Summertime

Children’s book reviews by Tacoma writer Rebecca Young appear monthly in The Spokesman-Review.

“Leagues Apart: The Men and Times of the Negro Baseball League” by Lawrence S. Ritter - While the Major League players were out on strike, writers of baseball books for children remained on the job. Here is a provocative look at the Negro Baseball Leagues in a picturebook format with vivid, expressive oil pastels by Richard Merkin.

Ritter pulls no punches. He writes: “Prejudiced team owners, encouraged by bigoted players, established racist rules that prevented black athletes from playing in the major leagues, regardless of their skills.” His mission is to remember the names and “honor the memories” of the stars of the Negro leagues.

Naturally, he writes about Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, all of whom started in the Negro leagues. But he also introduces many others, whose names are less known, mainly because they never got a chance to play in the majors. Take Smokey Joe Williams, who pitched from 1905 to 1932. He was said to have had a fastball that topped 90 miles per hour. Or the leagues’ greatest home run hitter, Josh Gibson, who died of a stroke in 1947 at age 35. Or Cubanborn Martin Dihigo, who became a national hero in his homeland. The brief accounts are fascinating and make one want to read more about these men. (Morrow Junior Books, ages 5-10, 40 pgs., $15.)

“Playing Right Field” by Willy Welch - This song, made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary, transforms beautifully into a children’s book. “Playing right field, it’s easy you know. You can be awkward and you can be slow. That’s why I’m here in right field watching the dandelions grow.”

The wistful right-fielder whiles away the time dreaming about great catches, or pretending he’s Ed Mathews or Willie Mays. Eventually, as in all good baseball tales, he gets the chance to be the hero. “Suddenly everyone’s looking at me. My mind has been wandering. What could it be? They point to the sky and I look up above. And a baseball falls into my glove!” The illustrations by the great Marc Simont (“A Tree is Nice” and “Nate the Great”) are enchantingly simple. (Scholastic, ages 4-8, 32 pgs., $14.95.)

“Baseball Saved Us” by Ken Mochizuki - This most moving of baseball tales is newly out in paperback. It is the story of Japanese-Americans in a World War II internment camp, who out of frustration and boredom build a baseball field. The protagonist is a short boy who is none too good at baseball when he begins playing. Over the long months in the camp, we get a look at the fear and humiliation of his family’s unjust imprisonment, and we watch as his ball-playing skills grow. Once out of the camp, his baseball ability helps him gain the respect of the bigoted kids in an integrated school. The sepia-toned illustrations, by Dom Lee, are a perfect complement to this powerful story, which received a 1993 Parents’ Choice Award. (Lee & Low Books, ages 5-9, 32 pgs., $5.95.)

“Naming Colors” by Ariane Dewey - There are hundreds of words in our vocabulary that are used to describe colors. Dewey, an accomplished children’s book illustrator, has created a marvelous book stuffed with amusing and interesting stories about the color names and associations. “Black” is one of the first color-related words found in all languages. It probably comes from an Indo-European root, meaning “burnt,” Dewey writes. She moves on through the basic colors, to the more unusual ones. There are the colors that come from jewels: ruby, turquoise and emerald, and from animals: fawn, raven and taupe, which means “mole” in French. There’s lots more. “Colorfully” illustrated by Dewey, this would be a terrific gift for any child (or former child) who gets lost for hours in a box of crayons. (HarperCollins, ages 7-10, 48 pgs., $16.)

“Colors Everywhere” by Tana Hoban - Here’s a beautiful color book for the younger set. Hoban, whose photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, is responsible for many excellent “concept” books for youngsters. This book is full of vibrantly colorful photographs of animals, city scenes and bright household objects. Each photograph has next to it several blocks of color that match its predominant colors. The pictures are fun to pore over, but with the color blocks, the book can also be used to play matching games or to give children a sense of the way different colors work together. (Greenwillow, ages 2-6, 32 pgs., $16.)

“Too Far Away to Touch” by Leslea Newman - Often “issue” books are heavy-handed and dull, but this heart-tugging story of a little girl whose uncle has AIDS is written with just the right delicate touch. Uncle Leonard is Zoe’s favorite relative. He takes her on special outings and makes her laugh. Lately the outings have gotten harder for him. Sometimes he can hardly stop coughing. Uncle Leonard is teaching Zoe about the stars, and at the same time she is beginning to understand his illness. He puts up glow-in-thedark constellations on her bedroom ceiling and explains that the stars are “too far away to touch, but close enough to see.” Later he uses the same words to tell Zoe where he’ll be if he dies. She closes her eyes and realizes she will always have a picture of Uncle Leonard in her mind. Newman is the author of the controversial “Heather Has Two Mommies.” The book is illustrated in lovely watercolors by Catherine Stock, who has more than 60 books to her credit. Zoe’s big dark eyes and worried mouth are so expressive. (Clarion Books, ages 5-9, 32 pgs., $14.95.)