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Gr 3-5 This picture book pays homage to Aaron's strength of character and determination to play major league baseball. In 1940s Mobile, AL, young Aaron dreamed of playing though ballparks posted "Whites Only" signs and his father warned him, "Ain't no colored ballplayers." Then Mobile opened a "Colored Only" ball field, and, in 1947, Aaron learned that Jackie Robinson would play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. After high school, Aaron joined a Negro League team, the Indianap...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

With understated, unfussy cadences, Tavares describes a young Hank Aaron who "didn't have a bat, / so he'd swing a broom handle / or a stick / or whatever he could find" as he daydreamed of playing baseball in the majors. Despite his father's warning ("Ain't no colored ballplayers"), Aaron headed daily to play with a real bat in the new Carver Park, a baseball diamond in Mobile, Alabama, designated "Colored Only." On April 15, 1947—the only full date Tavares includes in the main text—Aaron's...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

With understated, unfussy cadences, Tavares describes young Hank Aaron's major-league dream. After a brief stint in the Negro Leagues, Aar...Log In or Sign Up to Read More