©2007 Terry Widener
Client: Harcourt
Medium: Acrylic on paper
Size:Various Sizes
Use:Children Book
Title: Satchel Paige, Don't Look Back
 

AWARDS

2006 Junior Library Guild Premier Selection Award
2006 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Best Book Award

REVIEWS

Publishers Weekly
These creative collaborators (Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man) offer a multidimensional portrait of another athlete worthy of the spotlight.
Born in Alabama in 1906, Satchel Paige was called by many the greatest pitcher of his day (quoted here saying as much are his
contemporaries Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Dizzy Dean), yet for years he was barred from playing in the Major Leagues because
he was African-American. Adler's crisp yet conversational narrative throws out nuggets about Paige's boyhood (e.g., he earned his nickname
after rigging up a pole and rope to carry multiple satchels at the train depot). Aided by Widener's stylized acrylics, which serve up alluring
perspectives of on-field action, the author chronicles Paige's accomplishments pitching for semi-pro black baseball teams and in the
Negro Leagues. Finally-on his 42nd birthday (he never confessed his birth date until he retired, at age 59), and after pitching for 25 years-
he signed with the Cleveland Indians. Readers will cheer Paige's long overdue, triumphant moment when later that year he was the first
African-American to pitch in a World Series. Pithy quotes by Paige, interspersed throughout the text, also convey his gumption and grit.
Ages 5-8. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
 

Children's Literature
This book could be described as a picture book biography. Younger readers may be drawn to the vibrant acrylic illustrations, while
older readers will easily follow the text—more text than the average picture book. This is the story of an athlete, a sport, and racism.
Satchel Paige is known as one of the best pitchers ever, and his dream was to play in the major leagues. "But no team would take
him because he was black." Rather than allow the racism of the time to dampen his dream, Satchel Paige continued to excel.
His response to racist treatment was to answer with his performance on the field. When players on an all-white semi-professional
team made racist comments, Paige had his teammates sit down on the field, and then he threw three straight strikeouts.
This story will inspire readers that it is never too late to realize a dream. At the age of forty-two, Satchel Paige made it to the majors,
where he played until he was fifty-nine years old! This is a great story for a baseball fan as well as readers who may not know the first thing about the sport.