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above: neighborhood kids gather in the first days of spring to play some backyard baseball together, in a small seaside town in New Jersey back in the late 1920's.
Brothers at Bat -written by Audrey Vernick & illustrated by Steven Salerno published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
True story of a New Jersey family with 16 children and the 12 brothers formed a professional baseball team, competing in the 1930's, '40's, and '50's. In 1996 they were honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame as the longest playing all-brother baseball team in history.
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
"A captivating story, impeccable layout, and glorious illustrations make this historical account an unqualified winner” -New York Times Book Review
“Painted in a bright palette of greens, yellows, and blues, Salerno’s mixed-media illustrations, shaded in black crayon, are an immediate attention-getter, the thick, horizontal brushwork contributing to a strong sense of movement” -Publishers Weekly
“Salerno’s lively drawings, rendered in black crayon, gouache, watercolor and pastel with digital color added, complement the action, striking a balance between detail and expansiveness” -Kirkus Reviews
"This story of a real American family whose bond was the game is brought to vivid life through illustrations" -Horn Book Magazine
"Striking black crayon, gouache and watercolor paintings enhanced with digital color provide a solid backup to the tightly written narrative. A very pleasing slice of American history" -Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A remarkable story" -Wall Street Journal
"A lively story about family loyalty and love of the game, pulled from the sidelines of baseball history" -Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
"A delight not to miss" -School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
"A story of brotherly—and baseball—love" -Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"Vernick's wry and rousing narration is perfectly matched by Salerno's mixed-media pictures." -The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, STARRED REVIEW
-A Junior Library Guild Selection
-Golden Leaf Award winner: Picture Book Biographies 2019-2020
-California Young Readers Medal winner 2015
-Booklist Editor's Choice 2012
-Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth 2012
-CCBC Choices 2013
-ALA Notable Children's List 2013
- A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book winner 2013
-A Wall Street Journal Best of 2012
-A NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2013
-A New York Times Notable Children’s Book 2012
-A 2012 Booklist Editor's Choice
- A South Carolina Picture Book Award nominee 2013-2014
- A Bank Street College's Best Children's Books of the Year List 2013
- AN IRA Teachers' Choices 2013 Reading List
- A Children's Sequoyah List (Oklahoma) 2015
- A Monarch Award List (Illinois) 2014
- A Red Clover List (Vermont) 2013
- An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal 2012
- A Jury Selection Society of Illustrators, Original Art Show 2012
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above: cropped view of the cover for Brothers at Bat
- A Junior Library Guild Selection
see Steven’s complete list of published picture books to date
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: detail of one of the final illustrations during the creation process, showing two (of the 12 brothers) as young adults on their professional team, using black charcoal pencil and ink.
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: some of the brothers all sharing a bedroom as kids, dreaming about baseball
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: one of their baseball gloves.
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: in 1952 the brothers played their last game together...
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: detailed cropped view of a page from the printed book... one of the brothers is too slow at running the bases.
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
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above: cropped view of the illustration depicting the all brother team roster
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.
click upper right corner of images to enlarge
above: detail view of an illustration depicting on the the brothers coming home at the end of World War II…
View a posting on Steven's blog on how the illustrations for this picture book were created.