Lucy Tries Baseball

by Lisa Bowes, James Hearne (Illustrator)

Overview

Lucy is playing catch with her family at the park when she is invited to join her friends' baseball team.

Their friendly coach teaches them the basics of offense and defense as they practice catching, hitting and fielding. Then they use these skills in a real game, where Lucy must overcome her fear of getting hit by the ball. With encouragement from Coach Al, Lucy steps up to the plate and gives her best swing. Playing a big part in the game's exciting finish, Lucy realizes what makes baseball such a fun sport to play with family and friends.

Lucy Tries Baseball is the sixth title in the Lucy Tries Sports series, following books about basketball, hockey, soccer, short track and luge. The series encourages children to get active and participate in sports and recreation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459834965
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Series:	Lucy Tries Sports , #6
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	480L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lisa Bowes is a sports journalist and media consultant who was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Writing in an Information Program or Series. She is a physical education graduate who is passionate about encouraging children and families to be active. Lisa lives in Calgary.

James Hearne is an internationally recognized illustrator and graphic designer. He lives in Calgary.

What People are Saying About This

Justin Morneau

“Lucy Tries Baseball is a great book for kids. Sport teaches us life lessons, like how to battle through when things get tough. Lucy is a great example of what it looks like to persevere through different challenges. I hope you enjoy this book as much as my kids and I do!”

Dan Shulman

“I loved Lucy Tries Baseball! Makes me wish I was still coaching! Lisa does a wonderful job encouraging kids to try different sports, and with this one being about baseball, I’d have to say it’s my favourite. The more we can all do to help our kids be active, the better!”

Arash Madani

“This book captures so many of the elements that make sports great: they’re challenging, intimidating and ultimately rewarding for young children. Lucy's journey around the basepath is a reminder of how much we all need to be encouraging our youth to be active, to play and to be good teammates to one another. Lucy Tries Baseball, like our favourite hitter, is a home run!”

Adnan Virk

“As a father of four, I can’t encourage my kids enough to stay off their screens and get as much physical activity as possible. This book will be a great motivator for them and so many other kids to savor all the beautiful life lessons that baseball teaches us. Bonus points for the Fast Facts, including a great definition of a chopper!”

Chris Reitsma

“I really enjoyed Lucy Tries Baseball! Lisa identifies the struggle that children go through when trying something new and overcoming insecurities, while explaining some of the intricacies of the great game of baseball. Let's keep our kids active!”

Editorial Reviews

Young readers from all over the world can identify with Lucy and her teammates...In this quick story, Bowes and Hearne teach readers the basics and the love of the game of baseball. Highly Recommended.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

05/01/2023

PreS-Gr 2—Rhyming couplets follow Lucy's day at the park with her family and dog. Her dad is teaching her to play catch when Coach Al invites Lucy to join his young baseball team. He offers to teach her "the basics, and a love of the game!" Lucy is given a uniform, bat, helmet, and glove. The players warm up; they practice hitting and fielding; and begin a practice game. At first, Lucy is afraid of being hit by the pitch, but she takes a deep breath, and gets a hit. She decides she's going to love baseball. Lucy and her family are white, and her teammates are a diverse mix of boys and girls. A few terms are briefly explained following the story, including "Challenger Baseball" (an adaptive program for individuals with cognitive and/or physical disabilities). Appealing cartoon illustrations and simple text offer a fast-moving overview of the game. This book also has read-aloud potential for preschool groups. Part of the "Lucy Tries Sports" series, it's available in Spanish (Lucy Juega al Beisbol) and French (Lucy Joue au Baseball). VERDICT Emphasizing inclusion and playing for fun, this title will be a hit with preschool and primary grade readers.—Marilyn Taniguchi

School Library Journal

2023-02-25
A young athlete steps up to the plate.

Tan-skinned Coach Al invites light-skinned, redheaded Lucy to join the team and gives her a uniform, hat, bat, helmet, and glove. The squad warms up with an exciting game of Catch the Coach before practicing hitting and fielding, two critical offensive and defensive skills. Next up is a friendly scrimmage, but uh-oh! Lucy’s afraid of getting hit by a pitch. With her coach’s help, she gets in the right frame of mind to bat and smashes a line drive into the outfield gap, batting in a runner who slides safely into home plate. By the end of the book, as Lucy jumps for joy over her first RBI, the excitement is palpable. The rhyming text is charming and highly informative; a larger font indicates baseball-related terms, many of which are further defined in an appended “Fast Facts!” section. This fast-paced tale covers many aspects of practice and gameplay (the cheery illustrations help clarify various elements of the game), making it an excellent preparation for a first team practice. Lucy’s teammates are racially diverse, and while the text doesn’t mention whether any of the players are disabled, the backmatter mentions Challenger Baseball, an adaptive league designed for people with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Publishes simultaneously in French and Spanish. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A helpful baseball primer that’s sure to be a big hit. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews