Beans Baker, Number 5 (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3) by Richard Torrey

by Richard Torrey

When he is given an unlucky uniform number, Beans Baker considers giving up baseball rather than face kidding from the other players.

Genres: Childrens

Library Binding

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Denize Teo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as a present for my birthday on 2OO3. Its Beans Baker Number Five. It’s about a boy named Beans. He joined the baseball team and was excited. Beans couldn't wait as he thought of number 21. He always dreamed of it because 21 were the number that his hero wore: THE GREAT ROBERTO. But when coach Munhall called the number 21, he gave it to Beans Rival, Sheldon. Sheldon teased him, and told him not to wear his shirt backwards. Beans was embarrassed as the number he got, was 5. Everyone knew that number. Haskins, a formal baseball player, wore that number. He hit a home run in the first major game, but ran the wrong way. As he knew he would be teased, he quit baseball, FOREVER.He had to wear a sweater over so that friends and rivals wouldn't see. But he kept missing. It was the worst baseball pratised Beans ever had. When he told his friends he wanted to quit the team, they were shocked.

The next pratise, he didn't attend, as he was afraid that he might be the laughing stock there. He told his mom he was not feeling good. But he was not sick, until he thought of the number five, then he felt queasy.

With the help of Chester and Lindsay, Beans knew that a number could not stop him from the game. He had to go. Sheldon teased him once more. When he stepped up to the plate, the other group teased him. As he didn’t go for pratise, he was told to sit on the bench. Chester and Lindsay hit twice but was out. When it was Sheldon's turn, he fainted and his pants ripped. It was up to Beans.

He hit a home run!! And he won he game!! Ice cream was Coach Munhall's treat, and they ate happily.

What I like about this story is that, a number or anything else must not stop you from doing what you love. It may be embarrassing, but once its over, you will be happy that you actually made it through.

END OF BOOK REVIEW

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun baseball book to read. Any player that has ever been on a team can't wait until they get to either choose or have a number 'assigned' to them. And that's what happened in this story. The number everyone wanted went to the bully of the team and the most horrible number that was associated with a major league player that bombed out the first time he was up to bat, was given to the main character. So everyone teased the little boy and he decided to just quit playing. His friends kept telling him it was 'just a number' and they decided to quit as well. But he talked them into keeping playing, and in the process talked himself into playing. He was benched due to missing practice (teaching children that they have to be punished for consequences they do) but in the end on e of the players was injured and so he was up to bat! And with that and his confidence he hit a homerun! Showing everyone including himself that it was just another number.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story for beginning readers about baseball and the significance of a shirt number. It's a simple story, with lots of colorful illustrations, but with 48 pages, it's sure to encourage young readers as they progress toward chapter books. We enjoyed reading this book together.