Lucy Tries Baseball

Picture books about sports have come a long way, especially with integrating intersectional characters. Lucy Tries Baseball is part of a series that Lisa Bowes created to promote physical literacy and introduce young people to sports. Perfect for young readers, each page contains a couple of sentences and ends in rhymes. Baseball terms are coloured to stand out from the story, making it exciting for existing and new baseball lovers.

Lucy Tries Baseball is an informative story that features a girl having fun while preparing to play a baseball game along with her diverse group of friends. Young readers from all over the world can identify with Lucy and her teammates, especially when the first attempt may not always go as planned. However, the important message to young players is to keep trying. James Hearne’s cartoon illustrations are fun, colourful, and clean. For example, he conveyed the players’ emotions clearly when they were disappointed, determined, and excited. He also does a great job with depicting action. Readers can quickly understand the movements happening on the page within the game. Hearne beautifully illustrated different genders and different ethnicities on Lucy’s team, implying that baseball is for everyone!

Lisa Bowes describes the play in words while James Hearne sets the scene of a climactic moment in the game, creating a bit of suspense for readers, which is always fun. For new baseball players, ‘fast facts’ about baseball are included at the end of Lucy Tries Baseball. In this quick story, Bowes and Hearne teach readers the basics and the love of the game of baseball.