Thayer, Ernest Lawrence and Bing, Christopher. Ernest L. Thayer's Casey at the bat: a ballad of the Republic sung in the year 1888. Illustrated by Christopher H. Bing. Brooklyn, NY: Handprint Books, 2000. ISBN: 978-1929766000.
Author and Illustrator Website: http://www.christopherbing.com/Site/Welcome_.html
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, 2001.
Media: Sepia pen and ink drawings that resemble an engraved scrapbook and photographs.
Use of Alliteration: “sickly silence,” “deep despair,”
Use of Onomatopoeia: “get a whack at that,”
Use of Rhyme: (entire book, rhyme scheme: last word of each line, aa bb cc) “The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day / The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play”
Use of Rhythm: (entire book) “There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place / There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face . . . “
Use of Simile: “a muffled roar / Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.”
Special Notations: Poem
Annotation: Author illustrator Christopher Bing takes a swing at sharing Ernest Thayer‘s famous poem about a baseball player named Casey with a new generation. Bing hits a homerun with his nostalgic drawings intended to replicate a scrapbook.
Personal Reaction: Bing’s fresh presentation of Edward Thayer’s poem from the 1800’s is absolute proof of the value of illustrations. Thayer’s famous poem can be enjoyed by a whole new generation thanks to Bing’s idea of pairing it with sepia pen and ink drawings intended to resemble a scrapbook from the 1880’s. Bing makes the poem the centerpiece for an historical baseball experience that older readers will find captivating. I found myself bypassing the actual poem the first time I opened this book because I was so entranced by Casey’s creation of “The Mudville Sunday Monitor,” a fictional 1880’s newspaper. I wouldn’t call myself a sports fan, but I enjoy history and this book gave me a wonderful, authentic-feeling sense of the issues of the day as they impacted baseball. During my second reading, I enjoyed revisiting Thayer’s exciting and heartbreaking tale of Casey’s unexpected strikeout. This book would be a great pick for a reluctant reader who is a baseball fan, as well as a nice introduction to America’s favorite pastime for anyone, but particularly history buffs.
