Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Full Count: A Baseball Number Book
Illustrator: Bruce Langton
Non Fiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 11
Sleeping Bear Press, 2009 ISBN: 1585364290
For many the game of baseball is a lot more than just a game. Sportswriter Brad Herzog uses the numbers one to ten (and a few more besides) to explore the game of baseball in a new and interesting way. He looks at the traditions and rules, he delights in the game’s historic moments, and he remembers the memorable people who made baseball “the great American pastime.”
For every number Brad Herzog gives his readers a poem to read. The poem is complemented by Bruce Langton’s action filled illustrations. In a sidebar, Herzog provides his readers with further information about the topic that he is covering. For example, on the page for the number four, the author describes, in a four-line rhyming poem, how there were only four teams when the All-American Girl’s Baseball League began. In the sidebar, he elaborates on this, explaining how a league for women was created during World War II, and how the women who played in this league are now remembered in a permanent exhibit in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
This book will beautifully compliment’s Brian Herzog’s first Sleeping Bear book for young people, H is for Home Run: A Baseball Alphabet. Packed with interesting information, this book will entertain readers of all ages. Young children will enjoy the art and poems, while older readers will learn a great deal as they peruse the sidebars.
