This beautiful book, based on Ernest L. Thayer's Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888, was illustrated by Christopher Bing and won a Caldecott Honor award in 2001. The book is geared to ages seven through twelve and is a tribute to Thayer's famous poem written in 1888. It is no wonder this title was recognized for its illustrations. The pages are sepia-toned, giving it an appropriate antique look. Pictures of torn newspaper clippings, advertisements, ticket stubs, and antique baseball cards (one in particular appears to be a Boston Red Sox player, and the illustrator boasts of being a Red Sox fan!) are scattered throughout the pages. Everything Bing has placed on the pages relates directly to baseball and/or reflects the time period in which the story takes place. One of my favorite pictures rests on the inside cover - a presumed-to-be old index card from the Library of Congress card catalog, typewritten with Thayer's first edition data of Casey at the Bat. A faint shoe marking appears on the top left-hand corner of the card, as if someone has stepped on it with his shoe, and the words "high circulation staff" are stamped on the card, as if it were done with a librarian's stamp pad years ago. Also on the inside cover are two ticket stubs to the Mudville game of June 3, 1888, the fictitious game recounted in the poem; these stubs are effective because it makes the reader (at least it did me!) question whether or not this was a true story or and a true baseball game that took place. The first page of the book depicts an illustration of the fictitious Mudville Monitor newspaper front page with the headline "Casey at the Bat." When you read the text, you see that the newspaper column is not really an article - it's the dedication to the book, the acknowledgments, and notes about the illustrations from Bing. I really enjoyed the clever ways Bing implemented parts of the story and/or book into the illustrations in this manner.
This poem immediately draws the reader into the action of the story, the last inning of an intense ball game with a meek outlook for the "Mudville Nine." The score is four to two, and fans are praying that Casey will make it up to bat, evidently the only hope for the team to win. "They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that — We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat." (The page with that line shows the crowd in the stadium and a detailed illustration of older U.S. currency laying across the page.) The lineup does not look promising, with two players, Flynn and Jimmy Blake, coming up to bat that were deemed "a lulu and....a cake." Supporters and the team itself are melancholy, with not much hope that these players will be able to rally the team to victory. However, Flynn drives a single and Blake "tore the cover off the ball" (this page is accompanied by Bing's picture of a massacred ball with the words "the cover of the ball" underneath it), leaving Jimmy safe at second and Flynn at third. The crowd cheered, "for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat."
The reader at this point is convinced all will be well, when Casey comes up to bat confident and sneering at the pitcher, amidst thunderous applause and 10,000 eyes resting on him. Casey takes two pitches, and the umpire calls them both strikes. Though the crowd booed and hissed, Casey held his hand up and looked at the audience scornfully. "And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again."
Even at the end of the book, I was just convinced Casey would hit a home run because of the confidence he displayed and the crowd's reactions. He obviously was a player who had bailed the team out before, someone they knew could win the game. "The air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow..." After this quote the book shows a closeup shot of Casey swinging with all his might. "But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out."
I was shocked by the ending of the book. The language and the illustrations both gave me the impression that Casey would save the day and win the game. The lesson to be learned here by children and adults alike is that you can't depend on one person to bail you out, and that sometimes even the best players aren't able to win the game. Even the best players strike out. You can also look at it from the viewpoint that Casey was overconfident and did not focus like he should have. The reader might conclude from the description of Casey that he is cocky and maybe a little pompous.
When I saw this book on the list of Caldecotts I immediately wanted to read it because I remember my 13-year-old son (a huge baseball fan since t-ball at age five) reading this poem and studying it when he was on the academic team. He memorized parts of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wondered why my son's academic team coach wanted the team to be familiar with this poem. I see now that it is a poem telling a story with which children who play sports can relate.
This poem immediately draws the reader into the action of the story, the last inning of an intense ball game with a meek outlook for the "Mudville Nine." The score is four to two, and fans are praying that Casey will make it up to bat, evidently the only hope for the team to win. "They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that — We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat." (The page with that line shows the crowd in the stadium and a detailed illustration of older U.S. currency laying across the page.) The lineup does not look promising, with two players, Flynn and Jimmy Blake, coming up to bat that were deemed "a lulu and....a cake." Supporters and the team itself are melancholy, with not much hope that these players will be able to rally the team to victory. However, Flynn drives a single and Blake "tore the cover off the ball" (this page is accompanied by Bing's picture of a massacred ball with the words "the cover of the ball" underneath it), leaving Jimmy safe at second and Flynn at third. The crowd cheered, "for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat."
The reader at this point is convinced all will be well, when Casey comes up to bat confident and sneering at the pitcher, amidst thunderous applause and 10,000 eyes resting on him. Casey takes two pitches, and the umpire calls them both strikes. Though the crowd booed and hissed, Casey held his hand up and looked at the audience scornfully. "And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again."
Even at the end of the book, I was just convinced Casey would hit a home run because of the confidence he displayed and the crowd's reactions. He obviously was a player who had bailed the team out before, someone they knew could win the game. "The air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow..." After this quote the book shows a closeup shot of Casey swinging with all his might. "But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out."
I was shocked by the ending of the book. The language and the illustrations both gave me the impression that Casey would save the day and win the game. The lesson to be learned here by children and adults alike is that you can't depend on one person to bail you out, and that sometimes even the best players aren't able to win the game. Even the best players strike out. You can also look at it from the viewpoint that Casey was overconfident and did not focus like he should have. The reader might conclude from the description of Casey that he is cocky and maybe a little pompous.
When I saw this book on the list of Caldecotts I immediately wanted to read it because I remember my 13-year-old son (a huge baseball fan since t-ball at age five) reading this poem and studying it when he was on the academic team. He memorized parts of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wondered why my son's academic team coach wanted the team to be familiar with this poem. I see now that it is a poem telling a story with which children who play sports can relate.
Since at first I was curious whether or not this poem was based on a real game, I investigated a little. I learned that Mudville is indeed a fictional place, but there are two real cities in the United States who claim to be the famous town referred to in the poem: Holliston, Massachusetts, which has a neighborhood called Mudville, and Stockton, California, which was known as Mudville before being incorporated in 1850. Yet Thayer himself said the poem has no basis.
I am a scrapbooker, and the pages of this book reminded me of looks that can be created through scrapbooking - using old newspaper articles and torn-out pages of memorabilia to create a scenic look to your page. I especially liked the torn edges to the newspapers, a technique I use a lot in my books to make the design of your pages look more "scrapbookish." Every page was meant to look like a newspaper page, with the story/poem printed on it. I think Bing did an awesome job with every single page of this book, and think it honestly should have won the Caldecott Medal instead of Caldecott Honor for that year. I highly recommend this book, not only for the content of the poem, but for the beautiful illustrations that enhance the story.
I am a scrapbooker, and the pages of this book reminded me of looks that can be created through scrapbooking - using old newspaper articles and torn-out pages of memorabilia to create a scenic look to your page. I especially liked the torn edges to the newspapers, a technique I use a lot in my books to make the design of your pages look more "scrapbookish." Every page was meant to look like a newspaper page, with the story/poem printed on it. I think Bing did an awesome job with every single page of this book, and think it honestly should have won the Caldecott Medal instead of Caldecott Honor for that year. I highly recommend this book, not only for the content of the poem, but for the beautiful illustrations that enhance the story.
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