by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 24, 2010

"The Babe and I" isn't just about  the famous baseball player. It's about what he meant to people during America's Great Depression. A boy in the Bronx discovers his father now sells apple for a living. But the boy's friend reveals he can sell newspapers by calling out a recurring sports headline:  "Babe Ruth hits home run." Without telling his father, the boy puts the pennies he earns in the family's money jar.

It's that kind of story…

David A. Adler has also written eight children's books about the Holocaust (including "A Picture Book of Anne Frank.") And he's done his historical research for this book as well, since an author's note explains the story is based on actual events being reported in newspapers the week of July 14, 1932. (There's a Coney Island fire, a desperate robbery at a telegraph office, and of course, Babe Ruth's collapse and his triumphant pinch-hitting return appearance…) But Adler also recreates the pain that people felt during hard economic times. The son reveals to his father that he'd seen him selling apples on the corner, but "I didn't tell Mom." The father squeezes his son's hand while tears roll down his cheek.

The book's jacket identifies the author as "a devoted Yankees fan" - and a New Yorker - who delivered eggs and shoveled snow to earn pocket money as a kid. (And illustrator Terry Widener "helped out at his father's gas station, washed car windows, and ran errands….") But along the way, they both learned what makes a good story. "Here, kid. I'll take one," says a tall, smiling man, offering the boy a five-dollar bill. ("That's okay, kid. Keep the change.") It turns out the tall man is Babe Ruth.

The boy uses the five dollars to go watch a game, where Babe Ruth is walked by the Red Sox - they're afraid he'll hit a home run for the Yankees. "That year they were the best team in baseball," the boy remembers on the last page, adding "he and I were a team too…  As I left Yankee Stadium…I knew Dad and I were also a team. "We were both working to get our family through hard times."

The illustrations are simple and colorful, taking the edge off the story's sad story. While the story acknowledges the simple joy of watching a baseball game -  and seeing a legendary player - it's ultimately about the people in the stands.

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