The Boys

by Jeff Newman, Jeff Newman (Illustrator)

Overview

This wordless picture book tells the story of a quiet boy working to overcome his shyness and finding the courage to play baseball with the other kids in the park... With the help of a few old timers from the nearby park bench, our boy is coaxed out of his shell and into the game. Beautifully illustrated, this is the story about the young finding out how much fun it is to live life... And the old finding out how much life there still is to love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442438989
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	08/23/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jeff Newman grew up in Ashland, Massachusetts, and attended The Art Institute of Boston. His picture books include Hippo! No, Rhino; The Boys; Hand Book; The Greedy Worm; and Found. He currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Editorial Reviews

It's a new town for a baseball-loving protagonist. Newman wastes not a moment, setting the stage with the title page: A lone moving truck chugs along a house-lined street, skyscrapers looming above. A white spread possessing only one word, "Tuesday," greets readers, with single brush strokes and blocks of color denoting a glove, a ball, a bat and a solitary boy lacing up his shoes. But the anticipated game is not to be, as the shy hero watches the sport longingly from afar. Crestfallen, he sits by a set of elderly men, and baseball dreams are traded for books, then costumes, as the child determinedly tries to stay on the bench of retirees-until the old-timers' ball game reawakens the boy's confidence. Effective visual storytelling realizes the aching love players can feel for the game, and in one lovely, lonely beat, the boy's self-imposed rejection turns to resolve, as the tyke asks to join in a kids' game. Through confident brushwork, done in a stylized '50s modern aesthetic, the artist's images reveal sports' deep truths about acceptance, a willingness to try and the intergenerational connections they bring. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews