Unexpected Educator

One of the most classic cases of a substitute teacher's name striking fear in the hearts and minds of students in the classroom is found in children's literature.  In the case of this woman you can certainly judge her character by her appearance. Her frumpy black dress, striped stockings and black clunky shoes accentuate her exaggerated facial features and hair.  When you combine this with her unwavering sense of discipline students have no choice but to behave with robotic-like goodness.

Miss Viola Swamp first stepped from the pages of Miss Nelson Is Missing written by Harry Allard with illustrations by James Marshall in 1977.  To this day it would be hard to have an inclusive list of books about classroom teachers without mentioning her and this book.  A more recent title also broaches the subject of what happens when the regular teacher is absent.  Dear Substitute (Disney Hyperion, June 19, 2018) written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with pictures by Chris Raschka has a distinctive presentation. 

Dear Substitute,
Wow. This is a surprise.
What are you doing here?
Where's Mrs. Giordano,
and why didn't she warn us?

As the morning begins each element of the usual routine and special activities enjoyed on a Tuesday are addressed by the little girl.  She writes to them as if they are recipients of a letter.  Regret and empathy are expressed for the mispronunciation of students' names during attendance.  Mrs. Giordano is missed.

It's discouraging to have sacrificed what you want to do in order to complete your homework only to discover it will not be collected on the due date.  A weekly trip to the library is not made.  The substitute has another plan. 

The classroom pet, a turtle, is not going to have his tank cleaned.  Our letter writer asks Elmo to be patient.  Classroom rules are not followed.  An earned turn at being line leader is ignored.  Lunch may be the only ordinary thing about this day until the eyes-in-back-of-her-head substitute catches the girl breaking a lunchroom rule.  How is this fair?

A change during story time further unsettles the girl.  This is when an extraordinary shift in the day happens.  This is when the student makes an unforgettable discovery about the day, herself and the substitute teacher.


Every reader, regardless of their age will identify with the apprehension voiced by the protagonist.  Authors Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick tap into the emotional state of the girl and her universal worries with keen insights.  They are well aware of the importance of stability during the day in a classroom but they are also savvy enough to realize the benefits of creative change. 

By having the girl write letters to each portion of her day, a deeply personal level is achieved in the story.  These letters build upon each other leading us to the surprise.  Here is another letter.

Dear Class Rules,
We have you for a reason.
And one of the rules should be:
the whole day can't be
changed around by a sub named Miss Pelly.
"Pelly like a pelican," she told us.
And then she laughed---again.
Miss Pelly doesn't take anything seriously.


Upon opening the dust jacket readers are treated to a view of the endearing student writing the letters.  The carefree swing of her pigtails invites us to know this girl and comprehend her disquiet in this situation.  The border of apples and pencils, well-known symbols of classrooms and teachers, supplies an additional sense of welcome.  The color choices by Chris Raschka are cheerful contributing to the spirited and heartfelt messages of the girl.  To the left, on the back, Elmo, the classroom turtle is showcased, enjoying a clean tank. 

On the book case in bright loose squares are thirty portraits of students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.  On the opening endpapers the lower portion of students' bodies are highlighted as they casually stand in a hallway.  On the closing endpapers is a view of items found on a teacher's desk.  The use of color is limited to those objects.

On the verso and dedication page Chris allows readers to see the reason for Mrs. Giordano's absence.  Tongue protruding from her mouth in concentration the girl is writing beneath the text on the title page.  Each page turn is a study in the signature style of Chris Raschka who rendered these illustrations in watercolor and gouache.

His loose lines and brush swirls of hues depict the emotions conveyed in the narrative.  His choice of colors enriches the moods as well as the time of day.  His shifts in point of view place emphasis on stronger feelings.  When the girl is near tears, all we see are her eyes, nose and some hair.  Some of his images are on single pages; others span two pages.

He frames the text in curtains, scenes from around the school or with elements in his pictures.  Humor is present in his clever details.  He gives Miss Pelly the shape of a pelican.  The girl is shown as a fish.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the letter addressed to 

Dear Story Time.

In this picture spreading across two pages Miss Pelly is seated on a rosy red rug on the right-hand side.  Her red glasses, cheeks and lips are mirrored in the flooring.  She is seated, head bent and reading.  Clustered around her along the top, sides and bottom are the feet of the students on their rugs, seated and listening.  This is a turning point in the story.


The beautiful blend of words of Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with the artwork of Chris Raschka gives readers a treasure to hold in their hands with this book, Dear Substitute.  We are privy to a transformation.  We realize people might not be what they appear to be at first glance (except for Miss Viola Swamp).  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Liz Garton Scanlon, Audrey Vernick and Chris Raschka, please follow the links attached to their names to access informative websites.  At the publisher's website there is an educator's guide to download.  At Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read., the cover is revealed with a post by the authors.  At the blog, For the Love of KidLit, Liz and Audrey are interviewed.  This title is one of several new books focusing on school featured at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Have you noticed once July 4th has come and gone, retailers start to mark down all their summer furniture and lawn and garden accessories?  Within days the shelves are nearly empty.  Then they start to fill those vacant spaces....with back-to-school items.  Oh my goodness!  Summer is only officially two weeks old.  We still have seventy-nine days before autumn.

For students, some who only recently finished the past year, this can be a little stressful to observe.  They have to face the challenge another grade level brings after recently and finally finding comfort with the previous teacher, classmates and subjects.  Second Grade Holdout (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, July 4, 2017), a companion title to First Grade Dropout, written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell is guaranteed to have readers nodding knowingly as they laugh out loud.

I was a lot of things in first grade.

Our narrator recalls the high (and not so high) points of grade one but the best one of all was sharing the school year with his best friend, Tyler.  Second grade promises to not be as great. His parents are not helping either.

One points out there won't be as many fun tasks assigned to students.  Learning will be his main job.  (What?!)  Since Tyler is going to be in the other second grade classroom he wants to switch.  This request meets with huge resistance.  His second brainstorm has him staying in first grade.

With loads of determination and ingenuity the reluctant guy is quick to reiterate all the wonders of repeating first grade.   

And I'll definitely be the one who's lost the most teeth.

A visit to the zoo is much more to his liking than a trip to the police station.  As Tyler's two sisters start to vocalize all the trouble second grade is, especially with his teacher, Mr. Glazer, panic fills his soul.

He must look ready to pass out because one of the sisters, Sabrina, adds another thing for him to consider.  Before two seconds have passed Jacqueline, the second sister, starts to tell Tyler all the things wrong with Mrs. Herman's class.  Will second grade be a disaster for both boys?  Pfff!

When Audrey Vernick writes about school related issues, friends and brothers and sisters, she does so with keen insight into their respective mindsets.  She understands their emotional highs and lows.  Each sentence (and one particular word) in this narrative connects us to the characters because regardless of finding the remarks hilarious, we have experienced similar situations.  Here is a sample passage.

Tyler's sisters say second grade is really hard.

And Mr. Glazer's class is hardest of all.

You have to learn the presidents by heart.

Forward AND backward.

You know, without a doubt, at first glance this guy from the first book is having issues again.  He's not happy at all to be moving from first grade to second grade.  Look at his face and body posture.  (I can't keep from laughing.)  To the left, on the back, a bird, flies across a partly sunny sky.  He has a totally glass-half-full attitude.

Second grade rules!

The opening and closing endpapers are a bright cobalt blue.  This supplies a pleasing contrast to the background on the matching dust jacket and book case. 

On the title page the text is still placed on the lined writing paper.  Our hesitant hero is now lying on his back holding the sign upright.  The illustrations rendered by Matthew Cordell in pen and ink with watercolor throughout this title are pure Cordell.

Loose lines, exquisite details, spot-on facial expressions and body postures and loads of humor fill his images.  In one picture Tyler is whistling.  Above him a bird is whistling the same two notes.  Matthew's interpretation of single words and phrases will have you laughing out loud.  For 

Unable to sit still

(according to Ms. Morgan)

our protagonist within a loose frame of black is acting like a showman in a song-and-dance routine, his desk and chair tipped to the side.  He has a top hat and a cane.  A distinctive finger (Ms. Morgan's?) is pointing at him.

The picture sizes vary in keeping with the text and the pacing.  Larger sizes convey emphasis. Smaller sizes depict a train of thought.  Toward the conclusion we move closer to the characters' faces building to an unexpected but quintessential scenario.

One of my many favorite pictures is when the main character is recalling his trip to the zoo in first grade.  He knows as a repeat first grade student he will win the scavenger hunt.  Shown on a single page, he is writing down an answer as he stands in front of the cage with a monkey.  He and the monkey are exchanging "thumbs up" and grinning.

Second Grade Holdout written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell is a back-to-school story brimming with comedy from a collaborative team with a winning combination of text and images.  They write and illustrate in the spirit of kids-at-heart.  You will certainly want a copy of this to pair with the first book in your professional collections.  I already have one for my personal collection.

To learn more about Audrey Vernick and Matthew Cordell and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Both Audrey and Matthew were interviewed at author James Preller's blog. 

 

In Sickness And...

Never is good health so appreciated as when you suddenly find yourself with the king of colds.  You're hotter than hot one minute and shaking with the chills the next minute.  Every part of your body aches.  You can't breathe but your nose is constantly running (in a race where you are the loser).  You begin coughing but the sound closely resembles a barking seal. You are so miserable you can't even enjoy the fact you get a day (or two or more) off from your normal activities.

At times like this there is only one person in the world you want, especially if you are a younger gal or guy.  Bob, Not Bob! (To be read as though you have the worst cold ever:)(Disney Hyperion, February 14, 2017) written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell explains with great insight and huge doses of humor exactly who this is. It is not your canine companion.  It is not your beloved stuffed animal.

Little Louie wasn't all that little.  It wasn't like he needed his mom every minute of the day.

When he started sneezing and wheezing, he did need his mom.  He needed her a lot.  You could almost say he needed her constantly.

When his cold was in high gear, nothing satisfied him more than the presence of his mom but his nose was so stuffed when he yelled Mom it sounded like Bob.  It just so happened that Louie had a larger than life dog named Bob.  Guess who came running ready to romp?  Bob the dog.

Louie, besides being sicker than sick, kept on saying

NO!
I wan by
BOB, 
not
BOB!
BOB! BOB! BOB!

Needless to say, Bob the dog was a bit confused.  Louie's mom with the wisdom bestowed on mom's everywhere knew exactly who he wanted and did come to his room but she had other obligations too.

Day two was even worse.  Louie's words came out weird.  His little sister Tessa was as mystified as Bob the dog.  Feeling more wretched by the minute Louie was going a little bit nuts.  His mom was too.  And Bob the dog keep running to Louie.

So Mom did the only left to do.  Louie sighed.  Mom was glad he was glad.  So was Bob the dog.


As you read this story you will constantly be thinking about how much fun Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick had working together to create the words for the unseen narrator and the dialogue of little Louie.  They create the quintessential sick child situation right down to the tiniest details.  As they are describing exactly how sick Louie is, each sentence builds on the previous one to create a type of cadence.

When Bob the dog enters the scene each time he is not only running but slobbering.  When they insert the word cuckoo into the story, it becomes so kid-perfect you feel like (and probably will) laugh out loud.  All these clever pieces place readers exactly where they need to be for the resolutions.  Yes, there are two.  Here is another sample passage.

So he just lay there getting hot and sweaty,
which sounded like "Hotten Smetty."
"Who's Hotten Smetty?" asked his sister. ...


The layout and design on the matching dust jacket and book case are two trios superbly aligned, the title text over Mom, Louie and Bob the dog.  Each of them, Mom, Louie and Bob the dog, is wearing an expression indicative of their personalities in this story; happy to help, miserably sick and confused...and slobbery.  The title text on the jacket is varnished.  To the left, on the back, the green from the front becomes the canvas.  Within a loosely framed circle is Bob's ball, a box of tissues and the stuffed teddy bear.

On the opening endpapers a giant BOB is placed slightly to the right off center.  Mom is standing tall and smiling with Louie crying and clinging to her leg.  From the left Bob is standing at attention, ball in mouth, looking at them.  This BOB has a heart shape in the center of the O.  This is how Matthew Cordell distinguishes between Mom (Bob) and Bob the dog.  Readers will notice a difference on the closing endpapers as Louie seems to be back to one healthy little guy.  On the title page the arrangement shifts with Mom, Louie and Bob the dog standing on top of the text.  They are looking right at us.

In this title Cordell uses white space as an element.  He positions his characters in the image to convey emotional moods and the passage of time; more in the center, at the bottom or in several spots on one page.  The spoken text and sounds play an important role too, heightening those emotional moments.  The facial expressions on the characters' faces, including Bob the dog, are absolutely spot-on and hilarious.  (They're wonderfully loving too.)

One of my favorite of many illustrations is when Louie is crying out

I just wan by BOB!

again.  His mom is carrying a laundry basket as he wraps both arms around her legs.  A box of tissues and used tissues are scattered on the floor.  With her free hand Mom is covering her eyes.  If she were speaking you know exactly what she would be saying.  Her patience is hanging on by a very thin thread.


Every person on the planet that has had a cold can easily identify with Louie.  Every mom or caregiver can place themselves in Louie's mom's shoes.  If dogs could talk, they would tell us Bob the dog is doing the best he can under the circumstances.  This is what makes Bob, Not Bob! written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell a rib-tickling riot of fun.  This is real aloud gold!  Make sure you have a copy for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To find out more about Liz Garton Scanlon, Audrey Vernick and Matthew Cordell please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Take a tour of Liz Garton Scanlon's studio at Andrea Skyberg's website. She also invites Matthew Cordell to visit her site and gives us a tour of his studio.  Matthew Cordell stops by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, sharing previous projects, this title and some not released yet.  Author James Preller interviews Audrey Vernick on his site in an author to author conversation.

UPDATE:   I know you are going to enjoy this article at Tara Lazar's site, Writing For Kids (While Raising Them).  Audrey and Liz chat about this title and reveal the book trailer.

UPDATE:  Liz, Audrey and Matthew visit All The Wonders, Episode 333 to chat about this title with teacher librarian Matthew Winner.

Born To Play

It was summer.  We were all rookies.  Coach Wadsworth was patient to a fault.  He really understood the skills of the players on his softball team, enhancing our abilities.  He knew as a whole we were only as strong as the weakest link.

So he worked with all of us, hour after hour, game after game.  If you weren't a powerhouse hitter but a fast runner, he made sure you bunted with the best of them.  If you were quick on your feet with honed reflexes but could not throw great distances, he placed you in the infield.  He saw potential; teaching the shortest member of his team to pitch fast, underhand strikes.

There are certain individuals who have a knack for baseball, unlike us rookies of a summer in the sixties, as soon as they can move.  The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story Of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton (Clarion Books, March 29, 2016) written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Steven Salerno is a story about a remarkably gifted player.  Let's turn back the clock.

Edith Houghton used to say, "I guess I was born with a baseball in my hand," and if you'd seen little Edith playing in the 1920s, you'd probably have believed it.  She was magic on the field.

As the youngest of ten children, Edith lacked no opportunity to play the game, especially within the neighborhood.  Across the street from her home on many a summer evening baseball was played by men and watched by Edith from the comfort of a bedroom window.  In 1922 the Philadelphia Bobbies, an all-female professional baseball team, were looking for new players.  Edith tried out for the team and her amazing skills landed her a spot as starting shortstop at the age of ten!

Nicknamed The Kid by reporters her abilities were duly noted by fans of the game no matter who they played.  At the age of thirteen her team was offered a trip of a lifetime; they were going to Japan to play against men's baseball teams at the college level.  They traveled by train for twelve days to the west coast and by boat for thirteen days until they reached their destination.  I'll bet they were quite a sight when they played ball on the deck of the ship.

So much was different in Japan than back at home in Pennsylvania but once the first game started that was all that mattered.  Baseball was baseball.  For the games in Japan, the team had a male pitcher and catcher.  To those who knew Edith it was no surprise how she acquired a great deal of yen after a promise from one of the players.

For two months, the girls and young women did everything together; played baseball, enjoyed the sights of the country, relaxed creating musical medleys and even, on the return voyage home, managed to puzzle a few passengers on board with a prank.  Arriving in Philadelphia they received a heartwarming welcome.  The best greeting of all for Edith Houghton was at 2502 Diamond Street.


For readers the highlight of this book, other than learning about the astonishing life of Edith Houghton, was the care given by author Audrey Vernick in writing a narrative with fascinating explicit details.  In describing Edith becoming a part of the team, she mentions everything needed to be done to make the uniform fit the ten-year-old.  She works actual quotes from Edith into the story seamlessly.

As you read this title you are given a very clear picture of defining events which Vernick links together as a wonderful whole.  We get to know Edith on a very personal level.  Here is a sample passage.

No one Edith knew had been to Japan.  Most people she knew hadn't stepped foot outside Pennsylvania.
"My parents had to go to school and explain to them about this," Edith said. "The principal and teachers agreed that I'd get more out of that trip than being in that class, and it's true."


You don't realize it when looking at the front of the matching dust jacket and book case initially but after reading the book, you know Steven Salerno has captured the essence of Edith Houghton in her stance and with the expression on her face.  By placing the suitcase labeled with places next to her, he gives us an idea of her travels with the team.  To the left, on the back, an image of the team from the interior of the title has been placed on a shade of green with a circle around the center, focusing on Edith, displaying the actual colors of grass and sky within it.  The opening and closing endpapers are a bright grass green.  The title text from the front is repeated on a much larger scale for the title page.

Nearly all the illustrations

created with charcoal, ink, and gouache with added digital color rendered in Adobe Photoshop

span across two pages.  Salerno's color palette, shading, fine lines, and use of light easily transport readers to a time in the past.  The design and layout is fabulous as his perspectives shift to further engage readers.

One of my favorite illustrations covers two pages.  Blue window edges and blue window shades frame images of a ball game during the evening.  A light glows on the field near home plate as a batter waits for a pitched ball to arrive and near the third baseman.  Along the road cars have stopped with people standing outside them to watch the game.  Above this with arms resting on the window sill is Edith, wearing her ball cap with the brim tipped up, a half smile on her face.  Gauzy white curtains are billowing in a gentle breeze.


The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story Of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Steven Salerno is an out-of-the-park biography.  You will find yourself inspired and cheering for this girl who knew what she wanted and went after it with her whole heart.  In a two page A Note From The Author Audrey Vernick goes on to explain how baseball was a part of Edith's life until her passing in 2013.  This woman garnered more than one "first".

You can enjoy more information about Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno by following the links attached to their names to access their websites.  They both have blogs also.  A Discussion and Activity Guide has been created for this title.  Audrey Vernick was a guest at author Kirby Larson's Friend Friday. Audrey Vernick was interviewed by Beth Shaum on her blog, A Foodie Bibliophile In Wanderlust.  Here are a couple of links about Edith Houghton; From Edith Houghton to Amanda Hopkins, MLB's 70-year gap in female scouts and Edith Houghton, Rare Woman Among Baseball Scouts, Dies at 100.  

You might want to check out the other collaboration by Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno, Brothers At Bat: The True Story Of An Amazing All-Brothers Baseball Team.

Please take a moment to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other selections by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Red-Faced Fiasco

Each grade level kindergarten through twelfth grade, as a whole, has a distinguishing personality.  First grade students, with a year in elementary school conquered, walk the hallways with more confidence in their steps.  What they say and do comes straight from their heart; emotional responses come quickly.

During one of my first grade story times as we were all gathered together with book buddies, comfy on the rug, leaning toward one another and letting the story surround us, one of the students became suddenly ill.  The other students scattered as I moved to assist.  When the class returned the following week, I quietly asked the student how they were feeling.  We looked at each other, smiled and then laughed out loud.  It was a joke we shared until their graduation from high school.

When you create a welcoming atmosphere in your classroom students feel more comfortable.  This sense of ease allows learning to flourish.  It also makes for some interesting conversations.  First Grade Dropout (Clarion Books, July 7, 2015) written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell depicts an incident happening in classrooms everywhere over and over on a daily basis.

I've been lots of things.

Our narrator proceeds to list five things in his short life span which are irrefutable truths.  His sixth statement reveals his current dilemma.  There is no way, no how; he is going back to school.

His sense of compassion for others is duly noted especially when they do something embarrassing.  He did something so embarrassing others forgot to be kind.  Everyone laughed at him, even his best friend Tyler.  How can he possibly return to his classroom?

Perhaps a bit of magic will help, turning back the clock or a clever disguise.  His thoughts are interrupted by his sense of humiliation in recalling the incident again.  As his thinking continues he does recall when some laughter slipped out of his mouth after Tyler had a costume failure at school.  How was Tyler able to come back the next day?

Without revealing the exact nature of the event with each recollection he feels worse and worse.  His only choice in his mind is to become

a first grade dropout.

Imagining what he will do and thinking about friends he will miss as a dropout, he remembers how Ms. Morgan tried to bolster his spirits telling him others have done the same thing every year.  He still feels miserable.  This guy is down in the double dumps as he walks on the field for soccer practice.

Tyler is there with some other teammates.  Our guy waits for the laughter.  Bravely he shares his plan with his friend.  Friendship, the best kind of friendship, allows for bloopers, mishaps and laughter.


Readers can readily identify with the characters born from Audrey Vernick's mind.  The narrator's voice is authentic to a fault.  The emotional low and high notes are a pitch-perfect portrayal.  Vivid descriptions of embarrassing moments have us laughing with the boy and his friend rather than at them.  This passage sums up the little guy's assessment of the moment.

It was quiet.  Then it started, all at once,
like a big marching band of laughing people.


Rendered in pen and ink and watercolor Matthew Cordell adeptly captures every mood of our narrator on the matching dust jacket and book case as well as all the interior pages.  The look on the boy's face explicitly proclaims his current mood.  It's a nice touch to have the text First Grade placed upon the paper used to teach letters and early writing.  On the back, to the left, on a canvas of white with a light blue wash, a few clouds and a bird flying in front of a sun, the avian adviser announces Stay In School!  A darker hue of the writing paper (the boy's hair color) covers both the opening and closing endpapers.

Full color images on a background of white grab our attention.  Cordell's interpretation of the text is hilarious.  He, like Vernick, has tapped into his inner first grader.  For the words Soaking wet he shows the character standing in a pouring rain storm holding an umbrella, broken and inside out.  Clearly the boy has had his share of bad days but nothing to date tops his status in this story as Cordell shows us.

When the boy is thinking or remembering, the visual is surrounded by loosely drawn cloud shapes.  The placement of the pictures and their size supplies emotional significance.  The series of images at the soccer field demonstrate this exceptionally well.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the double-page spread for the partial text noted above.  A twenty-piece band in uniform with a drum major is marching from edge to edge.  The members are dressed in red jackets and hats with plumes and blue gray pants.  Banners on the hats display the embarrassing moment.  Amid the colorful confetti is an equally colorful chorus of the word HA.


Every single reader has had embarrassing moments but the humorous narrative in First Grade Dropout written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Matthew Cordell sums it up with first-class style.  The value of having a genuine friend, through thick and thin, will have you doing mental high-fives.  I guarantee you'll be smiling from the first page until the last.


To discover more about both Audrey Vernick and Matthew Cordell follow the links attached to their names to access their websites and blogs.  For the pronunciation of Audrey Vernick's name follow this link to TeachingBooks. net.  

Batter Up!

It may be the middle of December, decades may have gone by, but the memory is as fresh as if it were yesterday.  One of the best days of my life was shopping with my Dad for my first and only baseball mitt.  Ever the practical man, not wanting my glove to get lost or blend in with the others, mine was black.  Many an hour was spent caring for the leather and placing a ball in the glove's pocket, fingers tied to form around the shape.

Softball season year after year made for sensational summers; me loving the thrill of throwing a ball to home plate from third to snag the out or running to catch a pop fly.  When Brothers At Bat:  The True Story Of An Amazing All-Brothers Baseball Team (Clarion Books, April 3, 2012) by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Steven Salerno, garnered a spot on the 2012 Nerdy Book Club Award Nominees list, I knew I had to read it.  It boggles the mind to think all the team members were from the same family.


WHEN WINTER'S CHILL melts into spring, back doors swing
open and slap shut as kids just home from school run outside---
mitts, bat, and balls in hand.

At the Acerra house the back door did not open and swing shut once but twelve times as all the brothers ran outside for a game of baseball.  Four sisters were part of this family, but never played ball.  It was the 1930s.

With a family of sixteen children their outhouse was a three-seater, beds were shared and dinner was like a church potluck, each looking for the first available seat.  But baseball...baseball defined their lives.  After playing high school baseball, in 1938 the oldest nine started their own semi-pro team with their father as coach.

Game after game, year after year, members of the team, the brothers, made their mark in the annals of baseball history; hitting home runs into the Atlantic Ocean, having a knuckleball no one could hit, or never competing against each other, a team in every sense of the word.  During the 1939 New York World's Fair this incredible family from New Jersey was honored, flown to the fairgrounds.

The downside of life did intrude in the form of a bad accident on the field and World War II.  But the Acerra family endured supporting one another even when separated by distance and time.  Finally reunited again, playing again and making history again, the Acerras drew huge crowds for each and every game until their last in 1952.  In 1997 their accomplishments were recognized on a national level, much to their amazement.


In her author's note, Audrey Vernick explains how she came to hear of the Accera brothers' story, how one evening she found herself having a spaghetti dinner with Freddie and Eddie.  I can only imagine the excitement of spending time talking with two of these brothers.  Her passion for their story, her skill at recreating the past for her readers is clearly evident on each page.

You can almost hear the sounds of ball on bat or glove, a runner sliding into a base or the narration of an announcer as Vernick writes in a friendly, one-on-one conversational manner.  Her inclusion of perfect points is what makes this a standout biography, enjoyable for all readers. She makes the family, the brothers and their brand of baseball live again.


Looking at the illustrations rendered with black crayon, gouache, watercolor and pastel with added digital color using Adobe Photoshop, by Steven Salerno one word comes to mind---stunning.  His blend of mediums, color choices, layout and perspective make the reader feel like they are surrounded by the past.  It's as if you've stepped through a time portal.

Shades of blue, green and golden yellow are prominent but Salerno does not hesitate to modify this if the narrative requires him to do so. Opening the story with a two page spread, he follows with a grouping of four smaller pictures and then two single pages changing his size to enhance the text.  Most of his visuals go to the page edge except for the small insets found with the text.

Salerno's ability to create New Jersey neighborhoods changing with the decades is first-class.  His four pages about the six brothers going to fight in World War II are brilliantly conceived.  While I have many favorites in this title, the last two pages showing the three generations playing ball, like the background, is golden.


Brothers At Bat: The True Story Of An Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Steven Salerno is an outstanding picture book biography for several reasons, the easy, familiar accounting, the design, detail and skill used in the illustrations, the blending of the text with the pictures but most of all for the warmth the reader feels when they become acquainted with these brothers.  Reading this title makes you want to read more about the Acerra brothers, baseball, World's Fairs, or World War II because the past is so vividly brought to life.  I know for a fact I'm going to try to find my baseball glove.

Please follow the links to the author's and illustrator's websites by clicking on their names.  Steven Salerno has a fantastic display of illustrations from this title on his site.  Here is a link to A Classroom Discussion and Activity Guide.  Audrey Vernick had a special day at The Baseball Hall of Fame; article is linked here.  The video below was posted on YouTube by Audrey Vernick. It is actual footage of the brothers playing a game.