REVIEW COPY PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER"Henry Aaron had a dream.
He wanted to be a big-league baseball player.
He didn't have a bat,
so he'd swing a broom handle
or a stick
or whatever he could find.
Henry didn't have a baseball, either,
so he'd hit bottle caps
or tie a few old rags together
or crumple up a tin can…
Henry Aaron grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where blacks didn't even have a ball park until Henry was 12. He was a skinny kid who held his bat the wrong way. Even after he made it to the minor leagues, Henry faced tremendous adversity. White fans booed him and called him n------. Pitchers threw fastballs at his head. When his team won the pennant, Henry's team had a party at a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. Henry and two other black teammates spent the evening in the kitchen playing cards.
Despite these odds, Henry pursued his big dream…
A terrific read about pursuing dreams, working hard, persevering, and overcoming adversity. And Matt Tavares' illustrations are drop dead gorgeous- rich and detailed. For some really interesting information about Matt Tavares' research and illustration process for HENRY AARON'S DREAM, check this page from his website.
Pair HENRY AARON'S DREAM with Kadir Nelson's WE ARE THE SHIP, then TEAMMATES.
Appendices include a page of author's notes, also a chart of Aaron's baseball statistics.
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