Title: Baseball Saved Us
Author: Ken Mochizuki
Illustrator: Dom Lee
Publisher and date of Publication: Lee and Low Books, Inc., 1993
Genre: Historical Fiction, Picture Book
Age Range: K-2nd Grade
Awards: Lee and Low Book Award Winner, 1993 Parents' Choice Award
Summary:
This picture book is about a little boy that was smaller and slower than the other children and was always picked last. His family was Japanese and was shipped to a "camp" after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. The boy's dad decided to make a baseball diamond for the boy and his friends to help them pass the time at camp. At the end, the little boy finally hits a home run and proves that he can play baseball to everyone watching.
Response:
I hate to admit it but I liked Weedflower better than Baseball Saved Us, although this book was interesting as well. Maybe it's because Weedflower is from a girl's perspective and Baseball Saved Us is from a male's. Weedflower is a novel, so of course, you get to know the characters more in-depth. The illustrations in here are amazing and learning how they make them by scratching and coloring over is very interesting. These books had a lot in common and it seemed the only differences is that one is a male speaking and the other is a female. Also, Baseball Saved Us is a lot shorter and is a picture book. The pictures are sort of dark and dull and I believe the illustrator did this to show how life was during the war. The expressions on the faces of the young boys playing baseball are kind of sad and look like they have been through a lot in their short lives.
Teaching Ideas:
I think this book would be good for first and second graders to hear and see the pictures when the class is studying history. It talks about baseball which is what a lot of children enjoy and shows pictures so the children can see what is happening. It gives you the perspective of being there with the boy but doesn't give too much detail that young children couldn't handle. It also touches on the subject of being made fun of, which sadly, a lot of children know about. If you don't want to talk about Pearl Harbor from this book, you can talk about how it is wrong to make other children an outcast.
1 comment:
Kristen,
Yes, the book Weedflower is a novel and because of this, you get to know the characters much more in-depth. Although the subject matter is similar, there are many differences. Please make sure you read the author's notes in books and that you address these and the illustrations in your posts; for example:
This book begins with an Author’s Note which gives a brief explanation of the Japanese Internment Camps set up in deserts across the United States up until 1945. The illustrations incorporate both single and double-page spreads. The illustrations in the text were rendered by applying encaustic beeswax on paper, then scratching out images, and finally adding oil paint for color. Some of the illustrations were inspired by photographs taken by Ansel Adams of the Manzanar internment camp in 1943 from the Library of Congress collection. This book is written in first person from the perspective of the little boy, Shorty. The book would be an ideal read aloud when introducing young children to WWII. It is written on a third grade reading level. You may also wish to link to some of the web sites I provided for you.
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