Body Of Work

You simply can't live in it without viewing it as a miracle every single moment.  Your body automatically ensures you breathe in and breathe out.  It pumps blood throughout an intricate system of veins and arteries to and from your heart.  Consumed food and liquid is turned into fuel.  Bones and muscles allow us to perform any number of tasks like walking, holding hands, or winning an Olympic gold medal.  Our nervous system receives data and determines the best possible response.

In command of the nervous system (and our bodies) is our brain.  Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack (GodwinBooks, Henry Holt and Company, August 31, 2021) written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by Matthew Rivera, through the voice of a zombie chef, takes us on a tour of our brain and provides other intriguing information about the human body.   Learning and humor are appetizing items on this menu.

Don't worry.

I'm not going to eat your brain.  I

gave it up hours ago.

Knowing our brains are about 75 percent water makes them (and water) even more remarkable.  They are not one of six hundred plus muscles we have in our bodies.  They are essential.

Did you know we have no nerves in our brains?  They are nerve message receivers.  Our five senses send communications to them.  

When you compare our brain weight to the weight of a sperm whale's brain, our brains are comparatively large.  Our brains are absolutely loaded with neurons and glial cells which keep our neurons functioning.  The more you learn the stronger your neurons are.

Our brains have special parts: the stem, the cerebellum, and the four sections found in the cerebrum.  They are wrinkled indicating a certain level of intelligence.  Our zombie chef pleads one final time for a little taste or a tiny whiff of our brains; insisting she would be helping us conserve energy.  She leaves us with one more illuminating, mind-boggling fact.

Readers will gobble up the words in this book faster than a zombie can smell the presence of your brain due to the inviting blend of hilarity and knowledge author Stacy McAnulty supplies us.  Using a zombie chef is highly ingenious.  The contrast between the chef providing us with facts and making a meal of our command center engages readers from the first page to the final page.  Here is a passage.

So what makes human brains

yummier than whale brains?

Let's take a closer lick---I mean LOOK .  .  .

a closer look at the human brain.

Has a zombie ever looked as friendly (or as eager to meet you) as the zombie chef on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case?  Her clothes may be a bit worse for wear, but she looks professional.  The bold, bright color palette is engaging and welcoming.  

To the left of the spine a sunny yellow canvas highlights these words:

To read this book about brains,

you will need to use your

brain, while keeping your delicious

brain away from---you guessed it---

a brain-loving zombie!

There is also a chalk board menu on the wall over a breakfast of fried eggs and mushrooms along with a cup of tea with honey.  The items on the menu board are altered to read bran and breakfast for the word brain.  On the opening and closing endpapers thirteen animal brains, including human, are showcased.  A vibrant two-page picture of the chef's kitchen is shown for the verso and title pages.  The dedications are there, too.

Double-page visuals and single-page illustrations alternate throughout the book enhancing the pacing of the narrative.  Additionally, six panels are created to elevate the contrast between the information and commentary given to readers by the zombie.  Backgrounds shift in color depending on where the zombie chef is inside her cafe.  Sometimes, we are close to the zombie chef for emphasis and other times, we are given a wider view.

These illustrations by Matthew Rivera are filled with details like the steam from the toaster being a placeholder for the dedications.  Readers will see fairly normal ingredients lining the zombie chef's shelves but some other food looks a bit questionable.  There are several crows and mice frequently seen in the images.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  Chef Zombie is close to readers.  Her upper body and face fill most of the left side.  She is holding a specials menu in her left hand, as well as a scoop. (Hmmmm. . .) On the specials page it advertises CEREBELLUM with the words FRESH & SEASONAL underneath.  Matthew Rivera has drawn an outline of a human head with the cerebellum colored differently than the stem and cerebrum.

The presentation of information in the witty text and lively visuals in Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by Matthew Rivera makes this an outstanding work of nonfiction.  There is no doubt this chef knows of what she speaks.  At the close of the book is an author's note, Brain Facts, and a list of sources.  Make sure you have this title on your personal and professional bookshelves.  

To discover more about Stacy McAnulty and Matthew Rivera and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Stacy McAnulty has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Matthew Rivera has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Stacy McAnulty, Matthew Rivera, and Lori Kilkelly are guests of Kirsti Call and Kim Chaffee on Picture Book Look.  At Macmillan Publishers you can view interior images.

Sometimes you read a nonfiction picture book and think----Where was this book when I was in school?  The author and illustrator, using their combined talents, have made something difficult easier to understand.  The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA (Little Bee Books, September 14, 2021) written by Rajani LaRocca, MD with illustrations by Steven Salerno approaches cells, genetics and DNA definitively and distinctively.

Why aren't you fuzzy like a dog,

or buzzy like a bee?

Why can't you eat ants with your nose,

or breathe beneath the sea?

We readers read several more questions making references to fish, sharks, lizards, and nocturnal animals with night vision.  Our characteristics are compared to those of frogs, spiders, egg-laying creatures, and those that use their wings to soar.  A page turn begins an explanation.  We start with cells.

Cells are much too small to see with our naked eyes.  Inside each cell are directions for how each thing is to grow.  These directions, 

a secret code,

are called DNA.

They look like twisted ladders.  They determine what we will be.  They decide which characteristics will combine to make us unique.

Parts of the secret code are named genes.  We get genes from our parents and both of their parents.  As we continue to read, we are remined of exactly what the secret code does.  DNA gives us our physical characteristics, but what we decide to do with those is entirely up to us.  Readers are offered four possible scenarios with choices.  

YOU choose . . .

The rhyming couplets penned by Rajani LaRocca, MD are a welcoming cadence.  Inside some of those couplets are additional rhyming words.  Explanations of cells, DNA, physical characteristics we inherit, genes, proteins, and chromosomes are skillfully explained and woven into the sentences.  You'll be amazed at how much you will learn!  Here is the second passage of two initially addressing DNA.

It looks like twisted ladders,

or tiny, twirling noodles.

It makes us into people,

instead of into poodles.

Opening the matching dust jacket and book case is like opening a gift.  It is the gift of YOU.  The canvas and designs on the front, right, and on the back, left, extend into the jacket flaps.  Elements from several illustrations frame the text on the front.  Each one is highly animated.  You want to jump into this book!

To the left, on the back, in shades of teal for the background, enlarged cells and DNA provide a pattern behind the main item.  It is a girl looking straight at the reader.  Her hands are on her hips.  A quiet smile lights up her face.  Her shirt in pale purple is covered in DNA.  Her pigtails stand out on either side of her head.  Inside the braid of those pigtails are DNA.

The opening and closing endpapers in bright teal are covered in rows of DNA.  The enlarged DNA continues on the verso, dedication and title pages along the bottom.  Within the DNA we see a child  progressively growing.

Each illustration by Steven Salerno whether it is a partial page, a full page, or a dramatic double-page picture asks readers to participate.  We kneel with an anteater, swim with sharks, and ponder why a chicken lays eggs.  The colorful landscapes and backgrounds are layered with intricate details, diagrams, and labeled enlargements.  You'll gasp at some of the page turns.  In a word, every page turn depicts energy. 

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the explanation of chromosomes.  It is a double-page image.  The girl shown on the back of the jacket and case is the main element.  We see her upper body and face enlarged.  The gutter divides her.  On the left in yellow and gold we see two sets of great-grandparents, her mother's parents, and her mother.  This side of her face is yellow and the chromosomes on her shirt are blue.  On her right side, in blue and purple, we trace the genes of her father, his parents, and their respective parents.  Her face is blue and the chromosomes on her shirt are yellow.  Within the braids on her pigtails the DNA in varied colors is shown.

Once you've read The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA written by Rajani LaRocca, MD with illustrations by Steven Salerno, you will understand why this book is valuable at numerous reading and age levels.  At the close of the book are two pages of DNA Facts and a list of three websites to consult.  This is followed by a two-page Banana DNA Experiment.  In the lower, left-hand corner of the closing endpapers is a Selected Bibliography.  I highly recommend this title for all your collections.

To learn more about Rajani LaRocca, MD and Steven Salerno and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Steven Salerno has many images from this book on his site.  Rajani LaRocca, MD has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Steven Salerno has accounts on Facebook and Tumblr.  The book trailer was premiered at librarian, lecturer at Rutgers, and writer John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read.  Rajani LaRocca, MD was recently featured at author Anitra Rowe Schulte's site and at Publishers Weekly.  At Simon & Schuster you can view interior images.

I Call Banker!

It lasts for hours; sometimes even days.  Many a summer afternoon is spent on a large blanket under a shade tree, on a deck beneath an umbrella, around a kitchen or dining room table or on a bedroom floor; a board centered among a gathered group.  The hours race by on snow days or wild winter evenings as minds strategize while others hope for sheer luck to alter their course. It stakes a claim in the memories of childhood and adulthood.  Around the world it's a staple in many homes. Monopoly is a game firmly cemented in human cultural history.

Monopoly has numerous editions and versions.  It can be played electronically and online.  What many of these players might not know is the origin of this famous pastime.  Pass Go And Collect $200: The Real Story Of How Monopoly Was Invented (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, July 17, 2018) written by Tanya Lee Stone with illustrations by Steven Salerno is an eye-opening look at exactly who is responsible.

What kind of Monopoly player are YOU? Do you save your money until you land on Park Place or Boardwalk?  Do you buy up all the properties you can?  Do you always want to be banker?

Regardless of the type of player you are or how long a typical game lasts for you and others, to find the beginnings of Monopoly we need to dial back the clock more than one hundred years.  Elizabeth, Lizzie, Magie was a woman with gifts, many gifts.  One of the things most upsetting to her, though, was the inequality between rich landlords and poverty-stricken tenants.  To demonstrate this gap in wealth, Lizzie used one of her gifts and designed a game.

Lizzie's game was meant for adults but she believed children were clever enough to benefit from playing it.  She filed and was granted a patent in 1904.  She was thorough in outlining both sets of rules, a picture of the game board and the pieces to be used.  You can't help but read her rules of play and see the direct parallel to the game you've played countless times.  Lizzie called her original The Landlord Game.

Before long people were making their own boards and adapting the game.  It began to be called Monopoly by students in a university business class.  Its popularity was growing. Twice, the first time in 1909, Lizzie took her game to the Parker Brothers company.  They turned her down.  With a renewed patent in 1924 she was still adapting her game's rules.  Other people continued to make variations, too.  One of the more lasting was in 1930 by a woman living in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In 1930s the Great Depression left people wealthy and poor alike in dire conditions. Now there was a man named Charles Darrow, jobless, who played the 1930 version at a friends' home.  He liked it so much he began to make his own with new and improved changes. And, unlike others, he sold his version and took credit as its creator!  In four years, Charles was marketing his game.

He was turned down by other companies but department stores began to buy individual copies.  The success of these sales got the attention of the Parker Brothers company, who had turned him down too.  There was a huge problem with buying and selling Charles Darrow's game.  Lizzie Magie had a patent.  What happened next is still a subject for discussion.


This book is written in a style both captivating and informative by Tanya Lee Stone.  Her first three paragraphs make connections with each reader drawing us into her story.  She gives us personal and specific details about Elizabeth, Lizzie, Magie and her game as well as the historical setting prompting her to devise The Landlord Game.  Each step of the way she builds her story of Lizzie, growing our respect for this woman.

When Charles Darrow appears in the narrative, we can identify with his dilemma and his initiative. Tanya Lee Stone continues with her same use of language and overall tone but we know a conflict is coming.  The concluding two paragraphs are especially important.  They further engage readers in this story.  Here is a passage about Lizzie and one about Charles.

Elizabeth Magie---or Lizzie, as she was called---was a woman of many talents.  She was smart, made people laugh easily, wrote poetry and short stories, and enjoyed acting.  Sometimes Lizzie would dress in a costume, knock on her own door, and trick her husband into thinking she was someone else!  She wasn't afraid to speak her mind publicly, either, which was brave behavior for a woman at the time.

He made each one by hand, drawing the game board on a large piece of oilcloth with pen and ink and using oil paint for the colored bands.  He cut scraps of wood into houses and hotels and painted those too.  He also typed up the rules.  Each game took about eight hours to make. 


Even though the people around the table playing Monopoly on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case are from another era, there is something about the scene with the game pieces, houses, hotel, dice and money which transports readers to every game of Monopoly they have played.  Each portion of this image, including but not limited to the color choices and font style, is a reflection of the game.  To the left, on the back, an interior illustration shows both Lizzie and Charles, back to back, claiming to be the inventor.  A card placed along the lower portion of their bodies reads:

Chance
Invent Popular Game
Become Millionaire  

A familiar figure on the card sits in a chair with his feet propped on a desk.

The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of alternating yellow and orange rectangles (cards) with a question mark on the yellow and a dollar sign on the orange.  Beneath the dedication on the verso is a light bulb.  Striding between the text on the title page, carrying a bundle of money on his cane is Rich Uncle Pennybags.

These illustrations were originally created with

crayon, ink, gouache, and pastel on paper.  After scanning the drawings, he (the artist) layered and arranged them into the final compositions using adobe Photoshop, with additional coloring applied.

With the exception of four single page pictures, all of the visuals extend across two pages.  Believe me when I say they are crackling with life and authenticity.  Steven Salerno's ability to shift perspectives within a single image or from picture to picture is excellent. His attention to details, the architecture, clothing, games, Lizzie's hair style and eyebrows, literally takes you back in time. For emphasis and pacing portions of his illustrations are larger than life.

One of my many favorite pictures is of Lizzie standing in front of The United States Patent Office in1904.  The office extends from the left side to the right side bleeding off the edges.  It provides an imposing background for Lizzie who is standing in front close to readers on the right side.  She is dressed in appropriate attire, smiling.  In both her hands she is holding her patent sheet for her game.  A larger circle with the patent number is framed in red with an arrow pointing to the number on the patent sheet.  This is an important visual.  It matches a final statement by Tanya Lee Stone in a series of paragraphs.

The patent was granted in January 1904, at a time when women received fewer than one percent of all US patents.


If you want to give the ultimate gift for a birthday, holiday or housewarming of the game Monopoly you have to include Pass Go And Collect $200: The Real Story Of How Monopoly Was Invented written by Tanya Lee Stone with illustrations by Steven Salerno.  It's a spirited and compelling account of the truth in both words and pictures.  It represents inspiration, innovation and determination.  At the close of the book are Tremendous Trivia!, Monopoly Math, A Note From The Author and Sources.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Tanya Lee Stone and Steven Salerno and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the links attached to their names.  Tanya Lee Stone maintains a Twitter account.  Steven Salerno maintains an account on Facebook as does Tanya.  To view interior images please take a few moments to stop at the publisher's website.


Be sure to check out the titles listed at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by Alyson Beecher by others participating in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

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.

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.