The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

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The Kid from Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

eBook(NOOK Kids)

$7.99

eBook(NOOK Kids)
$7.99

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Overview

Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno have again collaborated to bring us a captivating picture book about a compelling but little-known piece of baseball history. Beginning in 1922, when Edith Houghton was only ten years old, she tried out for a women’s professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Bobbies. Though she was the smallest on the field, soon reporters were talking about “The Kid” and her incredible skill, and crowds were packing the stands to see her play. Her story reminds us that baseball has never been about just men and boys. Baseball is also about talented girls willing to work hard to play any way they can.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544612365
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/29/2016
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	AD880L (what's this?)
File size:	59 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Audrey Vernick is author of several novels and many picture books, including Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. She lives with her family near the ocean in New Jersey. Visit her online at audreyvernick.com and on Twitter @yourbuffalo.

New York City–based Steven Salerno is the illustrator of nearly forty popular and award-winning picture books, five of which he also wrote, including Tim’s Goodbye; The Corner of Chocolate Avenue: How Milton Hershey Brought Milk Chocolate to America by Tziporah Cohen; and The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons by Natascha Biebow. He is also the illustrator of the recent series of Madeline books, which he created in the classic style of Ludwig Bemelmans. Steven’s books have been named a New York Times Notable Book and a NCSS Notable Children's Book and have been awarded the IRA/CBC Children’s Choice Young Reader Medal, the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature, and the Garden State Book Award, among other accolades. Many have also been chosen as Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections and translated into languages around the world. Visit stevensalerno.com.

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Editorial Reviews

Vernick and Salerno…bring enthusiasm and a boatload of historical detail to the story…The emphasis is on Edith's experiences navigating her unusual opportunities and seeing the world, sans parents, at such a young age…Salerno's appropriately lively illustrations are chockablock with observant historical detail…

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

12/14/2015
The team behind Brothers at Bat (2012) returns with another exuberant story drawn from baseball history. As a child in the 1920s, Edith Houghton wouldn’t let the fact that she was 10 keep her from trying out for the all-female Philadelphia Bobbies: “Edith was so good she made the team. Edith was so good she was named starting shortstop.” At 13, Houghton traveled with the Bobbies to Japan, where they held their own against male, college-level teams. Choice quotations from Houghton bring her personality and love of baseball to vivid life, while Salerno’s mixed-media artwork channels the footloose energy of the Jazz Age, especially during the Bobbies’ trans-Pacific trip, as the players jitterbug in the ocean liner’s ballroom and practice on its deck “under a sky of endless blue.” Ages 4–7. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

2017 ILA-CBC Children's Choice List "An engaging story that reminds readers that “baseball isn’t just numbers and statistics, men and boys. Baseball is also ten-year-old girls, marching across a city to try out for a team intended for players twice their age." –Horn Book "Salerno's illustrations, variously rendered in charcoal, ink, and gouache, as well as digital color, lovingly evoke the time period and the settings. Much fascinating information about Edith's long and adventurous life is added in an author's note. A forgotten star shines anew." –Kirkus Reviews "[The Kid from Diamond Street] should especially appeal to those who enjoyed Vernick and Salerno’s Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. The compelling story and energetic illustrations make this an excellent addition." –School Library Journal "Salerno’s mixed-media illustrations are a lively amalgam of action and scenic panorama..." –Bulletin "Choice quotations from [Edith] Houghton bring her personality and love of baseball to vivid life, while Salerno’s mixed-media artwork channels the footloose energy of the Jazz Age..." –Publishers Weekly "This timely message about playing simply for the love of the game, as opposed to personal glory or celebrity, comes through loud and clear." –Booklist —

From the Publisher

03/01/2016
PreS-Gr 3—Vernick provides another entertaining and informative introduction to a little-known baseball legend. Edith Houghton, born in 1912 in Philadelphia, became a female baseball player at the age of 10. Playing with women who were older than herself, she traveled as far as Japan. Later, she became the first woman hired as a scout for a professional baseball team. While the story itself is fascinating, Vernick excels at highlighting the more noteworthy aspects of the athlete's life with her attention to detail. When describing the team's sea voyage to Japan, she points out the fun the teammates had dancing and socializing, once they overcame their seasickness. However, the heart of the story is Houghton's recollections of her youthful experiences. Appended is a postscript of Houghton's later life along with photographs—a satisfying touch. Created from charcoal ink and gouache, the colorful and lively illustrations complement the text. Especially well done is Salerno's occasional use of the contrast between sepia and color tones, which accentuates the more important aspects of the page. This book should especially appeal to those who enjoyed Vernick and Salerno's Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team (Clarion, 2012). VERDICT The compelling story and energetic illustrations make this an excellent addition.—Margaret Nunes, Gwinnett County Public Library, GA

School Library Journal

2016-02-17
A remarkable young woman plays baseball with tremendous skill in the early days of the 20th century. From the time she was a very young girl, Edith Houghton was an incredibly talented and dedicated player on the local Philadelphia sandlots, where she was valued by her male counterparts. When the Philadelphia Bobbies, an all-female (and all-white) professional team of young women, held tryouts, she made the team even though she was only 10 years old. Wearing a uniform that was so large that it had to be pinned and rolled up, she nevertheless proved herself on the field and at bat. Playing mostly against men's teams, the Bobbies first barnstormed locally and then through the American West and on to Japan. Throughout it all, large, admiring crowds and the press had nothing but praise for Edith. Vernick offers plenty of details about Edith's life on the baseball circuit, telling the tale in a conversational tone that brings the events to life and indicating that the concept of women playing alongside and against men was, if not common, perfectly acceptable. Salerno's illustrations, variously rendered in charcoal, ink, and gouache, as well as digital color, lovingly evoke the time period and the settings. Much fascinating information about Edith's long and adventurous life is added in an author's note. A forgotten star shines anew. (author's note, photographs) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)

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