Kid Lit Frenzy hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, my favorite reading challenge, every Wednesday. Visit her blog to discover the wonderful nonfiction picture books others are reading and reviewing this week.
Henry Aaron’s Dream is a gorgeously illustrated oversized picture book biography of major league baseball player Hank Aaron. Although Aaron had a storied, record-breaking career, Tavares chooses to focus on his childhood and, especially, on his years in the minor leagues, when earning a place on a major league team was still not guaranteed even for the most talented African-American players.
The book opens with a stark image of a “Whites Only” sign painted on the baseball field in Mobile, Alabama, where Aaron grew up. Aaron doesn’t even own a baseball or bat, but he still dreams of someday playing major league ball. His father does not encourage this dream; he reminds his son that no African-Americans have ever played major league baseball. Soon, a baseball field for “coloreds” opens in Mobile, and after that, baseball is all Aaron thinks about. In 1947, when Aaron was thirteen years old, Jackie Robinson started for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Aaron’s dream began to seem just a little bit more plausible.
Still, he had obstacles to overcome. Tavares focuses on the constant racism and discrimination Aaron experienced everywhere he went. Tavares doesn’t pull any punches here: this is not always an easy story to read. But then it shouldn’t be. The image of Aaron, who had just been voted MVP of the game, sitting in the kitchen with two of his black teammates while his white teammates celebrated in the restaurant proper is one I won’t forget.
The fulfillment of Aaron’s dream is good stuff. Aaron finally gets a chance to play in a major league game when a starter and a reserve player are both injured. He makes the most of his opportunity and hits a home run in his first game. He would even go on to play against Jackie Robinson himself.
Tavares writes in a free verse style that makes for sharp, focused text. I read the book aloud to my son and there was much to interest us both in the illustrations and the information presented.
12 responses to “Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Henry Aaron’s Dream #nfpb2015”
I LOVE all of these books from this series. They are so well done and well written.
I also bought the one about Ted Williams. Looking forward to reading it now!
This sounds so nice, Elisabeth, another inspiring story but also a good baseball story. Thanks!
Baseball isn’t a sport that interests me very much, but Tavares made this a page-turner. I’m looking forward to reading his other PBs. Art very strong too.
Sounds like an ideal title to share as a read aloud – especially at home where lots of back and forth discussion can happen.
I’m torn about the title as a read-aloud. What I didn’t write about in my review, because I couldn’t decide what I think and still don’t know what I think, is that Tavares uses the word “nigger” twice in the story to report the hate language that Aaron had to endure. That’s the first time, I think, that I’ve ever seen that word in a children’s book. There were lots of very negative reviews about it on Amazon for just that reason.
Matt Tavares is just brilliant, isn’t he. Will pin this title so that I can order for my research project in a few months’ time.
He’s a wonderful artist! I appreciated that the writing is really equally strong.
One of my favorites! Henry Aaron is such an inspiration, and Matt Tavares did a marvelous job with this book.
Hugely inspirational story and mostly new to me as well. I knew a bit about Aaron, but not much. Really powerful!
This looks like a good one to find – I really enjoy Tavares’ work!
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