Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888 ANNOTATION
The popular narrative poem about a celebrated baseball player who strikes out at the crucial moment of a game, with additional text placing it in the context of Little League.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The outlook wasn't brilliantfor the Mudville nine that day:The score stood four to twowith but one inning more to play....
Since 1888 Casey at the Bat has been read and loved by baseball fans around the world. Now Mighty Casey has been brought to life by celebrated illustrator C. F. Payne, who captures the old-fashioned fun of an afternoon at the ballpark for a brand-new generation.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Penned in 1888, Thayer's classic ballad is still as fresh as a rookie pitcher; it has earned its place in the Read-Aloud Hall of Fame. Though the style is slightly formal and young audiences may not catch every word ("upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat"), no one will miss the gist of the tale. With a few brief strokes of his brush, Fitzgerald captures an era-a hat of a certain style, a pair of glasses, the cut of a suit-and his light-dappled acrylics seem aged by a fine patina. He manipulates perspective to wonderful advantage, bringing a sense of movement to the pages: readers are now in the stands, now at third base, now behind the catcher as the mighty Casey prepares to swing at the ball. A home-run effort. Ages 6-10. (Apr.)
Publishers Weekly
"The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day"-but it certainly is for this robustly entertaining picture book, as Payne (Micawber) takes a swing at Thayer's beloved poem and knocks it out of the park. The tale of infield pomp and ignominy seems made-to-measure for Payne's statuesque characters, with their outsize noses and ears and florid faces. Standing head and broad shoulders above them all is the "mighty" (if overconfident) Casey; with his impressive porkchop sideburns and handlebar moustache, he looks every inch the Victorian gentleman-athlete. Payne injects a number of droll touches: a small inset of a gravestone enscribed "R.I.P. Cooney" accompanies the phrase "when Cooney died at first," for instance, while "defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip" occasions a batter's-eye view of a skinny and clearly terrified pitcher. For an ingenious take on Casey's approach to his at-bat ("Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;/ It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell"), Payne shows a spread of Mudville, and a farmer and his son listening to the uproar from where they are working on the mountainside. Entirely different in approach from Christopher Bing's starmaking turn with the same material, Payne's equally enjoyable outing is just the ticket for a front-row seat at literature's most famous ballgame. An afterword explains the poem's origin and history. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
Debut children's book illustrator Bing hits a home run with this handsome faux-scrapbook treatment of Thayer's immortal poem. The original verses about baseball star Casey and the ill-fated Mudville nine appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, and Bing captures the spirit of the age with pen-and-ink illustrations that look like carefully preserved newspaper clippings, complete with slightly torn and yellowed edges. He uses cross-hatching and careful shading to create the pages of The Mudville Sunday Monitor, which keenly resemble the newspaper engravings of the day. Columns of type (in historically accurate printers' fonts, as an afterword points out) run beneath each illustration to bolster the conceit. Bing also scatters other "scrapbook" items throughout, from game tickets (a bargain at 20 cents) to old-fashioned baseball cards and stereopticon images--many of them carefully keyed to the text. Full-color currency, for instance, accompanies "They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that--/ We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat," while an ad for Brown's Bronchial Troches appears with the couplet "Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;/ It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell." Endpapers reveal more items to delight baseball fans and history buffs, from Thayer's newspaper obituary to a fake bookplate wreathed with baseball motifs. Though Casey and the Mudville nine strike out in the end, this exceptionally clever picture book is definitely a winner. All ages. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature - Andrea Sears Andrews
"But there is no joy in Mudville�mighty Casey has struck out." This ominous phrase has been part of America's favorite pastime, baseball, since its publication in 1888. It has come not only to symbolize the agony of defeat, but also the fall of any sport team's Goliath. The poem itself is a wonderfully suspenseful account of the bottom half of the final inning in an "all but over" game. Descriptions of this moment are so descriptive that actual jeers and cheers from the fans are heard by the reader. As players strike out and others gain position, one feels the passion of the moment and the belief in a miracle. This miracle is no other than mighty Casey. One cannot help holding his breath as poetic phrases detail the pitches to Casey. The conclusion is history. The illustrations accompanying this classic masterfully capture all the emotion and action of the words. The details are superb, from the cleats kicking up dirt to the smack of a baseball hitting a catcher's glove. The one close-up of Casey, steaming with determination, is magical enough for a reader's life-long understanding of shear will and grit. Whether a baseball fan or not, readers of any age will treasure this book. 2003, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers,
Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot
The familiar poem is given a fresh look with Polacco's amusing artwork. It opens with a little girl reminding her brother that the big game will soon start and that he better get moving. Casey is filled with confidence and even though he arrives late and the ensuing game appears in jeopardy, he believes he can save the day. Polacco adds a real twist to the ending that will surely delight Little League and big league fans. 1997 (orig.
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