Who Is Shohei Ohtani?

Who Was . . . ? Series

by James Buckley Jr., Who HQ

Genres: Sports, Biography

56 pages, Library Binding

Published April 1, 2025

About the author

In addition to his work as a professional editor, James Buckley, Jr., is also the author of many books on American sports that are geared toward young fans and budding athletes.

Buckley, who has founded a company called Shoreline Publishing Group to produce books for reluctant readers, maintains that sports are far more than simple hobbies or ways to burn off excess energy.

Reviews

[Daniel Ray]

Great children’s book.

[Hilary]

Love Shohei <3

[Natalie]

I knew nothing about this person before listening to this book. I was very impressed with his life and the way the author presented his story.

[Cara]

When you go to a Cubs game but cheer for a player on the opposite team (me this summer)

[Becky B]

A quick biography of baseball player Shohei Ohtani that chronicles his route to Major League Baseball in the States from his home country of Japan, and his current accomplishments as of 2024.

I’ve heard of Ohtani before, but I really didn’t understand why he was a notable baseball player before reading this. It was quite interesting, and I like that he seems to be a humble guy.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Mentions some injuries and need for surgeries, but no violence.
Ethnic diversity: Ohtani is Japanese. It talks about him working with other Japanese players in Japan and then American players in the US (some of whom speak Spanish).
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: It is briefly mentioned that Ohtani had a guy who helped him who embezzled funds from him.

[Hailey Vittrup]

5 stars for the actual book content; 4 stars for the political correctness inserted into the timeline at the end… rounded down to 4 stars. This is a well-written and exciting book about Shohei Ohtani! I learned a lot from it, and I’m confident that others will too.