Created in partnership with Sports Illustrated Kids, this uneven tribute to baseball chronicles a father-son outing to a stadium on game day. At times, Dahl’s singsong couplets suggest that the boy is narrating (“We eat popcorn and hot dogs and hold drinks in our laps.../ with the names of our favorite teams bright on our caps”), but at other moments, the verse seems to view events from an outside perspective: “Look! The ball lands in one lucky fan’s mitt!” writes Dahl (the Hello Genius books), as the same boy catches one batter’s home run. The pace of the story drops off in the second half, as it moves into bedtime mode: “Good-night, diamond. Goodnight grass./ Goodnight, home plate where each runner ran past.” Forshay’s (The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare) energized illustrations are a high point, handily conveying the excitement of a nighttime game, while smoothly bringing the mood down as the boy falls sleep on the drive back home. A minor-league addition to the crowded shelf of baseball-themed picture books. Ages 4–7. (Mar.)
Here’s a tour of an exciting day: hot dogs and drinks, hits and the lucky fan who catches a ball, the seventh inning stretch, the home-town win and the quiet ending. . . . .Those who recognize the format and those who love the game will appreciate the tribute to the great pastime.
Who need words with such powerful, telling illustrations? In “Flood,” a wordless picture book that assaults and recedes with the same rapidity as its subject matter, Argentinian illustrator Alvaro F. Villa tells more than words ever could.
...the thrill and excitement of a baseball game is described. Borrowing the nocturnal pattern from Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon (1947), the young boy ends his baseball-filled day saying goodnight to the teams. . . .After reading this book aloud, teachers might pose the question to students about a big day they themselves experienced and how they would say goodnight to the many things that they encountered during that special day.
It’s game day, and a boy recounts the thrills of being in the stadium watching his team play. As he saying farewell to it all, “Goodnight, popcorn boxes under the stands. Goodnight, mascot and goodnight, fans!” listeners will immediately recall their old favorite Goodnight, Moon and be ready for the final “Goodnight, Daddy, Goodnight, moon. Goodnight, baseball, safe in my room.” This Sports Illustrated Kids title will find a welcome audience with young baseball lovers.
School Librarian's Workshop
This baseball story unfolds in two distinct sections. Following a boy and his dad to a ballpark, the first emphasizes the parts that children enjoy. Father and son enter through a turnstile, find their seats, buy hot dogs from a vendor, stand up for the seventh inning stretch, and watch a home run hit. In the book’s second section, the energetic four-beat lines of rhyming, rhythmic text slow to a gentler cadence mimicking lines from Goodnight Moon, as the boy and his dad wander across the field, through the dugout, out of the park, and homeward, saying good night to the grass, popcorn boxes, and so on. Though the story includes bits of mild fantasy, picture books about visiting a ballpark can be hard to find, and this one delivers the highlights of that experience in an easy-to-follow text illustrated with jaunty digital artwork. A cheerful baseball-themed jacket ensures that this picture book will find its audience.
I like the rhymes in this book. I also like when the boy is at the baseball game and catches the home run hit in his lucky mitt. . . .This book makes me want to go to a baseball game with my dad.
Kids Book San Francisco Book Review
In this rhymed story, a little boy goes to a ballgame, eats hot dogs and watches the home team win. Then he says goodnight to everything baseball-related, from the diamond to popcorn boxes under the stands and, in the end, "goodnight, baseball,/safe in my room." Dahl, who lives in Minneapolis, is the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults. The lively illustrations bring vibrancy to this gentle story.
K-Gr 2—A father and son go to a stadium to watch a baseball game between the Stars and the Rockets. When it is over, they return home with full stomachs and happy memories, but not before wishing everyone and everything, including the players and home plate, a good night. The familiar aspects of the event are all here and illustrated. The seats are occupied by people of all ages and various ethnicities. They eat hot dogs, popcorn, and pretzels while sipping on sodas. Bases are stolen, baseballs are caught (by the players and the fans) and hit, and the crowd cheers. After an action-packed game described in rhyming text, the pace of the story slows down. As the sun sets, the stadium lights go on. The boy's energy begins to fade after he has posed with the mascot and met the players. His father carries him to the car and by the time they are home, the youngster is almost asleep. The wording at the ending of this picture book is reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. A fun, comforting bedtime story for sports fans.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada
