Derek Jeter Presents: Night at the Stadium

Gideon #1

by Phil Bildner, Tom Booth (Illustrator)

“Watching a game at Yankee Stadium is Gideon’s idea of the best day ever, especially when his favorite team wins! Now that the game is over, he’s going to get an autograph of his favorite player—but then Gideon gets separated from his family and tumbles into a secret part of the stadium. There he discovers a magical world where the rakes and hoses, the bats and balls, the food, and even the monuments in Monument Park have a story to tell. But can Gideon finally find his family and get the autograph he really wants?”

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Baseball, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

Phil 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.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

After enjoying a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, Gideon gets separated from his family in the crowd, and somehow finds his way behind the scenes, to the employee-only section of the stadium. Here he meets a series of anthropomorphized, talking objects, from the tools used to clean the ball-field to the balls and bats used to play the game, to the food consumed by the spectators. Gideon asks each group of objects how to find his family, eventually finding his way to Monument Park, where the Babe Ruth monument directs him, he meets Derek Jeter, and is then reunited with his family.

I cannot say, all told, that I was that impressed by Derek Jeter Presents: Night at the Stadium, which is described on the front dust-jacket flap as "Night at the Museum meets Alice's in Wonderland ." Although not a huge baseball fan, I do appreciate engaging sports stories, but the narrative here just felt flat and uninteresting to me. I didn't find the antics of the various anthropomorphized objects amusing, I wasn't that thrilled when Gideon got to meet Mr. Jeter, and I couldn't summon much enthusiasm when he was finally reunited with his family. The text just failed to evoke much of a response at all, and I found the digital artwork flat and unappealing. The only thing I did like, which prompted me to give two stars instead of three, was that artist Tom Booth depicted a bi-racial family in his illustrations. I'm probably not the ideal audience for this one, but I would imagine that even rabid baseball fans could do better...

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book bills itself as Night at the Museum meets Field of Dreams. I think that might be a bit of a stretch - maybe more of a baseball night at the museum but a tad more surreal? It was cute.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for story time today. I didn't want to throw it but it has very little to recommend it. Point in its favor: the story features a mixed race family. The rest of it? A vehicle for Derek Jeter to make money.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kid gets separated from his parents after the Yankees game. Wandering through the tunnels, he meets friendly field equipment, engaging ballpark food, and playful balls and bats. Finally, he meets Derek Jeter, gets the coveted autograph, and finds his family.

[Cheryl]

Well that was surreal. More in a random way than a good way, imo. Like a crazy movie trailer, with all the good bits, and the real movie turns out to be lame. I read it because I kinda liked A Day at the Beach and wanted to see what else Gideon could get up to, but this was very different.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

While at Yankee Stadium for a game a young boy gets lost in the back areas and meets many things but will he meet his hero? Funny and imaginative. Preschool and up

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the representation of a mixed family but the story line was not good. You could have gone a million different ways but this wasn’t a good choice.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very silly

[Kathryn (Dragon Bite Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog, Nine Pages .

This is a review of the hard copy, which Goodreads does not yet seem to have listed.

As a Red Sox supporter, it was difficult to be enthusiastic while reading the first line of this story: “The Yankees win!” I actually thought this a fairly successful celebrity sponsored picture book—if the self-insertion of Derek Jeter seems—though it makes some sense within the text—a bit… forced. I wasn’t too fond of the repetitive “Talking [noun]?” “Of course we talk.” “We all talk,” though I recognize that repetition is often a hallmark of texts for young audiences—maybe not for the audiences of this book, with its nine-year-old protagonist. Talking food is always a bit of a sticking point for me too. Why have to eat, so do we want to imagine our food as characters? I’m more okay with it in a world free of humans—as with Peanut Butter and Cupcake. This team—Jeter and Blinder and Booth—gets points for an interracial protagonist. Some of the illustrations are pretty stunning, just wonderfully vibrant. The book for its emphasis on baseball, and the Yankees in particular, and its jargon of the sport, has a limited appeal, but there are surprisingly not all that many picture books about baseball—and many of those are bios or histories, so such a book may be a welcome gift to many young fans of the game.

[Kid Lit Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gideon has just spent the evening watching the New York Yankees win their game. Now it’s time to get autographs, and there is only one autograph Gideon is missing in his autograph book—Derek Jeter’s. Almost immediately, Gideon realizes he has lost his autograph book. While trying to return to his seat for his book, Gideon gets jostled this way and that by the people leaving the stadium. Before he knows it, Gideon has lost his family.

Gideon through an unusual door leading to a most unusual part of Yankee Stadium. These internal tunnels lead to all sorts of interesting places, but Gideon is more interested in finding his way back to his family. Will Gideon find his way back, given the inability of good directions he receives? Will he get the one

Originally Published at Kid Lit Reviews; To Read the Fulll Review and View Interior Art, Go To: http://bit.ly/NightAtStadium

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gideon has all of the NY Yankee's autographs except one. But when he loses his autograph book and gets separated from his family, Gideon ends up behind the scenes talking to rakes, hoses, bats, balls, and stadium food. Each one send him in a different direction. At Monument Park he talks to the Babe Ruth monument who sends him in the right direction and he runs into his hero... Derek Jeter who has his autograph book and signs the front cover. When Gideon finally finds his family no one believes his wild tale, but at least he still has his autograph.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Jeter fans will be drawn to this fun, original story with an ending to be envious of.
Emotions range from excitement, fear, surprise, elation, and wonder as Gideon gets lost after the game. It felt like some of my dreams - going up and down hallways, trying to get somewhere!
Digitally rendered illustrations have contrast with the family's white Yankee shirts. Mixed racial family has big round eyes, but Jeter is shown more realistically.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story about a boy who loses his autograph book while at a game. He runs all over the stadium looking for it and meets many talking objects- rakes and hoses to keep the grass groomed, bats, balls, and bases, concession food, until finally he finds his autograph book with a very important person.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun baseball book about Gideon who gets lost in Yankee Stadium. He meets a lot of new friends including Derek Jeter and has a fun adventure. If your kids enjoy baseball they will like this silly story.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from this family's terrible taste in baseball (:-p) a cute book. The story doesn't quite live up to its potential, but it's still fun.

[The Book Box]

This was a birthday gift from Auntie Kim! Mama read it to me before bed the other night. I listened to the whole thing without fidgeting!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read a loud story about a boy's night at Yankee Stadium. A little long and busy illustrations but a fun read for the baseball and especially (Derek Jeter) fan!

[Amy Allgeier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Augh. Such high hopes for this one. I'm only giving it two stars because, well...I'm not sure why. I love Phil's work usually, but I'm guessing this one wasn't his idea..??? So much potential...

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked this out for my Mom who is a Yankees fan and a Derek Jeter fan so figured she'd like this. She's still mourning his retirement. This was cute but a limited appeal, made my Mom happy and it's not even Mother's Day.

[Laura Salas]

Disappointed to see such a vanity project from a respected publisher. Maybe Jeter fans will love it, but I didn't.