From: jpcairo
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 20:25:17 -0500

A couple of years ago I read the entire Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes (in twenty-minute-a week installments!) to a group of first graders who were riveted by it. That surprised me because there was so much about its
"world" that was outdated, and the kids kept wanting me to explain things. But they loved Rufus. Wasn't there a scene or two in that book about Rufus' longing to be included on the baseball team all the "big kids" were on? I seem to remember him standing on the sidelines wistfully while some big girls practiced. We kept going with this book almost forever, since I could only read it for such a short time each week. But they couldn't wait for the next chapter. Does someone remember if Rufus ever got to play the game? I have to go back to that one and see. What I remember is the agony of longing to be in that game...

I also wanted to mention Bats About Baseball, by Jean Little and Claire MacKay, (illustrated by Kim Lafave) and The Hockey Sweater, by Roch Carrier (illustrated by Sheldon Cohen), both of which are wonderfully illustrated, colorful stories I have had great success with at my library story times.

Finally, two more that are borrowed frequently from my collection are Old Turtle's Baseball Stories, by Leonard Kessler, and The Fox Under First Base, by Jim Latimer. Other favorites have already been mentioned by others.

Paula Cairo Media Center Friends Select School Philadelphia, PA
Received on Wed 13 Jan 1999 07:25:17 PM CST