Just Like Josh Gibson Book

Genre: fiction, picture book
Topic: baseball
Theme: gender roles, ethnic roles,
Illustrations: The illustrations are true to the time period. They look like pastel sketches. They are not very clear but they still do a good job of illustrating the text. They are highly supportive of the text.
Use: Read aloud, children's theater, guided reading, independent reading
Reading Level: Early
Literary Elements: repetition

Thoughts:

Just Like Josh Gibson is the story of a young, African-American girl who wants to play baseball in the 1940's, a time when young girls did not play baseball. She was allowed to practice with the boys' team and she was good at baseball. During one important game, the boys became short a player and allowed her to play in the game.

It would be a good book for a strong early reader.


The story goes...

Grandmama could hit the ball a mile,

catch anything that was thrown,

and do everything else --

just like Josh Gibson.

But unfortunately, no matter how well a girl growing up in the 1940s played the game of baseball, she would have faced tremendous challenges. These challenges are not unlike those met by the legendary Josh Gibson, arguably the best Negro-League player to never make it into the majors.

In a poignant tribute to anyone who's had a dream deferred, two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Angela Johnson and celebrated artist Beth Peck offer up this reminder -- that the small steps made by each of us inspire us all.