Stealing Home: Jackie Robinson against the odds

Stealing Home: Jackie Robinson Against the Odds by Robert Burleigh. Simon & Schuster, 2007. 32 pages.

Reading level: Picture books, ages 4-8, ages 8-10
Recommended for: Ages 4-8, ages 8-10

“I need a player with guts enough not to fight back.”

That’s what the Dodgers’ manager told Jackie at the start of his career. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American player to play in the major leagues. This is a story of one of the most famous plays in baseball history.

It’s the first game of the 1955 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie Robinson stands on third base. Jackie tears for home. The Yankees pitcher goes into his wind-up. He hurls the ball towards the plate. The Dodgers’ batter leaps back and away. The catcher holds the ball in his glove.

Will Jackie Robinson make it to home, or will he be out?

Will the Dodgers win the World Series, or will it be swept away by the Yankees?

The illustrations give you a feeling of an old-time baseball game. This gripping picture book is written in a poetic style paced to make you turn just one more page. Great for all baseball fans from seven to seventy.

The actual odds of a runner on third base, ninety feet from home plate, beating a ninety-mile-an-hour pitch from the mound, sixty-six feet away from home, is incredible. But if you are Jackie, you can spot any hesitations from the pitcher so you can steal home nineteen times in a career.

This joint review was created by Megan and her then 10yo son, Henry.

Cautions: None

Rating: 4 stars

• Artistic: 4 stars
• Worldview: 4 stars

Related Reading at Redeemed Reader

• A Review: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
• A Review: STEM in the World Series by Marne Ventura
• A Resource: Batter Up! Books about baseball (a librarian’s list)

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