Book Descriptions
for You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! by Jonah Winter and Terry Widener
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
An energetic tribute to baseball icon Willie Mays dazzles with irresistible enthusiasm. "By all accounts, though, Willie didn't need too many pointers-he was a natural. He was the kid all other kids wanted on their team-the one who ran a little faster, hit a little farther, played a little harder than anyone else." Jonah Winter follows Mays from his childhood in Birmingham to the Negro Leagues at age fifteen to Major League Baseball in the early 1950s, where he was one of the few Black players, acknowledging the racism he faced at every point but focusing on his triumphs. As a child, Willie had wanted to be the next Joe DiMaggio. As an adult, "... he was like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Jo DiMaggio all rolled into one. Heck, even Joe D. had to admit: Willie had the best arm that ever was." Terry Widener's illustrations provide an arresting backdrop to a book that includes text boxes with baseball statistics about Willie and other players on many pages. (Ages 6-9)
CCBC Choices 2014. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2014. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
According to Booklist in a starred review, "the Say Hey Kid had style to spare, and so does this irrepressible book."
He hit 660 home runs (fourth best of all time), had a lifetime batting average of .302, and is second only to Babe Ruth on The Sporting News's list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." Many believe him to be the best baseball player that ever lived. His name is Willie Mays. In Jonah Winter and Terry Widener's fascinating picture book biography, young readers can follow Mays's unparalleled career from growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, to playing awe-inspiring ball in the Negro Leagues and then the Majors, where he was center fielder for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants. Complete with sidebars filled with stats, and a cool lenticular cover, here is a book for all baseball lovers, young and old.
He hit 660 home runs (fourth best of all time), had a lifetime batting average of .302, and is second only to Babe Ruth on The Sporting News's list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." Many believe him to be the best baseball player that ever lived. His name is Willie Mays. In Jonah Winter and Terry Widener's fascinating picture book biography, young readers can follow Mays's unparalleled career from growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, to playing awe-inspiring ball in the Negro Leagues and then the Majors, where he was center fielder for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants. Complete with sidebars filled with stats, and a cool lenticular cover, here is a book for all baseball lovers, young and old.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.