The Thing Lenny Loves Most About Baseball

August 23, 2021
Larsen delivers the encouraging story of Lenny, a light brown–skinned child who loves reading about baseball in his Big Book of Baseball Facts but is discouraged once the season starts and he fails to catch a pop fly. With some practice and the constant support of his red-haired father, however, Lenny grows as a player and learns that even the greats aren’t great all the time—just one of the many things Lenny enjoys about the game. “I love that about baseball” serves as a refrain throughout, reinforcing Lenny’s devotion and determination. Pavlovic’s dynamic illustrations, rendered on paper and digitally, bring the tale to life with comics-style panels, pencil strokes, and washes of watercolor. This motivational tale, set against the potent backdrop of a compassionate parent-child relationship, will remind readers that improvement requires persistence. Ages 3–7.

September 1, 2021
Young Lenny learns from his favorite sport that it's OK if practice doesn't make quite perfect. Actually, one of the several things that baseball teaches is that it's possible to be great even while failing most of the time--but Larsen simplifies the lesson to make it a little easier to absorb. Lenny's book of baseball facts and records leaves him pumped up about playing himself...but when a fly ball actually comes to him, he misses it. Maybe he's just not cut out for the sport? But then he sees in his book that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron struck out nearly twice as often as they hit home runs, and the thought that even they weren't great all the time sends him out to practice with his dad. He misses a lot, he catches a few, he doesn't give up, and in the next game he makes a ninth-inning, tie-saving catch. "Great catch!" say his teammates. The next batter (a girl) hits a walk-off home run, but so what? Lenny knows now that he can be great some of the time, and that's good enough. Lenny and his dad (the latter's red hair and beard notwithstanding) have olive skin in Pavlovic's cartoon illustrations, and other players and parents are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A good counter to the insistent, invidious message that winning is all that matters. (Picture book. 6-8)

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September 1, 2021
Grades K-2 Lenny loves everything about baseball. Crushingly, though, he's not very good at it. In the first game of the season, when a pop fly sails toward him in the outfield, Lenny hides his face in his mitt, resulting in mockery from his teammates and a slump in his confidence. But Lenny's got his dad supporting him--and his favorite book, The Big Book of Baseball Facts, which contains the heartening fact that both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron struck out many more times than they hit home runs. In order to improve, Lenny and his dad play catch endlessly, and when the second game comes, Lenny hears that satisfying "Thwap!" as he catches the ball. Besides having bright, engaging illustrations in which the hues change with Lenny's mood (after Lenny's dropped ball, there are only a few color points in the mostly gray streetscape), this is an inspiring example of the value of cultivating a growth mindset where practice pays off--not all the time, but enough.

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