America's Favorite Pastime
- Melissa Diaz-Trejo
- Dec 1, 2019
- 2 min read
Hello Blog Followers,
On this week's topic, we will be focusing on biography books. Biography books are excellent resources for readers of all ages because they offer factual truth and background insight on specific individuals or group people, whether they be of this period or an older one. "Through biographies, children come to understand the people who have shaped history, created inventions, discovered scientific principles, composed music, crafted works of art, and contributed to their local communities. Children realize that they, too, can make a difference in the world" (Temple, 2014).
"Since the early 1970s biography books have been written to represent a variety of people from different backgrounds. Some of the oldest books for children are biographies" (Temple, 2014). As decades pass on by, more and more biographies are written to represent more diversity and for readers to learn more about all different groups of people, ranging from their contributions to society to representing how certain people lived. One biographical book that fits well with children is The Comic Book Story of Baseball: The Heroes, Hustlers, and History-Making Swings (and Misses) of America's National Pastime written by Alex Irvine and illustrated Tomm Coker. This graphic novel-style book offers a history of baseball. It is classified as being a "collective biography due to the book describing the lives of several people who share the common idea of baseball" (Temple, 2014). This illustrated novel gives readers a look at the rule changes, its players, popular broadcasters, and games that shaped the sport to be what it is now. What is lovely about this illustrated graphic novel is that readers can get hooked from the beginning, and also relate the text with the pictures.
As a person who loves baseball and all that it is, I enjoyed reading this book because I learned some new facts and information I did not know before. I also liked seeing biography structures to it, such as the way the "organization of the book was. The information was well organized, and it was set in an appealing and accessible way" (Temple, 2014). Overall, I recommend this graphic novel to anyone interested in learning more about baseball and the people who made a difference in it.
Thank you for reading!
-Melissa
That is a factor I readily missed...I have so many young men that want to be baseball players, I think it is important for them to see the reality of the sport and how it came to be. They need to know the good with the bad and that is why this graphic novel is great to show them. Nice on reminding about being appealing and accessible. I know we have to put things in front of kids that our districts tell us to, but we could also use this easily to supplement a unit we are doing with our students about people and groups, or about history. I also think this book brings up social justice issues and ideas…