"He has always had this swing. This easy, upthrusting swing. This 'pretty' swing, not taught by any coach. One day the Babe just swung--and it was there. It was his." Combining stirring, poetic prose and Mike Wimmer's realistic illustrations, Home Run conveys the feeling of excitement and awe that must have been present at a baseball game in which the great Babe Ruth played. Robert Burleigh, who previously collaborated with Wimmer on the award-winning Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, writes this picture-book tribute "for my Father--who loved the game ... for my son, Eli, to help him learn the spirit of can-do." His great love for both shines through. Our stomachs knot and spirits soar as Ruth steps up to the plate. Home Run softly draws us into the story, and the illustrations, rendered in oil on canvas, have an expansiveness and glow that lift them from the page. The gentle tribute is enhanced by "vintage-style baseball cards" that highlight aspects of Babe Ruth's career ("The Bambino loved driving low-slung convertibles, donning silk shirts and coonskin coats, and downing huge meals"), allowing Burleigh the opportunity to include important information without destroying the perfect simplicity of the main story. A treasure for anyone with a love of the game, Home Run is also powerfully affecting for those new to the excitement it holds. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustration from Home Run by Robert Burleigh, illustration © 1998 by Mike Wimmer, reproduced by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company.) (Ages 5 and older) --Aimee Damman


From Publishers Weekly
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. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 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, WICopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 3^-6, younger for reading aloud. In this picture book for older readers, Burleigh uses poetry to introduce the legendary George Herman "Babe" Ruth. His brief poem celebrates Babe's love for the game and his amazing swing before taking readers and listeners through one at-bat and one mighty home run. Wimmer's large, realistic illustrations, done in oil paint on canvas, capture not only the essence of the man on the field but also his adoring fans. On each recto page, Wimmer has included a reproduction of the back of a baseball card, which provides lots of information--how Babe got his name, his life off the field ("I swing big--and I live big, too"), and the ways in which he changed the game. The type on the cards, which are authentic in size, is very small, but that's the only drawback to this beautiful book, which will have baseball fans of many ages cheering for Babe Ruth all over again. A wonderful selection to share across generations. Helen Rosenberg

ANNOTATION

A poetic account of the legendary Babe Ruth as he prepares to make a home run.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The legend lives on in this true-to-life look at Babe Ruth-the man who changed the game of baseball forever. Like most boys, he spent his summers playing ball on a dirt lot, but George Herman Ruth Jr. followed his dreams to become a legend. He is the Babe - Babe Ruth - and baseball is his game. Powerful oil paintings and spare, dramatic text draw readers into the mind of this larger-than-life sports hero. Reproductions of vintage-style baseball cards throughout the book detail Babe Ruth's career highlights. Home Run is a compelling portrait of a man, and of a time when baseball was truly America's game.

Robert Burleigh is a longtime baseball fan and the author of many books for children. His previous collaboration with Mike Wimmer, Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, received the Orbis Pictus Award for the best nonfiction book of the year. His book Hoops (Silver Whistle, 1997), illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a Booklist Editors' Choice. Mr. Burleigh lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Mike Wimmer is the illustrator of Train Song by Diane Siebert, Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt by Jean Fritz, All the Places to Love by Patricia Machlachlan, and Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh by Robert Burleigh, which received the Orbis Pictus Award for the best nonfiction book of the year. The Chicago Sun-Times has described his artwork as "reminiscent of some of Norman Rockwell's best." Mr. Wimmer lives in Norman, Oklahoma.

SYNOPSIS

Now in paperback, the award-winning story of Babe Ruth--the legend

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times Book Review

. . .[T]old in lushly romantic full-page paintings. . .and in data-filled old-style bubble-gum baseball cards, is the story of the Babe.

Publishers Weekly

"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 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

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.

Children's Literature - Debra Briatico

Going, going, gone! During his spectacular career, George Herman Ruth hit numerous home runs, a feat that helped him become a world-famous sports figure. This exceptional picture book takes a close-up look at Babe Ruth's powerful swing+a swing that changed the game of baseball forever. In addition to a poetic tribute to this baseball great, the author also provides vintage-style baseball cards that focus on Ruth's career highlights from his pitching record to his top homerun season. Reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's exquisite style, Wimmer's beautifully detailed paintings perfectly capture the essence of America's favorite pastime and one of America's favorite sports heroes. This book is definitely a home run!

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman