Title: Players in Pigtails
Author: Shana Corey
Illustrator: Rebecca Gibson
Publishing Company: Scholastic
Press
Copyright Date: 2003
Pages: 40
Genre/Category: Fictional
I chose this book because it
reminded me of the movie, A League of their Own. The story is about a
fictionalized girl named Katie Casey, but the information about the all-girl
baseball league of the 1940s is true. Katie was a girl who did not fit in with
anything at school or girls her age. The only thing she could think about or do
was playing baseball, but at every tryout she was turned away. When the war
started drafting the male players, baseball was in trouble. An owner of the
Chicago Cubs sent scouts out to recruit female baseball players and Katie was
recruited. Special uniforms were made and the girls received charm school
lessons. There were giggles when the girls entered the field for their first
game, but that all changed when Katie hit a grand slam and the crowd went wild.
Katie’s team the Kenosha won the game.
Illustrations are done in cartoon
style characters with pastel colors. One feature I loved was the 1940s style of
clothing the illustrator drew on the characters. The illustrator represents the
state the girl baseball player was from, by drawing what style of clothing they
would be wearing there during the 1940s. I noticed that the drawing were
flat-like also.
This book is recommended for second
through sixth grade. I would make a Venn diagram to compare sports that boys
play, sports that girls play, and sports that are played by both boys and
girls. I would try making a class discussion about stereotypes
between boys and girls and their views on it. In history it could be used to
educate the students on gender roles, female athletes, women's rights. This
book has no awards.
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