Say Hey! A Song of Willie Mays. - Review - book review

Say Hey! A Song of Willie Mays

by Peter Mandel illustrated by Don Tate Jump at The Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, March 2000 $15.99, ISBN 0-7868-0480-7, Ages 4-8

A lifelong fan of the New York Mets, Peter Mandel, author of Red Cat, White Cat (named an American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"), celebrates the life of black baseball great, Willie Mays. Mandel, who also writes a column for the Providence Journal- Bulletin, uses a rhyming text to tell his story.

The story follows Willie Mays from his childhood in Alabama, where he first started playing baseball in sandlots, to his play in the Negro Leagues. When Willie Mays was selected to play for the New Your Giants, black players were still uncommon in Major League Baseball. Willie Mays had a wonderful career with many famous catches, amazing throws, and a record-setting home run average. The story describes May's honor of being voted "Rookie of the Year" and hits triumphs in baseball, as well as the acquisition of the nickname, "the Say Hey Kid." Although Mays began his professional career with the New York Giants, he played his final season with the New York Mets.

Don Tate is a self-taught painter who used to live models and a digital-modeling computer program to create a virtual 3-D figure of Willie Mays. This is Tate's first picture book for children, and he hits a home run. Young baseball fans will enjoy this rhyme and song of Willie Mays, a Baseball Hall of Fame legend.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group