Yogi

Yogi Berra loved his family, his neighborhood, his friends, and, most of all, baseball. He was crazy for it, ever since he was a young kid playing with friends in an abandoned dump. But baseball didn't love him back--at least not at first. Yogi was different. He didn't have the right look. When he finally made it to the major leagues, Yogi faced pranks and harassment from players, sportswriters, and fans. Their words hurt, but they made Yogi determined to show all that he could do. Author Barb Rosenstock's dynamic text and illustrator Terry Widener's powerful artwork reveal the talents, loves, and inspirational words of this celebrated New York Yankee and American icon, who earned a World Series ring for each finger and made baseball love him back.

“"(T)his picture-book biography...does an excellent job covering Berra as both baseball player and cultural icon. Widener's illustrations...ably capture Berra's short stature and big personality. Thorough back matter concludes the book, including a double-page spread of Berra's 'amazing' stats, a bibliography, an author's note, several photographs, and source notes." - The Horn Book "Yogi Berra was a lot of things...Rosenstock and Widener use his "Yogi-isms" to highlight a number of... experience(s) in his life...Widener's acrylic illustrations steal the show...Rosenstock provides a great amount of back matter...A solid purchase where the Yankees and baseball history are popular..."- School Library Journal”

★ “This excellent character study will be useful as a model for students writing research-based biographies since it includes extensive author’s notes, baseball statistics, a note about Yogi-isms, and secondary quotes about the man himself, but it will loved most of all by Yankees fans.” -School Library Connection, starred review

“(A) loving tribute to New York Yankee baseball legend Yogi Berra. Back matter documents his amazing career… and complement the storylike text that introduces a simple Italian kid from Saint Louis who loved his family, loved his friends, and really, really loved baseball. The illustrations capture the wistful, nostalgic mood… readers will come away with an appreciation for both the amazing athlete and the humble, unique individual. Source notes, a bibliography, and additional background information elevate this offering into viable research material, making this an entertaining and worthy addition to sports biography collections.” - Booklist

“Rosenstock covers all the bases, focusing on Yogi's great love of baseball, his determination to succeed, and, most of all, his longing for baseball to love him back. His perplexing, witty, and wise ‘Yogi-isms’ are incorporated in the text as well as appearing in large, hand-lettered blurbs within the illustrations. Widener's colorful, muscular acrylic cartoons…beautifully capture his essence. A loving homage to a charismatic baseball hero.” – Kirkus Reviews

“(T)his picture-book biography…does an excellent job covering Berra as both baseball player and cultural icon. Widener’s illustrations…ably capture Berra’s short stature and big personality. Thorough back matter concludes the book, including a double-page spread of Berra’s ‘amazing’ stats, a bibliography, an author’s note, several photographs, and source notes.” - The Horn Book

“Yogi Berra was a lot of things…Rosenstock and Widener use his “Yogi-isms” to highlight a number of… experience(s) in his life…Widener’s acrylic illustrations steal the show…Rosenstock provides a great amount of back matter…A solid purchase where the Yankees and baseball history are popular...”– School Library Journal

Barb Rosenstock is best known for her many picture book biographies, including Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, Ben Franklin's Big Splash, The Streak, Dorothea's Eyes, and Blue Grass Boy, all published by Calkins Creek. Her other recent titles include a picture book about Vincent Van Gogh, Vincent Can't Sleep, and a picture book about Vasily Kandinsky, The Noisy Paint Box, which won the 2015 Caldecott Honor Medal. She lives outside Chicago with her family. Visit her at barbrosenstock.com.

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