You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! by Jonah Winter - ESSENTIAL

Winter, Jonah  You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!  Illustrated by Terry Widener  Schwartz and Wade Books, 2013.  $17.99  PICTURE BOOK Content: G. 

Willie Mays was a young black kid in the 1940s who worshiped Joe DiMaggio.  He spent a lot of time playing baseball with his father and at the young age of fifteen he was making money playing baseball with the Negro Leagues.  He was a natural at baseball and had amazing stats, so when the Major Leagues allowed blacks to play, he was quickly hired by the New York Giants.  While on the Giants he helped them with the World Series.  Willy Mays’ deep love of baseball made him one of the best baseball players of all times. 

This book has wonderful illustrations depicting amazing moments in Willie Mays’ baseball career.  There are occasional side bars with facts about other baseball players in history as well as information about the Negro League.  At the end of the book there is a glossary of baseball terms and other bits of information about baseball history.  It’s obvious the author worships this ball player, but he does such a great job pulling the reader in, that at the end of the book it’s impossible not to love Willie Mays. 

EL, MS-ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.