Book Review: A Big Day For Baseball

The Magic Tree House series continues with Mary Pope Osborne’s latest book, A Big Day for Baseball. Jack and Annie’s time travel adventures take them back to Jackie Robinson’s time in the majors. A Big Day for Baseball has a number of twists and turns that will keep readers on their toes as the story unfolds.

The story begins when Jack and Annie are standing outside their house on the day of baseball tryouts. Out of nowhere,Jack catches a mysterious fly ball. They immediately realize that there is another adventure waiting for them. They head to the Magic Tree House right away.

Suddenly, they’re on their way to be batboys at Ebbets Field, the stadium where the Brooklyn Dodgers used to play in before they moved to Los Angeles,and their adventure takes off from there. Otis and Olive, two new friends, show them a shortcut to the stadium when Jack and Annie first arrive in New York City. Jack and Annie become batboys for the Boston Braves, the team that later moved to Atlanta. They meet all the players on the 1947 Braves, including future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn. But the most memorable player that Jack and Annie see is Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. As the reader gets deeper into the story, Jack and Annie find themselves in a bit of trouble. They rely on Otis and Olive to help them find a way to complete the magic librarian’s—Morgan le Fay—mission.

A Big Day For Baseball is a grand slam for first through third graders and comes out on August 1. If you want to know more about baseball, check out Baseball Fact Tracker, A Non-Fiction Companion to A Big Day for Baseball by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce.

Photograph by Hulton Archive

Cover credit: Sal Murdocca