I come from a baseball family.
We all played when we were kids;
my brother is STILL an amazing pitcher at 27!
I kept score a lot and amazed one of my friends recently
at a MLB game by remembering how.
The teacher of one of my programs today
was keeping everyone updated on the Giants game.
There’s baseball fever here in California!
I saw this book and just HAD to know the story behind that mud!
Check it out!
Title: Miracle Mud Lena Blackburne and the secret mud that changed baseball
Published by: Millbrook Press, 2013
Written by: David A. Kelly
Illustrated by: Oliver Dominguez
Word Count: 1126
Pages: 32
In one word: Informative!
In one sentence: Lena Blackburne, a mediocre baseball player, hits a home run when he discovers something to help wear in the baseballs for every major league game!
Favorite pages:
Likes:
I really like how simple the story is.
I love hearing that Lena had a dream and he didn’t achieve it. But he affected the game in another way. Classic: when things don’t work out the way you want, find another way to make a difference.
It’s so fun! What baseball fan wouldn’t want to know this?
The illustrations are great. Baseball action, with close-ups and great scenery too.
Love the author note in the back as well!
Learns:
You may not get what you want all the time, but look for a problem that you can fix, and see what you can do about it!
There are stories everywhere, behind everything.
This one’s about baseball mud, but what’s something you can think of that may be a bit “behind the scenes” that has a secret story?
Sometimes you have to try many different things before you land on what works. In this case, it applies to the things they tried with the baseballs, but it also applies to writing or illustrating stories, and, of course, life.
What did you all read today?
I picked up some new books from the library and I’m excited to read through them and share the books with you guys too! In two days I’ll be heading to Hicklebee’s too, hearing about some new exciting books coming out. Can’t wait!
We’re up to 47 books and halfway through the challenge!
Can we make it to 100?
I bet we can!
I hope you don’t get sick of me thanking you for playing along, but really, it’s so fun for me! I love seeing what everyone is reading and I hope it’s fun to have this reading challenge!
Thanks,
KE
I cannot believe the month is almost halfway over. I am caught up reading, but not sure if I entered everything correctly – I lost count while traveling (I may have 2 entries for one day).
Here is a funny story which I think you might appreciate. I had several books due yesterday at the library. We were heading back to LA, so I figured I could just renew them with my handy dandy app. But one of them had holds! We got back right at 9pm when the library closed, and I was bushed after that drive, so figured I would just pay the fine (it’s not about the money though).
The good news is I managed to finish the book last night and then this morning my husband woke me up to ask me to follow him in our car so he could return the rental. I did only to be told he mixed it up and we get to do it again tomorrow. But because it was early, I managed to return the book before the library opened, and so avoided the fine.