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Play Ball! Meet These Legendary Icons of Baseball History
Batter up! Baseball season is almost here. Celebrate the start of a new season with these books about some of baseball’s greatest players. All are sure to be a home run with your young reader!
¡Viva Valenzuela! Fernandomania Erupts in Los Angeles by Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by John Parra (Also available in Spanish!)
Meet LA Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, the rookie who became a symbol of Mexican American pride and a hero to Latinos everywhere.
★ “Lavish, visually rich illustrations by Parra are done in a folk style with flat colors and figures that appear almost like cutouts… beautifully presented, written with deep admiration; recommended for elementary libraries, especially where baseball is popular.”—School Library Journal, starred review
Download the Fernando Coloring Page
Meet the creators Nathalie Alonso and John Parra
Call Me Roberto! Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez (Also available in Spanish!)
Here is the inspirational story of Major League Baseball player Roberto Clemente—not Bob—who endured years of racism and discrimination to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book • ALSC Notable Children’s Book • A BCCB Blue Ribbon •Horn Book Fanfare 2024 • 2025 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book Winner • NPR’s Books We Love List 2024 • New York Public Library Best Book 2024
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2024 • Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids 2024 • Included on the 2025 ALSC Día Reading List
★★★★ FOUR STARRED REVIEWS ★★★★
Download the Educator Guide
Meet author Nathalie Alonso
Swinging into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball’s First Woman Player by Karen L. Swanson, illustrated by Laura Freeman
2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project Title • 2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List • 2025 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book Winner
Young readers will root for Toni “Tomboy” Stone, the first woman (and the first Black woman) to break into professional baseball—taking over Hank Aaron’s roster spot—in this nonfiction picture book biography.
”An inspirational biography for baseball fans.“—Booklist
Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Terry Widener
The life and famous words, such as “It ain’t over till it’s over!”, of Major League Baseball player and New York Yankee Lawrence “Yogi” Berra is celebrated in this nonfiction picture book biography.
★ “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
The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America’s Hero by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Terry Widener
Perfect for every baseball fan, this is the story of New York Yankees baseball great Joe DiMaggio’s longest hitting streak in baseball history.
★ ”A rousing and inspiring account of an athletic achievement that has yet to be bested.“—Publishers Weekly, starred review
A Negro League Scrapbook by Carole Boston Weatherford, foreword by Buck O’Neil
Featuring lively verse, fascinating facts, and archival photographs, here is a celebration of the Negro Leagues and the great players who went unrecognized in their time written by Children’s Literature Legacy Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford.
”Weatherford has collected a wealth of information and memorabilia from the earliest days through the Leagues’ demise in 1963…. one doesn’t need to be a baseball fan to be fascinated.“—Kirkus Reviews
