The Bambino and Me [Paperback]

It's 1927, and ten-year-old George Henry Alexander is full of the joys of summer: long days, warm nights and baseball, especially the greatest player in the game: Babe Ruth--the Bambino.

     When George's parents surprise him with tickets to a game between his beloved Yankees and their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, he couldn't be more excited. A real baseball game, and his first chance to see his hero in the flesh!

     But when the big day arrives, things don't quite go according to plan. On what is supposed to be the best afternoon of his young life, George finds himself doing the one thing no true Yankees fan should ever do. He's so low, he'd rather kiss a girl! How can he face his hero when he feels like the biggest traitor in the world?

     In this magical story that perfectly conjures 1920s New York and the nostalgia of childhood summers, an unexpected encounter shows George the value of never giving up.

The tale is entirely fictional, but it manages to capture the essence of that extraordinary time and the larger-than-life persona that was Babe Ruth. Hyman invests George's voice with boyish enthusiasm and conversational language filled with contemporary syntax. Pullen's oddly proportioned, compelling illustrations, rendered in oil paint and walnut oil, are in perfect tandem with the nostalgic spirit of the text and wonderfully depict every aspect of the characters' emotions .... - Starred Review,Kirkus Reviews


Pullen's oversize oil paintings .... [are] an inspired complement to the wry humor. Mixing just the right amount of nostalgia, pitch-perfect storytelling, and baseball fantasy, Pullen and Hyman have crafted a winning tale for readers, young and old—even Red Sox fans will find it irresistible. - School Library Journal

ZACHARY HYMAN is one of North America's top young hockey prospects and was draftelĂL