Play Ball!

by Jorge Posada, Raúl Colón (Illustrator), Robert Burleigh (Contributor)

Provides the story of a young boy, whose determination, hard work, and endless encouragement from his father, helped him to be the best player he could be for his local team--becoming a great pitcher and talented switch-hitter in the process. 50,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo.

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Childrens, Biography, Spanish Literature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2006

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a general lack of flow that I couldn't get past in this book. It seemed like a series of moments that didn't really share a narrative thread. I don't know if changing the organization of the pages would have helped, but it seemed like too many ideas were thrown in without enough concern for their order. Each event in the story is described vividly and I was interested, but I couldn't follow from one page to the next. I didn't get the Yankee Stadium part at all. I imagine it was inserted to appease the Yankee fans that are almost undoubtedly the target audience, but it didn't connect to what was happening around it. It seemed like an interruption to the story. I don't think I'd recommend this to my baseball fans unless they were really interested in Jorge Posada or the Yankees.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I remember a children's book being, but not bad. I think Posada's story could probably make a pretty good biography. Maybe now that he's at the end of his career, we might get something.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the childhood of the Yankee all-star catcher. Jorge Posada is an all-star catcher for the New York Yankees, a position he has held since 2000. This book is a great gift for any young baseball player.
Age Range: 6 - 10 years
Grade Level: 1 - 5

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of Jorge Posada learning how to switch hit.

While there really is one continuous story, it feels pretty disjointed. It's hard to tell how much time has passed, if the book is moving on from a subject or coming back to it, etc.

[Beckbridge Family]

As others have said, the flow was challenging. Multiple times, I flipped back a page, thinking maybe the pages had stuck together and I’d missed something. Lots of jumps with no transitions—very hard to follow.

[Shawn Aebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro basico sobre la juventud de Yankee's All-Star Jorge Posada. Es un muy corte revision de sus luchas para ser un batador ambidiestro. No es un bilingual libro.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A difficult read. Very disjointed narrative that bounced all over the place. If I was confused you can bet kids will be too.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disconnected story. Didn’t flow. It’s an AR book. 3rd-4th grade level.

[Jessicca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, written by the New York Yankees’ catcher, is the story of how Jorge grew up to be a baseball player. With his father’s help and reassurance, Jorge learns two very useful tools for a baseball player: how to believe in himself and how to switch-hit. On a trip to New York City, Jorge visits Yankee Stadium and through a pair of binoculars, can see the names in Monument Park of some of the greatest baseball players that ever played. Jorge is inspired by these legends and decides that he will play there someday. This story is recommended for ages 4-8 and would be a good tool to use for a child that loves baseball, but doesn’t like to read recreationally.