Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth

This lyrical picture-book account is a success. . . . Burleigh brings the Babe to life through the moment of one at bat.

This beautiful book . . . will have baseball fans of many ages cheering for Babe Ruth all over again. A wonderful selection to share across generations.

"In a series of poetic, present-tense images, readers see Babe at play, while a congruent series of baseball cards provides aficionados with detailed information about the man, his statistics and his life," wrote PW in a starred review. "A superb tribute, and most definitely a grand slam for this talented duo." Ages 6-9. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

K-Gr 4--This lyrical picture-book account is a success on a couple of levels. With a flowing minimal text, Burleigh brings the Babe to life through the moment of one at bat. The focus is on Ruth's fluid swing, which remained true from his young years on the sandlots through the waning days of his stellar career with the New York Yankees. Wimmer's sprawling, photorealistic oil paintings depict the larger-than-life figure and his surroundings with folksy Norman Rockwell-like charm. Older readers will appreciate the replicas of vintage baseball cards that appear on almost every other page. While such contemporary stars as Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey, Jr. have been hitting home runs at a near record pace during this, and in recent, seasons, any comparison with Ruth can be dismissed when considering: ."..in 1921, with 59 home runs, the Babe hit more than all other American League players put together!" The fine melding of text and art will be pure pleasure for young hardball fans and may spark interest in one of the many Ruth biographies available, or in other fiction titles about the legendary King of Clout such as Donald Hall's When Willard Met Babe Ruth (Browndeer Press, 1996).--Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI

Burleigh and Wimmer, the creative team behind Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, give a bravura encore performance, this time turning their attention to another 20th-century legend, Babe Ruth. The Sultan of Swat emerges in sharp relief, a multi-layered profile of one of the brightest and best of the boys of summer. In a series of poetic present-tense images, readers see the Babe at play ("there is only the echoey, nothing-quite-like-it sound and soft feel of the fat part of the bat on the center of the ball"), while a congruent series of old-fashioned baseball cards provide baseball aficionados with detailed information about George Herbert Ruth Jr., his statistics and his life ("Many people know that Babe's top home-run season was 1927, when he bashed 60 big ones for a record that would stand for more than 30 years"). This clever juxtaposition provides Burleigh with abundant creative latitude, and he makes the most of it, delivering a solid biographical snapshot tucked inside a valentine to the sport. Wimmer's larger-than-life oil portraits, marvels of realism tinged with idealism, recall Norman Rockwell. His elastic use of perspective plants readers behind the home plate to watch Babe's pop fly head skyward, at the base line as his feet round the bases, and even in front of his bat, just spitting distance from the mound where the pitcher cocks his leg to wind up for the throw. Wimmer indicates two brief flashbacks to Babe Ruth's youth in sepia tones, while the rest of the artwork is full-color, bathed in glorious light. It's a superlative tribute, and most definitely a grand slam for this talented duo. Ages 6-10. (Aug.)