their fateful 1947 collision at first base, where Greenberg encouraged Robinson to ignore the heckling. Elliott's figurative art is handsome but stiff. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
(Picture book/biography. 7-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
While the moment when Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg met (crashing together at first base in a 1947 game) isn't among the lauded landmarks in baseball history, Fishman makes a case that there's more to the encounter than meets the eye. This dual biography parallels the racism the two athletes encountered on their paths to greatness and features Elliott's somewhat static paintings that show mirroring scenes from the two men's lives on facing pages. While Robinson had to break the color barrier, that doesn't mean the vitriol Greenberg faced as one of the few Jewish ballplayers was any less daunting. Fishman structures the narrative around swelling and shrinking distances, with the two being born 1,000 miles apart, growing up 2,000 miles apart, and finally squaring off 90 feet apart on the field before their collision closed the gap, and nothing separated Jackie and Hank. This emphasis neatly reinforces the men's similarities in both character and life experience. An unusual and welcome new slant on a well-covered era in American sports history.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
