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The Greatest Game Ever Played
The 1958 NFL championship game is known to football fans as the "Greatest Game Ever Played." Featuring gridiron legends like Johnny Unitas, Frank Gifford, and Vince Lombardi, the Game marked the beginning of America’s infatuation with professional football.Now, Phil Bildner tells a heartwarming father-and-son story against the backdrop of this historic moment.When the New York Giants baseball team moves to San Francisco, young Sam discovers the other New York Giants—the football Giants. He convinces his skeptical Pop to come with him to the Game, and as Johnny Unitas engineers Baltimore’s legendary comeback, Sam and Pop rediscover the joy of rooting on their heroes together.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published August 3, 2006
1 person is currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Phil Bildner
34 books119 followersPhil Bildner is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for kids. His latest book is the groundbreaking, #OwnVoices middle grade novel, A High Five for Glenn Burke. He is the author of many children’s picture books including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize winning Marvelous Cornelius, the Texas Bluebonnet Award winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, Martina & Chrissie, Twenty-One Elephants, and The Soccer Fence. Phil is also the author of A Whole New Ballgame, Rookie of the Year, Tournament of Champions, and Most Valuable Players in the critically acclaimed middle grade Rip & Red series.
Phil grew up in Jericho, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. He studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and then attended law school at New York University School of Law. After passing the bar in New York and New Jersey, Phil worked as an associate at a large Manhattan law firm, but he quickly realized the legal profession wasn’t for him. So he followed his heart and went back to school, earning a master’s degree in early childhood and elementary education from Long Island University.
For eleven years, Phil taught in the New York City Public Schools. Teaching fifth and sixth grade in the Tremont section of the Bronx in the 1990s, he built an innovative ELA curriculum around song lyrics and music. Dave Matthews, Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Lauryn Hill, and Wyclef Jean all visited his classroom. Teaching middle school English and American History in Manhattan in the 2000s, Phil continued to integrate music and the arts into his curriculum, working with the Lincoln Center Institute, Broadway shows (Wicked, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and Off-Broadway shows (Def Poetry Jam, De la Guarda).
After leaving the classroom to write full time, Phil began chaperoning student-volunteer trips to New Orleans to help in the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. He founded The NOLA Tree, a non-profit youth service organization and served as the co-Executive Director.
These days, Phil lives in Newburgh, New York with his husband in a two hundred year old farmhouse. Most of the time, you’ll find him out in the yard playing with his dog named Kat or writing on the back porch (aka, his office) overlooking the Hudson River.
Phil grew up in Jericho, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. He studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and then attended law school at New York University School of Law. After passing the bar in New York and New Jersey, Phil worked as an associate at a large Manhattan law firm, but he quickly realized the legal profession wasn’t for him. So he followed his heart and went back to school, earning a master’s degree in early childhood and elementary education from Long Island University.
For eleven years, Phil taught in the New York City Public Schools. Teaching fifth and sixth grade in the Tremont section of the Bronx in the 1990s, he built an innovative ELA curriculum around song lyrics and music. Dave Matthews, Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Lauryn Hill, and Wyclef Jean all visited his classroom. Teaching middle school English and American History in Manhattan in the 2000s, Phil continued to integrate music and the arts into his curriculum, working with the Lincoln Center Institute, Broadway shows (Wicked, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and Off-Broadway shows (Def Poetry Jam, De la Guarda).
After leaving the classroom to write full time, Phil began chaperoning student-volunteer trips to New Orleans to help in the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. He founded The NOLA Tree, a non-profit youth service organization and served as the co-Executive Director.
These days, Phil lives in Newburgh, New York with his husband in a two hundred year old farmhouse. Most of the time, you’ll find him out in the yard playing with his dog named Kat or writing on the back porch (aka, his office) overlooking the Hudson River.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 21, 2017
Zzzz....zzzz......zzzzz
June 7, 2021
Fantastic illustrations and really good story.
October 11, 2022
Cute book
December 7, 2010
Phil Bildner came to our school four years ago, and yet this is the first time I have read this interesting book about football long ago (you know, in the fifties). Youngest chose this one because his library "didn't have any Christmas books" and he sat transfixed listening to the minute details of players from the sixty years ago. As a big Colts fan, he was thrilled that they pulled it out in the end (although he falsely predicted that the Giants would be the big winners since it was played in NYC). Interesting play by play make this book interesting for even the non-sports loving reader. I didn't know Frank Gifford was so...seasoned! Enjoyed by the both of us immensely, this book was a winner tonight.
January 5, 2014
Great historical fiction picture book that tells the story of the 1958 NY Giants vs. Colts football game, from the point of view of a young fan and his father. The story is set during the time shortly after the NY Giants baseball team moved to California, and fans are still angry and disappointed about losing their team. This story takes place before the Super Bowl came about and games were not regularly televised. The author does a wonderful job of describing the game and crucial plays. Even though I am not a big sports fan I enjoyed the story. I found this book while looking for new mentor texts for my personal narrative writing unit in second grade.
January 31, 2016
Set in the 1950s, this is a story of a little boys trying to get his dad interested in football (his dad is an ardent baseball fan - though the defection of NY Giants to San Francisco as soured him considerably).
After getting tickets to a game, the boy convinces his father to accompany him. They bond and both really get into the game.
Whether you will like this book or not depends a great deal on your view of sports - particularly football. I thought it was really boring because I could not care less about a game played over 50 years ago.
Illustrations were nice though.
After getting tickets to a game, the boy convinces his father to accompany him. They bond and both really get into the game.
Whether you will like this book or not depends a great deal on your view of sports - particularly football. I thought it was really boring because I could not care less about a game played over 50 years ago.
Illustrations were nice though.
July 1, 2008
A book about the 1958 Colts/Giants game, predating the Superbowl, but a game that many say inspired its development as it captivated fans across the nation.
What I like about this book is that it really captures the era and the excitement, it sets the scene well and gives some insight into what was going on in people's lives at the time. Then the momentum builds. I love the illustrations (in caricature style) After reading the book I felt like I had sat and listened to two old men reminisce about being there, and that was a cool feeling.
What I like about this book is that it really captures the era and the excitement, it sets the scene well and gives some insight into what was going on in people's lives at the time. Then the momentum builds. I love the illustrations (in caricature style) After reading the book I felt like I had sat and listened to two old men reminisce about being there, and that was a cool feeling.
July 29, 2016
This is a great historical fiction book for little boys to read. It's about a little boy who went to every New York Giants baseball game with his Papa. They were both upset when they found out that the team was getting moved to a different state. They both notice a football team will be playing instead of a baseball team so they both decide to go and soon find out that it was the greatest game ever played.
February 2, 2012
After the NY Giants baseball team moved to California, this young boy searches for a new sports team to follow and settles on the NY Giants football team. As father continues to mourn the loss of his Giants team, his son tries to spark his father's interest the sport of football. Can tickets to what turns out to be one of the most exciting Super Bowl games in history between the NY Giants and the Baltimore Colts (1958) change his mind?
February 1, 2012
When their beloved baseball team, the New York Giants, moves to California, Sam and Pop switch their loyalties to the other New York Giants and attend their championship game with the Baltimore Colts.
March 11, 2008
Picture book look at the beginning popularity of professional football and a game that is well known in football history with players Frank Gifford, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, and Johnny Unitas.
December 4, 2010
Good story for young boys with relation to sports, baseball, and football. good illustrations and history!
July 30, 2016
A really good picture book about the greatest game ever played!!!
January 13, 2016
L.G. 5 stars
November 23, 2023
Great story - feels like you are right there!
July 9, 2013
Hooray! for picture books
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews