Casey at the Bat (A Balled of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888

Copiously and Illustrated by: Christopher Bing
Caldecott Honor
Publisher: October 1st 2000 by Chronicle Books
Picture Book - Nonfiction

"And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville-mighty Casey has struck out." Those lines have echoed through the decades, the final stanza of a poem published pseudonymously in the June 3, 1888, issue of the San Francisco Examiner. Its author would rather have seen it forgotten. Instead, Ernest Thayer's poem has taken a well-deserved place as an enduring icon of Americana. Bing seamlessly weaves real and trompe l'oeil reproductions of artifacts-period baseball cards, tickets, advertisements, and a host of other memorabilia into the narrative to present a rich and multifaceted panorama of a bygone era. A book to be pored over by children, treasured by aficionados of the sport-and given as a gift to all ages: a tragi-comic celebration of heroism and of a golden era of sport.

This book was enjoyable, because it had an unexpected twist on it. Most stories have a happy ending, but when Casey strikes out they lose a huge game. The pictures and newspaper clips that are in this book are amazing. Christopher is able to take a poem and create it into a beautiful story by the way he portrayed it. This is a good lesson learning book. 

***
I give this book 3 stars out of 5

8 points