Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888

Bibliographic information:

Thayer, Ernest L.  Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888.  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003, illust. Payne, C.F., p. 32. 

Brief plot description:

The first and second lines of the poem rhyme and the third and fourth line of the poem rhyme.  This rhyming is the same throughout the thirteen stanzas.  The poem is about the Mudville baseball team who is in the last inning with two outs.  The two team mates before Casey made it to base, and now the team is counting on Casey to hit a homerun.  The crowd goes wild with Casey as the last at bat.  The pitcher isn’t playing fair and the audience and Casey are mad at the pitcher.  Casey strikes out and the Mudville team loses.  The book includes A Notes About the Poem.  The illustrations are colorful, bright, and detailed.  Each stanza has an illustration and each stanza is on one page.  The poem flows very smoothly and is very descriptive.

Brief review:

I like this poem because it tells a classical story about Casey at the Bat.  I really liked it because it flowed well and had great illustrations.  This book could be read by fourth through sixth grade tweens.  It would be a good book to use as a read aloud or individual read.  This book could be used for people who do not like poems but love baseball or sports.  I feel that this book will help students enjoy poetry.  There are some unfamiliar words that might cause some problems though so a student should either have a dictionary or there should be a class discussion on new words.

Genre label:

Poetry

Reading level/interest level:

4^th- 6^th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Honus & Me (Baseball Card Adventure) by Dan Gutman

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein