The Babe & I

by David A. Adler, Terry Widener (Illustrator)

Overview

It's 1932 and hard times are everywhere. But life isn't all bad. America still loves baseball, and Babe Ruth is the star of the game. And two boys are about to discover that with some creativity, hard work, and a little help from the Babe himself, they can do their part to help out their own team!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152050269
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.14(d)
Lexile:	590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

DAVID ADLER has written more than a hundred books, including Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man and Mama Played Baseball. He lives on Long Island, New York. 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The kind of book that makes you want to buy season tickets."
—The Horn Book

"Adler and Widener score big—their book reads like a labor of love."
—Publishers Weekly

[star] "This nostalgic, heartwarming story about hard work and teamwork highlights heroes big and small."—Booklist

Editorial Reviews

"The kind of book that makes you want to buy season tickets."
—The Horn Book

"Adler and Widener score big—their book reads like a labor of love."
—Publishers Weekly

[star] "This nostalgic, heartwarming story about hard work and teamwork highlights heroes big and small."—Booklist (starred review)
—

From the Publisher

The team that brought us Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man (rev. 7/97) has homered again with this upbeat yet touching story set in 1932 during the Depression. The locale is the Bronx, where the more affluent buy tickets to see the great Babe Ruth perform his magic in Yankee Stadium, but where others, unemployed, sell apples on the sidewalk. The story begins when the young narrator, believing that his father is one of the lucky ones with a job, is disappointed to receive a dime, not the hoped-for bicycle, for his birthday. Later that day, he discovers the truth-that his father is one of the unemployed apple sellers, but ashamed to inform his family. With the help of his friend Jacob, the boy becomes a "newsie" to supplement the family income. He, too, tries to keep his occupation a secret, but when it is revealed, father and son develop a bond of understanding. Meanwhile, tutored by Jacob, the boy becomes proficient at selling papers, selecting the right headlines to entice customers. At Yankee Stadium, the appropriate focus is always the latest news about Babe Ruth-and one day, the Babe himself buys a paper with a five-dollar bill, enabling the two boys to see a real Yankee game. Terry Widener's illustrations are reminiscent of the regional murals of Thomas Hart yet are definitely his own, evoking the ambiance of the period without attempting a slavish imitation. Carefully paced, remarkable for its unified focus, this is the kind of book that makes you want to buy season tickets.

Horn Book Magazine

The Babe and I is an unusual picture book in that it depicts the coping skills of individuals and families during 'hard times,' yet is not in the least depressing or disturbing. David Adler's story is upbeat in a no-nonsense way that seems particularly fitting to the setting and the times...Terry Widener's illustrations are stylized and cartoonish. The Babe and I is a boy's story, a generous, friendly one with an understated message about carrying on against adversity.
— Riverbank Review

Margaret Willey

Adler (also with Widener, Lou Gehrig, 1997, etc.) sets his fictional story during the week of July 14, 1932, in the Bronx, when the news items that figure in this tale happened. A boy gets a dime for his birthday, instead of the bicycle he longs for, because it is the Great Depression, and everyone who lives in his neighborhood is poor. While helping his friend Jacob sell newspapers, he discovers that his own father, who leaves the house with a briefcase each day, is selling apples on Webster Avenue along with the other unemployed folk. Jacob takes the narrator to Yankee Stadium with the papers, and people don't want to hear about the Coney Island fire or the boy who stole so he could get something to eat in jail. They want to hear about Babe Ruth and his 25th homer. As days pass, the narrator keeps selling papers, until the astonishing day when Ruth himself buys a paper from the boy with a five-dollar bill and tells him to keep the change. The acrylic paintings bask in the glow of a storied time, where even row houses and the elevated train have a warm, solid presence. The stadium and Webster Avenue are monuments of memory rather than reality in a style that echoes Thomas Hart Benton's strong color and exaggerated figures. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews