Books for Kids
Players in Pigtails
Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
Batter up! Did you know that one of America’s favorite songs was written about a girl? And that in the 1940s, girls all across America were crazy for our country’s favorite game? Inspired by these two little-known facts, Shana Corey and Rebecca Gibbon imagine how one determined girl followed a dream and became a player in the first-ever All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Spirited text and jubilant pictures celebrate these brave girls’ love of the game and the league they called their own.
Click here for a downloadable Educators Guide. For additional resources and information on Players check out the Extras page!
• An ALA Amelia Bloomer Selection
• A Parent’s Guide Children’s Media Award Winner
• A Kansas City Award Winner
• A Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
• A Georgia Children’s Book Award Nominee
• Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, Historical
Fiction Booklist, Highly Recommended
What people are saying:
★ “An exuberant tribute to the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Kids, both girls and boys, will revel in the energy and joy Corey packs into her story. Corey’s sly repetition of the phrase ‘What good is baseball to a girl?’ will have modern-day sluggers longing for a turn at bat.” —Booklist, starred review
★ “Most folks can sing the refrain to ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ but fewer know the verses about a ‘baseball mad’ girl named Katie Casey. In this sprightly story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s, Corey gives the fictional Katie a mitt and a powerful swing. Corey blends lively fiction and fact, and includes an enthusiastic afterword about her research into the AAGPBL.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Inspired by the movie A League of Their Own . . . Corey researched and uncovered a little-known verse to the popular song ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game.’ The verse begins: ‘Katie Casey was baseball mad/Had the fever and had it bad.’ The fictional female becomes the main character in this thoroughly charming picture book. Even libraries owning Doreen Rappaport and Lyndall Callan’s Dirt on Their Skirts (Dial, 2000) should make room on their shelves for this tribute to a brief but fascinating aspect of America’s sports history.” —School Library Journal
“A super new picture book combining a good story with wonderful illustrations and a well-told, exciting little history lesson. A story that will inspire and enlighten both young girls and boys. A winning team, indeed!” —BookPage
“The story of Katie’s long step up to the plate is lots of fun. Corey has an eye for detail that will satisfy the picture-book set. A lengthy author’s note supplies information about the league, and lyrics to ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ and the ‘Victory Song’ of the AAGPBL grace the endpapers. Pigtails is a solid hit.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
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