Module 10 - Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy

Module 10- Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy

Summary

Shoeless Joe Jackson wanted to be a famous baseball player. He knew he had to have a great bat that would help him hit the ball like know one else. Joe had the great bat maker Ol’ Charlie Ferguson make him a bat. After several tries will Joe get the right bat?

Reference of Book

Bildner, P., (2002). Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Impression

Great book! I did not know much about Shoeless Joe before reading this book. The book was about his determination to get the best bat to play baseball. Even though he gave a lot of credit to the bat, you see his determination. In the Afterword was an informational section about even how he got his name as Shoeless Joe and was kicked out of baseball.

Professional Reviews

One of baseball's greats receives star treatment in this compelling book. Shortly before "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (so named for having played a game in his stocking feet) joins the minors, he falls into a slump, and out of desperation ends up in the workshop of "the finest bat smith in all of South Carolina." Joe names the bat Ol' Charlie Ferguson makes for him Betsy ("Pitchers are going to honor and respect this bat the way they respect the flag Betsy Ross created," the hero states), but the slump continues. So does the partnership between the two men as Ol' Charlie refines the bat's design—it's remade from the "north side of a hickory tree" and rubbed down with tobacco juice so it will be "dark and scary-looking"—and Joe learns how to massage it with sweet oil and keep it wrapped in cotton ("Cotton will make Black Betsy feel right at home in Cleveland," Ol' Charlie tells him). Finally Betsy takes him to the major leagues and his finest season ever. Rookie Bildner hits a home run here, zeroing in on the bat as just the right lens through which to view his picture book biography. He strews the conversational prose with appealing colloquialisms in a catchy refrain ("sure as the sky is blue and the grass is green"). Payne's (The Remarkable Farkle McBride) portraits take on a tall-tale quality suffused with nostalgia; his strong-featured characters offer a riveting blend of humor and gravity. An afterword fills in the details of Jackson's life and career, including the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly (2003). Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy [Review of the book Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy, by Phil Bildner]. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-82913-0

Librarian Use

This book would be good to kick off baseball season and baseball history and information on bats and making bats. Children could measure and weigh bats.