Lena Blackburne
and the Secret Mud
and the Secret Mud
That Changed Baseball
This post joins Nonfiction Monday
hosted today at Wendie's Wanderings
(pub. 1.1.2013) 32 pages
A True Tale with A Cherry On Top
A uthor: David A. Kelly
and Illustrator: Oliver Dominguez
C haracter: Lena Blackburne
O verview from the publisher:
"Lena Blackburne loved baseball. He watched it, he played it, he coached it. But he didn't love the ways players broke in new baseballs. Tired of soggy, blackened, stinky baseballs, he found a better way. Thanks to a well-timed fishing trip and a top-secret mud recipe, Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud was born. For seventy five years, baseball teams have used Lena's magic mud to prepare baseballs before every game...Lena's mud went from a riverbank to the major leagues and all the way to the Hall of Fame."
T antalizing taste:
"Splooootch! He stepped into some dark brown
mud. It was soft and gooey. Lena’s boot stuck in
the mud. He slooooooooowly pulled it out.
Lena had an idea.
He reached down and scooped up some of the
dark brown mud. It looked smooth and creamy
like chocolate pudding. But it felt gritty.
Lena took the mud to the ballpark."
and something more: What a great concept for a children's book -- mud meets baseball! And I enjoyed reading the background and mystery behind the Miracle Mud in the Author's Note: "While baseball mud is used during every game from spring training to the World Series, the mud harvesting season starts in July. [The Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud] crew take a boat out to their secret mud hole. They scoop up hundreds of pounds of mud and bring it back to shore. Then comes the super-secret part: they store the mucky brown mud in barrels over the winter Perhaps something special happens in the barrels We don't know. And they won't tell."
8 comments:
I had just put in a request to read Miracle Mud on Net Galley yesterday. I see it was released today. I think this is the type of book that would work well within my school library. A little bit of history, a little bit of sports, and a little bit of mud. What's not to love? Nice posting. I look forward to adding this to my own collection.
Oh, what fun - baseball from a whole new perspective!
Hi Julee, Yes, it's a fun combination for a book, isn't it? I'm glad you'll get to read it soon -- I think you'll enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Tara, Yes! It's a great new look at the history of baseball and a nod to ingenuity, too. Thanks for stopping by.
This is so cool! I am a baseball fan and never knew about this mud.
I did know about the mud, which if I'm not mistaken, comes from the New Jersey Pine Barrens, but I'm excited to see a book about it! A perfect choice for opening day of baseball season. I want a copy right now! :)
You'll love this one, Jeff! And I think your students will enjoy it too.
Wow! Shelf-employed is in the know! I'm impressed that you already knew about the mud (but then you are an avid Phillies fan). I think you'll enjoy the book.
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