Yogi

The Life, Loves, 
and Language of
Baseball Legend
Yogi Berra

Calkins Creek
(Boyds Mill & Kane)
(pub. 2.5.2019) 
 48 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Barbara Rosenstock

 and illustrator: Terry Widener
 
C haracter: Yogi Berra
O verview: 
     "Lawrence 'Yogi' Berra loved his family, his neighborhood, his friends, and, most of all, baseball. He was crazy about it.
      But baseball didn't love him back - at least not right away. Yogi didn't look like other players. When he finally made it to the Major Leagues, Yogi endured pranks and harassment from players, sportswriters, and fans. Their words hurt but they didn't stop him. Yogi soon became known for playing exceptional ball and talking a good game. Yogi's quirky sayings - his 'Yogi-isms'- became the stuff of legend.
     Barb Rosenstock's dynamic text and Terry Widener's powerful illustrations celebrate the talents, loves, and inspirational words of Yogi Berra who earned a World Series ring for each finger, and who made baseball love him back."

T antalizing taste: 
     "Lawdie loved his coaches. But coaches didn't always love him back. Wait for a good pitch! Don't slide like that! You're gonna fall over, Berra! He took a lot of teasing for his squat body, long arms, and waddling walk. When he wasn't on the field, Lawdie studied the game from the sidelines with his arms and legs crossed. After his friends saw a movie where a yogi sat cross-legged and charmed snakes, Lawdie was called 'Yogi.'

And something more: The back matter includes a wealth of information about Yogi Berra, including a discussion of Yogi's sayings: "Yogi Berra's quotations, or Yogi-isms, are legendary. Original sources for his sayings are notoriously difficult to pin down. Many Yogi-isms seem to be original, but others may have been used by someone else first, then popularized by Berra... Yogi's own memories of what and why he made some remarks changed over time."
      But, as explained in Barbara Rosenstock's Author's Note, "He's the most quoted athlete in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and among the most quoted Americans of all time."

"You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're  going because you might not get there." - Yogi