Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story

by Nikki Tate, Katie Kath (Illustrator)

In this empowering picture book perfect for young feminists, a gutsy baseball-playing girl and her bricklaying mom celebrate when love and hard work triumph over nerves.

A young pitcher steps up to the plate.

A hardworking mom interviews for her biggest job yet.

Girls and women aren't always welcome in the worlds of baseball and bricklaying. But with practice, the right gear, and a whole lot of determination, this intrepid mom and daughter thrive under pressure. Readers get to see their parallel narratives unfold in tandem, coming together at the end for a sweet ice cream!

With fun, punchy writing and radiant illustrations, this touching story will be a hit for budding activists, kids who love sports, and the moms who cheer them on.


An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Family, Baseball, Childrens, Feminism, Construction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published March 24, 2020

About the author

Nikki Tate was born in Birmingham, England, but spent her childhood roaming the globe. In Australia, Nikki battled a tarantula, in Banff she was chased by a mother black bear, and in Ontario she wrestled with a Canada goose.

Despite the fact that she has been kicked, bitten, stung, pecked, and sprayed, she has never been able to resist injured, lost, or lonely-looking animals. Over the years, her menagerie has included horses, dogs, cats, birds, snakes, squirrels, rabbits, rats, gerbils, spiders, crayfish, hamsters, and a pond full of koi fish. These critters and their antics often find their way into her stories. Not surprisingly, Nikki's favourite book when she was little was Black Beauty, though she also loved The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and The Hobbit.

Nikki has always enjoyed writing stories and still has the notebooks she used when she was eight years old. She made up stories about animals, plane crashes, outhouses, and Doctor Dolittle's travels in outer space.

A born ham, Nikki danced, acted, and modeled her way through her younger years. She still loves to perform, most often as a storyteller. She also enjoys camping, kayaking, horseback riding, travel, and building big things with sticks and string. Nikki lives on a tiny farm on Vancouver Island in British Columbia with a collection of furred, feathered, and finned creatures.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mom and her daughter both live out their dreams, one on the ball field and the other at work.

The story is told in words and short phrases, staccato, like an abbreviated haiku. Fresh and appealing.

[Gary Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story, a young girl and her single mother are trying to earn their ways into challenging environments. The girl wants to play on an all-boy baseball team, and her mother wants to become a bricklayer. Both women work hard, learn from mistakes, apply their knowledge to their skills, and enjoy their successes together. Nikki Tate’s text is mostly single-word sentences that suggest the characters' thoughts more than their spoken language. Katie Kath’s comic-like drawings keep the mood light even when the situations are more intense. Home Base is a nice picture book for emphasizing female empowerment, supportive families, growth mindsets, and other positive ideals.

[Abigail Ferlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story by Nikki Tate is a story that follows a girl through her quest of becoming a part of a local baseball team well simultaneously following her mothers as she works as a bricklayer. I had very high expectations for this book because of its title. I was a college softball player who grew up playing baseball and my mom was always my biggest supporter so as you could expect I was very excited to read this book. I was sadly disappointed. The flow of the book is very choppy, and it takes a few pages to realize that they are going back and forth between the daughter and the mother throughout their day. I actually had to read it twice to fully understand what Tate was trying to do by comparing and contrasting the mother and daughters’ days. I truly believe that children reading this book will not get the reference of a bricklayer as being the home base of anything such as a house or building, but they will get the baseball reference because it is something that they would be familiar with. As hard as it is to say I don’t believe that I would choose to put this book in my classroom library in a few years.

[FM Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOVE the illustrations and the positive representation of a single parent family, with some financial struggles, and a mom with tattoos and an alternative-lifestyle haircut :). The illustration style was a treat too. But the choice to just have single words rather than a narrative, over such a long story, I felt just didn't work. I feel like something like All the World does it better, short sentences, but a consistent rhythm and a refrain that is returned to throughout. Here it was just as if a book for early readers got mashed up into a book for older kids with feminist themes. Disappointing because it's so great to see representation of girls playing sports and women doing construction without commentary or conflict. Will look for more from this author/illustrator but this needed some work.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mother and daughter both have big days ahead of them: the daughter is trying out for the softball team; Mom has a new job, building a patio, that she is attempting. Though the skills needed are different, their attitudes are the same: courage to try something new and being ready to work hard to be successful. At home that night they are tired, but their hard work is rewarded with a place on the team and a bigger project. And at the end of the day, they celebrate their success together.

I love the double meaning of the title. With minimal text, this book illustrates that the positive habits we build has kids, like persistence and courage, are used when we become adults, as well.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more text that was giving a story. Instead, it is just a few words per page telling you a little something about what is going on and you need to fill in the rest. However, the moms modern haircut and that tattoo on her arm makes up for anything I felt was "lacking" at first. Perfect for a child just starting to pick out words to solo read (or with help) and possible could make you have to look up why "butter" was used in bricklaying. A "girl power" read with a girl and mom doing not traditionally considered "girl work."

[Annese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it and I don't like it. They both love what they do, but mother and daughter never get to share in that joy with each other.

I wish this was a wordless picture book about two sisters. Each excelling at her own thing, afterwards meeting for dinner to talk about their respective days. Then, a weekend aligns where big sis can attend a baseball game, and little sis can tag along on a job site. Both sisters relish the moment seeing each other in the zone, their "happy place." Then, they go for ice cream to celebrate more sister bonding. The end.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told with few words.
Readers see a mother and daughter facing challenges that might not match up with what others expect. The daughter is trying out for a baseball team, and the mother is working in construction. Side by side pictures tell the story of both portions of their lives.
The illustrations are lovely and tell just enough without revealing the end. The words share enough to capture interest and emotions and make readers figure out what is happening beyond the picture.
Terrific for family or class discussion.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this. It was super cute. There isn't a ton to it, but it communicated the relationship well and how connected they are to each other to help through times they are nervous about but proud of. Very good illustrations. I liked that the mother and daughter didn't look alike...soooo often in mother/daughter books the daughter is just a miniature version of mom, and to see them have a relationship not based on them being just alike without that being overtly in text was a nice touch.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be hard to read aloud given the unusual picture set-up (more similar to a graphic novel with panels than a traditional picture book). But I think it could lend itself to interesting discussion/lessons about inference, and it does a lot of subtle work depicting women being successful completing work typically associated with men.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming STEM/STEAM -linked text that uses parallels in text, word choice/order, and illustration to portray a young girl seeking to succeed at baseball with her mother pursuing a job/career in construction/hardscaping. Their emotional, physical, and social journeys to success are well developed and encourage prediction, conneciton, and "read it again" fun.

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

A girl tries out for a baseball team, makes it, and gets to pitch a game. A mother goes to a job interview, lays a brick foundation, and builds a patio. Simple text puts these two in juxtaposition as they go about their days feeling similar emotions--nervousness, excitement, determination, and success.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mother-daughter story needs complete sentences, not cryptic fragments, to tell how the girl and her mother aspire to be successful in their respective fields of endeavor. The third star acknowledges the feminist themes, female protagonists, and non-traditional roles that show young readers a wider range of possibilities for being who they are and doing what they love in the world.

[Abby Johnson]

In simple text, this story shows the mirroring stories of a single mother and a daughter both facing hard things in their life. Daughter tries out for the baseball team, mother heads to work as a mason. This book offers good representation of a woman in a mostly-male career.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute dual story following a day in the life of a mom and daughter. Very short action words and phrases used. Good for a more inexperienced reader. Shows various commonalities between the daughter playing baseball and the mom working at her job.

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My preschooler loves building and baseball so this is totally right up his alley. spoiler alert: the book ends with success for both mother and daughter and they celebrate it with ICE CREAM! what could be better?

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mother and daughter start their day together. The daughter is starting baseball practice and the mother is starting a new bricklaying job. Told in graphic style panels the is a fun story of non-traditional gender roles.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. I wonder where the dad was. It was cool that the mom did... would you call it masonry? She built the patio out of bricks. Is that usually a one person job, or would multiple people work on it? Anyway, it was kind of two separate stories about the mom and the daughter.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uplifting story about a mom and daughter supporting each other as they both try out for something (baseball - daughter, job - mom). Liked the illustrations connecting with the text.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several days in the life of a mother and a daughter are paralleled as they begin new adventures one building and one playing baseball. few words but meaningful. elementary and up

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun dual story of a mom and a daughter each taking on a new challenge.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story the illustrations tell is great. The text doesn't add much. I actually think it would be better as a wordless picture book.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual mother-daughter story, though the disjointed prose didn't always work for me.

[Maggie Ignasiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adjacent, independent, though interconnected lives. I love it. These women are strong, and they are so identifiable.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it. A modern mom & daughter story told mostly through illustrations.
This story shows a mom starting a new job and a daughter joining a new team, as they work hard and do what they love.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I just don't understand this one. Why did the mom miss her daughters big game that was clearly important to her??

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture Book- Realistic. This book is very different from other stories but in a good way. It shows a mother and daughter as they go about their lives in a split-screen format. The daughter is trying out for the baseball team and the mother is interviewing for a bricklayer job. As the daughter suits up with her Cap. Glove. Shoes. the mother on the facing page suits up with her Gloves. Goggles. Boots. The story is not so much a narrative as it is a series of words, which makes it better for reading one-on-one than with a storytime crowd. The pictures add a ton to the story's minimal text, so it could be used to compare which information the reader gets from the pictures and which information they get from the text. A celebratory ice cream trip is the perfect ending to this sweet tale of the bond between a mother and daughter.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.