You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!

You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!

By: Jonah Winter

Illustrated by: Terry Widener

Published by: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2013

Grade level: 3-5

Fountas and Pinnell: S

Lexile: 1010L

Accelerated Reader: 5.0

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud/Individual

Illustrator: Terry Widener

Author: Jonah Winter

Summary:

This book tells the story about how young Willie wanted to be “the next Joe DiMaggio” and practiced VERY hard. When he was growing up, African-Americans were treated unfairly and weren’t allowed to play in the National League. They had to play in the Negro League. The thing is, a lot of the Negro League teams were better than the National League teams, but the African-American players weren’t allowed to play. Willie started to play in the Negro Leagues at age 15 with the adults until “the major leagues ended their stupid rule barrin’ black guys“. Willie was signed to play with the New York Giants and lead them to the World Series! He could do it all, bat, run, throw. He became the best player of his time and he was a nice person.

Key Words/Phrases to Describe the Book:

1. Baseball

2. Racism

3. New York Giants

4. Biography

5. Negro Leagues

6. Center Field

Key Vocabulary:

All-Star: a player who gets chosen for the annual All-Star Game, which takes place between two teams composed of the best players in the American League and the National League.

American League: One of 2 groups in Major League Baseball

National League: The older of the 2 groups in Major League Baseball

Batting Average: Hits divided by at bats

Double play: A play in which 2 players are put out.

Gold Glove: An award given every year to the best fielders at each position; it was started in 1957.

Resources:

Get to know author Jonah Winter better by visiting his webpage filled with other books he's written, facts about his life, and myths that have been created about him.

Learn more about illustrator Terry Widener by visiting his webpage filled with other book he's illustrated, a biography on his life, and awards he has won!

Teaching Suggestions:

• Read the front matter of the book (the Author's Note) to hook the students into the story about Willie Mays.
• Read the back matter about the radio broadcast quotes so students can decipher what's genuine and what isn't.
• Students can make a timeline following the life of Willie Mays, marking every significant date and event that was mentioned in the text. 

Comprehension Strategies:

Before: Do a text impression of the baseball terms introduced within the text.

During: Generative Reading can be implemented by having the students keep track of a time line of all the significant dates and events that occur within the biography. 

After: Tossed Terms is a great vocabulary unit to implement after the book has been finished of all the baseball terms that have been exposed to the students through the text.  Terms such as racism and segregation may also wanted to be integrated into this unit.

Writing Activity:

This book was told by a narrator who didn't speak grammatically correct.  Where do you think the narrator is from? Who do you think the narrator is? Does the narrator's characteristics have an affect on how the story is portrayed?  Using evidence from the text, draw conclusions on the above questions generated.

Bibliography:

Winter, J., & Widener, T. (2013). You never heard of Willie Mays?! New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.