Hoff, Syd. The Littlest Leaguer. Harper Collins, 2008.
The Littlest Leaguer is written and illustrated by Syd Hoff. It’s a story about a boy sticking with baseball despite his role as a bench warmer. He is rewarded by winning the series for his team by using his small size to his advantage. It is targeted for beginning readers (grades preschool through first grade); however, the long, complex sentences could extend it to readers beyond grade 1. The story is traditionally geared towards boys (e.g., boy on cover with blue background).
Harold is the smallest player on his little league team. His teammates, Shirley the Shortstop and Big Leon, negatively comment on his small size. This makes Harold try harder. He tries different positions, but ends up on the bench. He takes care of the baseball bats and fetches cold drinks for his teammates. His coach offers words of encouragement and Harold stays with his team, but continues to sit on the bench. The last game of the season is for the championship. Both teams are playing an amazing game. Harold roots for his team from the bench, wishing he could really help on the field. The team is down to its last batter. Unfortunately, he gets hurt and is unable to play. Harold has to pinch hit. The score is tied at 0. Knuckles Smith throws a fastball strike, followed by a curve ball strike. Harold’s teammates give up hope. Harold decides to use his small size to his advantage and crouches very low at the plate. Knuckles can’t find the strike zone. Ball 1. Ball 2. Ball 3. Full count. His teammates shout encouragement; his coach prays. Knuckles throws a slow ball and Harold hits it out of the park. His teammates carry him on their shoulders. He is a big leaguer.
About two-thirds of the text in The Littlest Leaguer are listed on Dolch sight words. Most of the sight words are leveled kindergarten (K) or pre-K. The images are helpful to the reader. For example, little league is clearly shown in the images as baseball. The text “Right across the plate” includes a picture of the baseball going over home plate on a baseball diamond. The average number of words per sentence was 12, which is long for a level 1 reader. There are several complex and compound sentences. For example, “Harold tried to make up for all this as a hitter, but there seemed to be no bat light enough for him and balls zoomed past him before he could swing” (p. 10).
The book is realistic fiction. The spreads reflect action, mostly on the baseball field. Readers can see that Harold is notably shorter than his teammates and is having a hard time fielding and hitting. The pages take the reader through Harold’s development as goes through the season. Harold has hope when he stands in rain and is disappointed when the rain fails to make him grow. It is a surprise that he decides to crouch down to trick the pitcher. The reader sees the look of excitement on Harold’s team and the disappointment on the losing team.
The Littlest Leaguer is 48 pages. The font size is at least 18-point. The line length ranges from 3 to 8 words per line. The font spacing between words and lines is at least 18-point. There are generally 5 lines of text per page and it ranges from 2 to 7. There is a good amount of white space for the reader’s eyes to rest along with text and images. The art reflects realistic drawings with a 1950’s cartoon feel. They are done in watercolor, are simple to interpret, and give meaning to the text. For example, an image of a baseball heading towards the reader is above the text describing the last pitch, the one that fooled batters, but Harold hit.
The Littlest Leaguer is a leveled reader in the “I Can Read!” series. It is level 1: beginning reading, but a new reader may have difficulty with the sentence structure. The sentences were long, although broken up into chunks, and complex (e.g., “’I’m tired of being so little,’ thought Harold, and he stayed out in the rain when a game stopped, hoping it would make him grow like the flowers.”)
The Littlest Leaguer works well for a child who is interested in baseball or may need to read an inspirational story. It is a motivational story that fosters stick-to-itiveness. It could be added to the summer reading list.
Book Notes 