There
Goes
Ted
Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived written and
illustrated by Matt
Tavares
2012 Junior
Library
Guild Selection
2012
Oppenheim
Gold Seal Award
2012 Booklist
Top Ten
Sports Books for Youth
2012 Bank Street's Best
Children's Books of the Year list Museum of American Illustration at
the The Society of
Illustrators "The
Original Art 2012" exhibit
2012 New England Book Award finalist
2013 Massachusetts Book Award, Honor Book
2014-15 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award,
finalist
He was an ordinary kid
who wanted one thing: to be able to hit a baseball
better than anyone
else. So he practiced his swing every chance he got.
He did fingertip
push-ups. He ate a lot of food. He practiced his
swing. And then
practiced some more.
Ted Williams,
the
legendary Red Sox slugger, lived a life full of
dedication and passion.
From his days as a young kid playing ball in North
Park to his
unmatched .406 season in 1941 to his stints as a
fighter pilot in World
War II and Korea, the story of Teddy Ballgame is the
story of an
American hero.
In this
engrossing
biography, Matt Tavares makes Ted Williams' life story
accessible to a
whole new generation of fans who are sure to admire
the hard work,
sacrifice, and triumph of the greatest hitter who ever
lived.
"Exhilarating... Tavares's full-bleed spreads
alternate
with sepia-toned spot drawings, all beautifully
arranged
in this
old-fashioned but evergreen tribute." -The New York Times
"Kids will especially like that this wonderful
picture
book spends a lot of time talking about the childhood
of
the famous
Boston Red Sox slugger.... an exciting and inspiring
story."
-The Washington Post
"Tavares's present-tense narrative lends drama
and
immediacy... and the watercolor, gouache, and pencil
illustrations
depict Williams as large as a double-page spread can
hold. On one
spread, Williams's head, torso, and baseball bat, in
typical home run
swing, consume the available space. Turn the page, and
an F9F Panther
fighter jet all but flies out of the book. Turn again,
and Ted is in
the reader's face, fleeing the burning wreckage of his
plane....
Published in time for Fenway Park's centennial
celebrations, this
full-of-life biography will be a hit with young
baseball
fans." -Horn Book Magazine
"Following his
outstanding Henry Aaron's Dream, Tavares has written
an
equally
stunning
book about another Baeball Hall of Famer.... a
glorious
tribute..." -School Library
Journal
"With smooth,
sweeping
lines and naturalistic details, Tavares's mixed-media
artwork conveys
Williams's joyful devotion to his sport." -Publisher's Weekly
"Tavares writes 'There Goes Ted Williams' like a
jazzy
poem. There is musicality in every line, and in every
full-color
painting. The nostalgia of the paintings plays
beautifully against the
straight-up clarity of the prose." -The Boston Globe
