Henry Aaron's Dream by Matt Tavares

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This book was written by Matt Tavares who was born in Boston, and grew up surrounded by books and reading. From the time he was very young, his mother read to him every night, and his family made countless trips to the public library. Years later, as a studio art major at Bates College, he rediscovered his love for picture books, and decided to try to make his own.[1]

Summary

The book tells about a young boy growing up in Mobile, Alabama, his name is Henry Aaron. Before he was Hammerin' Hank, with what seemed like a foolhardy dream to be a big-league baseball player. He didn't have a bat. He didn't have a ball. And there wasn't a single black ball player in the major leagues. But none of this could stop Henry Aaron. In a captivating biography of Henry Aaron's young life, from his sandlot days through his time in the Negro Leagues to the day he played his first spring training game for the Braves, Matt Tavares offers an inspiring homage to one of baseball's all-time greats.[2]

Pros

Henry Aaron's Dream is much more than a baseball book, it is a marvelous recapturing of attitudes during the Civil Rights movement and a lesson in perseverance. It also reminds readers how important it is to have role models and inspirational figures that lend substance to the dreams to be pursued. One can only imagine the seismic impact of Barack Obama winning the presidency, the importance of breaking that glass ceiling for African Americans. Aaron's story is integral to understanding race as it impacted baseball, American sports, and American culture in general. This book gives the reader an important glimpse as to Aaron's development prior to reaching the Show, and it is a must read for baseball enthusiasts, as well as those who are studying African American history. Matt Tavares did a nice job on both the text and illustrations for Henry Aaron's Dream. This book would be a wonderful addition to a collection on African Americans who made a difference or a sports collection. It also does a good job of showing what determination, dedication, and perseverance were required for Aaron to reach his dream.[3]

According to Kirkus, the author's illustration showed his powerful words with extraordinary, heroic images by Muscular watercolor, ink, and pencil pictures put readers right in the scene, often looking up at Aaron.[4]

Some thought about this book can be found on librarything website. The readers dropped their opinions that this book is lovely because it pushes readers to think about racism and the hardships that the African Americans went through to obtain what was easy for white people. In one instance in the story, the team goes out to a restaurant to celebrate a win. However, the stars of the team, the black players, were not allowed in the restaurant. Another reason what makes this book interesting is the text features that accompanied the story. The story had bold text which highlighted important details or quotes of the text. For example, the terms "whites only" and "blacks only" were bold for emphasis. The end of the story also explicitly stated the message of the story. The message was that despite all the challenges that faced him, Henry Aaron, just like Jackie Robinson, was able to achieve his dream. And also, this book is very inspiring to anyone that has a dream. We can learn about an African American boy in the 1940's who had a dream to become a Major League Baseball player and he succeeded. Jackie Robertson was Arron's hero who inspired him to fight his way to the top. In the book, Henry Aaron starts at the bottom playing recreational baseball at his local park, Carver Park. Aaron would be at Carver Park as much as he could. In his early life, he played in an all negro league starting in the Minor League C division.[5]

References

  1. Matt Tavares. goodreads.com. Retrieved February 1st, 2021
  2. Henry Aaron's Dream. scholastic.com. Retrieved February 1st, 2021.
  3. Henry Aaron's Dream. goodreads.com. Retrieved February 1st, 2021.
  4. Henry Aaron's Dream by Matt Tavares. kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved February 1st, 2021.
  5. Henry Aaron's Dream. librarything.com. Retrieved February 1st, 2021.