A GOOD READ ALOUD FOR VETERANS DAY

THE HOUSE OF SIXTY FATHERS, by Meindert DeJong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is based on the author's own experiences while growing up in China during World War II.  DeJong's story tells of young Chinese boy named Tien Pao, who is separated from his family after the Japanese attack his village.

Tien Pao's family flees upriver in an abandoned sampan to the town of Hengyang. Tien Pao's attempts to be reunited with them result in some frightening adventures... he must travel over high mountains (and consequently through dangerous Japanese occupied territory) while trying to reach Hengyang.  He refuses to despair as he determinedly holds onto his pet pig, "Glory of the Republic", throughout his long ordeal.

He comes upon an injured American pilot and helps the man return to his unit. The pilot is a member of the Flying Tigers, and the sixty U.S. airmen in the unit become the "sixty fathers" who care for Tien Pao. You'll have to get the book to find out how Tien Pao is finally reunited with his family.

War takes its greatest toll on children, yet children can react to terrifying and dismal situations with great courage - as your children will learn from this amazing story. Books like this also help kids realize the honor and respect due to the brave men and women who have put themselves in harm's way for our protection.

Listening level - ages 8 and up.  This book is a Newbury Honor winner (1957)

SOME BASEBALL STORIES THAT WILL HAVE YOU YEARNING FOR THE PAST

Click HERE to read a quick history of this 1908 classic song.

READ ALOUD GRANDPAS AND DADS: Father's Day is this month, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share some exceptional (and nostalgic) baseball stories with you. And you Moms/Grandmas out there who don't quite get the obsession with our National Pastime - maybe you'll understand it a little better after reading these enlightening books...

The original lyrics of TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME, written by Jack Norworth, begin with a little known verse:

"Katie Casey was baseball mad.  Had the fever and had it bad..."

This fictional female character inspired the fun historical picture book Players in Pigtails, when its author, Shana Corey, was doing research on female baseball players after seeing the movie, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN.  In the book, no team will let Katie play.  It's WWII, and the men have all gone off to war, so the coaches decide to start a women's baseball league.  Illustrator Rebecca Gibbon did a great job bringing the style of the 1940's to the page! (grades K-3)

3 Great Baseball Books written and illustrated by Matt Tavares... these make perfect read alouds for dads/grandpas who want to share their love of baseball with their kids/grandchildren.  I think you'll love Matt's old-fashioned style - you might even blink back a couple of tears...

Zachary's Ball  Zachary goes with his father to his first baseball game - at Fenway Park.  When his dad catches a pop fly ball and hands it to him, Zachary is instantly transported to the mound as a pitcher for Boston!  He strikes a player out and the Red Sox win the game. When the catcher returns the ball, Zachary is suddenly back in his seat. He tells his father that the baseball is magic and his father replies, "They're all magic." After writing his name on the ball, Zachary sleeps with it every night, but eventually the ball disappears.  Years later, as an adult, walking past Fenway, he catches an over-the-wall home run.  He thinks he sees his name on it, but the letters disappear.  He gives it to a girl walking by with her father, telling her that all baseballs are magic.

Oliver's Game  Like Players in Pigtails, this touching book, set in the 1940's, has baseball interconnecting with WWII history.  In his grandfather's memorabilia shop near Wrigley Field, a young boy named Oliver (named after his grandfather) discovers an old Chicago CUBS uniform.  After questioning his grandfather about it, he not only learns that the uniform belongs to his grandfather, but that the elder Oliver gave up a chance to try out for the Cubs' team when he enlisted in the Marines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  This touching tribute to baseball has a sweet ending, when it is revealed that the grandfather - who suffered a career-ending injury in the war - found another way to feel part of the game and be close to his team.

Mudball  "A lighthearted picture-book romp based on baseball's shortest home run. In 1903, Andy Oyler hit the only home run of his entire career, but it's the subject of a much-loved baseball legend. Tavares casts his hero as the classic underdog: Oyler's the shortest player in the league, and he's trying to overcome a batting slump and the heckling of fans. As he steps to the plate on a cold, drizzly day, he represents the Minneapolis Millers' last hope. The drizzle becomes a downpour, but the umpire, believing that the batter stands a good chance of making the final out, lets play continue. Oyler somehow connects with the ball, which then gets lost in the wet, muddy infield. Tavares hilariously details the ensuing chaotic play as fielders scramble to find it and the batter makes his way around the bases..." -Library School Journal.

MORE BOOKS FOR FAMILIES WHO LOVE BASEBALL:

Curious George at the Baseball Game, Margaret & H.A. Rey (4-8)  George is off to watch a game at Mudville Field...you know he'll do more than watch!

The Babe and I  by David A. Adler, illustrated by Terry Widener (K-3)  Babe Ruth makes an appearance in this book about a boy and his family in the Bronx, as they struggle through the Great Depression.

Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888, by Ernest L. Thayer, illustrated by C.F. Payne (grades K-4)  The stylish caricatures that accompany this well known ballad are full of personality and charm.

Thank you, Jackie Robinson by Barbara Cohen (ages 9-12)  This compelling novel isn't just about baseball, but about the warm friendship between a 10-year-old Jewish boy named Sam and an older African American man.  This man, Davy, is a cook at Sam's mother's New Jersey inn.  It's 1947, and they both love the Brooklyn Dodgers.  And they both love Jackie Robinson.  Davy is a cook at Sam's mother's inn.  When Davy has a heart attack, Sam musters up his courage and gets past many obstacles to get Jackie Robinson's autograph on a baseball for Davy, somehow convinced that the ball with make him better.

VINTAGE LIBRARY

Cute, huh?  I don't know any information about this picture, but anything involving vintage hats and libraries gets my attention!  Having been plagued with a cold that's going around, I'm a little behind in visiting and posting about libraries.  In the meantime, I thought you'd enjoy a fun read aloud: CURIOUS GEORGE VISITS THE LIBRARY. (Expect this to spark some good conversations with your little one about what NOT to do in a library!)

It's not one of the seven original Rey books, but the publishers have done a great job keeping the New Adventures in line with what Margret and H.A. Rey would have done for a seamless continuity of Curious George stories.  

Margret & H.A. Rey, United States, late 1940's
(credit: H.A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond children's Literature Collection,
McCain Library and Archives, the University of Southern Mississippi)

CLICK HERE to read the incredible account of how the Reys, both German Jews, fled Paris on bicycles with their Curious George manuscript in hand, just hours before the Nazis entered the city. There's also a N.Y. Times article (3/25/10) you can read here about the "Curious George Saves the Day" Exhibition that was at the Jewish Museum last year.

CURIOUS GEORGE VISITS THE LIBRARY (illustrated by Martha Weston)

Go to LIST OF ALL BOOKS from curiousgeorge.com
Best Value: Order THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF CURIOUS GEORGE

MOTHER MARIA OF PARIS, A BRAVE NUN

SILENT AS A STONE, by Jim Forest, is the story of Mother Maria Skobtsova who, with the aid of her son Yuri, helped rescue Jewish children in occupied France from the fate of extermination in WW II Nazi death camps.  Her plan?  To motivate Paris garbage collectors to hide the children in trash cans and smuggle them out of the city to safety! 

Children ages 7 and up will be captivated by the story of this brave nun.  (For parents and older children:  there is a lengthy Historical Note at the end of the book that has more information and some photos of Mother Maria during her lifetime, as well as the details of her death in the German concentration camp, Ravensbruck.  Mother Maria was recognized as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2004.  Her day of remembrance is July 20th.)


“No amount of thought will ever result in any greater formulation than the three words, ‘Love one another,’ so long as it is love to the end and without exceptions.” - Mother Maria Skobtsova