Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy

Shoeless Joe Jackson became a baseball legend by batting the highest average by a rookie in his first full season in the major leagues and for having once played a game in his stocking feet when his new shoes were giving him blisters. But in this folksy, fictionalized picture book by rookie author Phil Bildner and illustrator C.F. Payne (The Remarkable Farkle McBride, by John Lithgow), readers are introduced to the real reason Shoeless Joe became such a great hitter. Falling into a slump, Joe goes to a bat-making friend, searching for the perfect bat. Black Betsy is the one: 36 inches long, and weighing 48 ounces, it was made from the north side of a hickory tree and rubbed down with tobacco juice to turn it black and mean looking. Bildner's down-home language, packed with lots of "I reckons" and "ain'ts," captures the early 1900s era, as do Payne's grainy illustrations, verging on caricatures. An afterword provides additional information on this appealing character from sports history. (Ages 5 to 9) --Emilie Coulter