Though my children seem to have more toys than the local toy store, we also have hundreds and hundreds of books. As much as I am sad to see our lift-the-flap and board books go, it is nice to know that my eight year old son likes to read chapter books. Though his reading ability is much more advanced than World Series Heroes, he often will flip through it to refresh his memory since many of the players mentioned played before he was born.

World Series Heroes is a 48 pages softcover book written by James Buckley, Jr. (ISBN0789492520) It is a DK Reader, Level 3, Reading Alone book which and is intended for children who have mastered reading alone, but are not yet proficient.

In addition to a glossary and index at the back of the book, this book contains five chapters: "A century of Series", "Heroic homers", "Pitching aces", "Defensive wizards" and "Angels in the Series."

The first chapter, entitled "A century of Series" gives us a brief history of the World Series. The series was first played in 1903, and we learn that some National League teams (formed in 1876) were not eager to play the new American League (which had been formed in 1901). This chapter contains pictures of Cy Young, Derek Jeter and Troy Glaus, who is holding the 2002 World Series trophy that the Anaheim Angels won. A basic knowledge of baseball is expected before you read this book, since the book begins by stating that all baseball players dream of being in the World Series, and then jumps to the fact that the National League was originally not thrilled about the idea, but the book does not explain how a team can actually get to the World Series.

Home runs, especially in a World Series game, are exciting, and in the second chapter, entitled "Heroic homers" we learn about some of the famous ones. You cannot discuss World Series history without the Yankees, and Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson, Tino Martinez and Derek Jeter are all pictured and discussed. Additionally we learn about Bill Mazeroski's home run for the Pirates which gave them a World Series Win in 1960 and Kirby Puckett's home run which won the World Series for the Twins in 1991.

In addition to scoring runs, pitching is important to the game of baseball, and in "Pitching aces" we learn about World Series pitchers. World Series pitching statistics are included for a number of baseball greats including Christy Mathewson (NY Giants; 1905 World Series) to Babe Adams (Pittsburgh Pirates; 1909 World Series) to Don Larsen's 1956 perfect game in a World Series to current day Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. The importance of relief pitchers is discussed and Mariano Rivera holds the record of eight saves in a World Series.

Though scoring runs and great pitching often are the focus of the media, fielding is key element in baseball. In the "Defensive wizards" chapter we learn that in 1955, Sandy Amoros (Brooklyn Dodgers) caught a ball hit by Yogi Berra, which won the game for the Dodgers (and they continued on to win their first Series). Any baseball fan knows the name Willie Mays, and in the 1954 World Series he made "the Catch" for the New York Giants by reaching up and catching the ball, spinning and throwing back to the infield so quickly that he held the runners on base.

The final chapter in this book is entitled "Angels in the Series" and has its primary focus on the 2002 World Series and the win by the Anaheim Angels, most likely since that was the last World Series prior to the book's printing. It does no chronicle the entire series, but focuses mostly on the sixth and seventh game, which led to the Angels winning their first World Series ever.

At the end of the book is a glossary containing seventeen entries and a one-page index. Terms such as "ace", "Bronx Bombers", "crucial", "mound", "perfect game", "postseason" and "shutouts" are defined in one or two short sentences. The index primarily contains player and team names and does not contain positions or the terms included in the glossary. It does have an entry for "World Series" and the years that are discussed in the book, since not every World Series is mentioned in the story.

There are no illustrations in this book, but almost every page has at least a small photograph (some photographs take up the entire page) relating to the topic being discussed. Many current-era players are pictured, but there are older pictures as well, including Sandy Koufax and one of Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. Each person mentioned in the book has at least a small photograph to accompany the text.

My son likes statistics. Well, more accurately, he likes to see who the winners are of sports competitions, so he was a little disappointed that this book did not contain a list of all of the World Series winners, though he did like reading about older players as well as ones that he has seen on television.

World Series Heroes is intended for children who are just beginning chapter books or who are beginning to read alone, probably in first or second grade, depending on their ability. With photographs on just about every page, and large black type on a white background, any child with even a small interest in baseball would probably enjoy this book.



Some other baseball books we have read:

Home Run Heroes

Baseball's Best

Record Breakers

For the Love of the Yankees: An A to Z Primer for Yankees Fans of All Ages

This is Baseball


Recommended: Yes