Accompanied by sidebars filled with statistics, this Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year and Booklist Top of the List is sure to delight budding baseball fans.
The huge lenticular cover image of pitcher Sandy Koufax in action makes this book hard to ignore; Winter's fan-in-the-stands-style prose and Carrilho's high-impact, editorial-style images make it hard to forget. Neither author nor artist "explain" the famously self-contained 1960s Dodgers pitcher ("Just when you were startin' to understand him, he'd haul off and throw you a curve," says the anonymous former teammate who serves as narrator). Instead, they capture what it feels like to be in the presence of an exemplary athlete. The obstacles that Sandy Koufax faced-physical limitations; anti-Semitism ("Some of the guys said some pretty lousy things behind his back-things I can't repeat")-are portrayed with zero sentiment; readers will root for Koufax because he is an engine of pure action. Debut artist Carrilho, offering texturally complex, digitally manipulated pencil drawings, has a bold, arresting aesthetic: while his harsh shadows, distorted perspectives and angular faces speak of a hardboiled reality, the baseball field itself is a storied place, rendered not in green but gold. Koufax becomes a figure of totemic strength, his eyes narrowing to black slits underneath bushy eyebrows, his body twisting as he delivers the perfect pitch. Not just a home run, this book is a grand slam. Ages 4-9. (Feb.)
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This picture-book biography of a pitching ace is a real treat. Much about this private man has been a mystery, so Winter focuses on how the gifted young athlete went from unpredictable to otherworldly in such a short time. Koufax spent his early years with the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he was either warming the bench or walking batters. The team moved to Los Angeles in 1957, and it wasn't until 1961 that he learned to control his pitch. He then proceeded to flummox opposing hitters until 1966, when he unexpectedly retired. The unnamed narrator, a teammate who speaks in the vernacular of an old-timer, greatly influences the voice of the book: readers can hear the spit of sunflower seeds between the lines. That Koufax was a Jew playing baseball at a time when the game was still deeply segregated is mentioned and honored, particularly with the anecdote of how he gave up his spot in the World Series rotation to observe a High Holy Day. Carrilho's caricature style is reminiscent of Al Hirschfeld's work, exaggerating everything that is beautiful and unknown about Koufax, from his extraordinarily athletic body to his private mystique. The graphite illustrations, enhanced via Photoshop, are dominated by golds, grays, and, of course, Dodger blue. While the author never offers an explanation for his subject's metamorphosis, that it should be hailed and remembered is never in doubt. This striking book deserves a wide audience.-Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA
CCHCrow
Posted August 7, 2009
I highly recommend this book to the families of all young baseball fans (who probably haven't heard of Sandy Koufax). In an age of steroid scandals and "it's-all-about-me" players, Sandy Koufax stands out as a superstar who shunned the limelight, retired at the top of his game to protect the health of that famous left arm, and was a hero both to Dodger fans and to the Jewish community. The text is conversational and easy to read while still being full of details, and the illustrations are delightful; I was reminded of the work of Al Hirschfeld. I especially liked the addition of the small fact boxes on many pages that helped to put Sandy Koufax into true historical perspective: arguably the greatest lefty pitcher of all time. A great read and important book for baseball fans of all ages.
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