reviewed - Katrina

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The Who Is/Who Was series is incredibly popular amongst its target audience of upper elementary/lower junior high students. This series is constantly flying off the shelves at the library, so I decided to check a few out to see what the fuss is all about. To get a fair sense of the scope and accuracy of the books, I chose a few subjects for whom I know a decent amount about, and a few subjects where my knowledge beyond the very basics is lacking.

This biography of Babe Ruth falls into the first category to some degree. Although not a huge baseball buff myself, several years ago I did visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum and learned a great deal about the famous slugger there. And yet I still found more to learn through this book!

This book covers a fair amount of detail about Ruth's early life and and provides pull-out contextual pieces where needed. For instance, one pull-out talks about highlights of the "roaring twenties," such as popular entertainments. Ruth's life itself is discussed in pretty decent detail and doesn't shy away from some of the more unpleasant bits (e.g., Ruth being sent away by his parents to a boarding home at a young age and his later struggles with excessive living). These are somewhat toned down to be appropriate for the target audience, but they are still included.

The book is broken down into short chapters, which makes for easy places to take a break. However, it is a short and quick enough read that advanced readers could probably finish it in one or two sittings. Back matter includes a bibliography (with books for a child audience starred) and timelines of Ruth's life and the world at large. The latter one is a random mish-mosh of hugely important events (e.g., the 19th amendment) and really rather insignificant ones (e.g., the invention of the Band-Aid). Even though some of the choices were bizarre, I do like the world timeline for providing more context to this biography.

The illustrations in this series as a whole aren't super great, but this book has better ones than some other titles in the series. They are simple black-and-white drawings that don't really add too much to the overall reading experience other than breaking up the text. A few images here and there do give a sense of what the world looked like during Ruth's lifetime (e.g., fashion styles of the 20s), which can be helpful for the target audience.

On the whole though, this book does its job of teaching kids about Ruth's life and baseball career. I could see it being an especially appealing for children who prefer sports to history and are asked to write a book report about a historical figure. ( )

Summary- This story tells the biography of Babe Ruth. The biography tells about his childhood and how he became a sports legend. The story tells about Babe and how he had a huge heart and pure talent.

Personal Reaction- I thought this biography was a wonderful story of Babe's life and career. I was not always the biggest baseball fan, but I enjoy heartfelt stories like his. Being a poor kid and becoming a sports legend is amazing. It goes to show children that anything can be done.

Classroom Extensions- The class can play baseball outside during recess for fun and exercise.
The class will learn about other historical events that were going on during the time of Babe Ruth's fame. ( )