The Dog That Called the Pitch

by Matt Christopher, Dan Vasconcellos (Illustrator)

Overview

Mike and his telepathic dog Harry are shocked to find that their new umpire can hear their silent conversations!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684500390
Publisher:	The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Publication date:	07/30/2024
Series:	Matt Christopher Sports Readers (Second Edition)
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matt Christopher (1917-1997) was an American writer of children's books. He wrote more than 400 novels and short stories, mainly featuring sports. After his death, his family has overseen the production of ghost written books under his name. Born in Bath, Pennsylvania, Christopher was a gifted athlete as a child, which influenced his primary topic of writing. In addition to sports books, he also enjoyed writing detective fiction; his first published novel before the successful The Lucky Baseball Bat was Look for the Body, a murder mystery written for adults.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2-4-A baseball story with a twist. Mike and his constant companion, an Airedale named Harry, communicate via ESP. To their surprise, Mr. Grimley, the new umpire for the big game, shares their talent. This ability comes in handy when the man breaks his glasses and almost has to postpone the game. Harry then steps up to the plate and helps him call balls and strikes. Can he be impartial, though, since this game means so much to Mike? More than half of this extended picture book is devoted to play-by-play action-who comes to bat, who singles, who walks-details that may be crucial to older readers but are not as interesting to younger ones. Vasconcellos's sketchy ink drawings add a lot of personality to these one-dimensional characters and dominate the pages on which they appear. The format and simplicity of the plot suggest that this book would appeal to younger audiences but the vocabulary, the emphasis on game action, and the role of ESP make it more suited to older children.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC

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