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Randy Riley's Really Big Hit
Randy likes space, robots, and baseball, but he can't ace everything . . . or can he? Chris Van Dusen knocks one out of the park with a comical ode to ingenuity.
Randy Riley loves two science and baseball. When it comes to the solar system, the constellations, and all things robot, Randy is a genius. But on the baseball diamond? Not so much. He tries . . . but whiffs every time. Then, one night, Randy sees something shocking through his Space Boy it’s a fireball, and it’s headed right for his town! Randy does the math, summons all of his science smarts, and devises a plan that will save the day in a spectacular way. Once again, Chris Van Dusen winds up his visual humor, dizzying perspectives, perfect pacing, and rollicking rhyme and delivers a hit to make readers stand up and cheer.
Randy Riley loves two science and baseball. When it comes to the solar system, the constellations, and all things robot, Randy is a genius. But on the baseball diamond? Not so much. He tries . . . but whiffs every time. Then, one night, Randy sees something shocking through his Space Boy it’s a fireball, and it’s headed right for his town! Randy does the math, summons all of his science smarts, and devises a plan that will save the day in a spectacular way. Once again, Chris Van Dusen winds up his visual humor, dizzying perspectives, perfect pacing, and rollicking rhyme and delivers a hit to make readers stand up and cheer.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 14, 2012
5 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Chris Van Dusen
52 books321 followersChris Van Dusen writes: “I was born in Portland, Maine, on St. Patrick’s Day, 1960. As a child, my brothers and I would spend hours drawing pictures. We didn’t have video games or computers to entertain us, so we drew instead. One of my brothers would sketch intricate war scenes. Another would draw animals so realistic you’d swear they were breathing. My specialty was aliens, robots, and monsters.
“Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes. I loved the rhythm of Dr. Seuss’ words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. I had no idea back then that I’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when I grew up.
“After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers. Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born.
“For more than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures. One day I started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree. I thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration. At the same time, a refrain kept running through my head—“Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee / Hopped in the car and drove down to the sea.” The combination of these two things eventually became my first book, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee (Chronicle), which was published in 2000. Since then I’ve written and illustrated A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee (Chronicle) (2003), If I Built a Car (Puffin) (2005) and I’ve had a ball illustrating Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series (Candlewick).
“Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes. I loved the rhythm of Dr. Seuss’ words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. I had no idea back then that I’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when I grew up.
“After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers. Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born.
“For more than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures. One day I started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree. I thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration. At the same time, a refrain kept running through my head—“Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee / Hopped in the car and drove down to the sea.” The combination of these two things eventually became my first book, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee (Chronicle), which was published in 2000. Since then I’ve written and illustrated A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee (Chronicle) (2003), If I Built a Car (Puffin) (2005) and I’ve had a ball illustrating Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series (Candlewick).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
February 15, 2023
Cute. For some reason I was really drawn into watching for the American robin that showed up on some of the pictures. That, and the flat landscape made me think of my ole Indiana home. *sigh
May 4, 2012
This year, for National Poetry Month, I took an idea from Pinterest and did "Poetry Madness" with my 3rd graders. Essentially, this is like March Madness only with Poetry books. We started out with 12 books. In both my 3rd grade classes, the winning book was this one, hands down. (I don't think they communicated with each other about this either.) I decided to share it with my 2nd graders since it was so well received by the grade above. I watched them react as I turned each "50s-esque" illustrated page. They could identify with Randy's frustration at not being a stellar ball player. And they cheered him on when he was able to use his own talents to save his town. Share this with your students. It encourages them to keep pursuing your gifts, even when it is difficult to discover your God-given talents.
March 27, 2012
Randy Riley just cannot seem to step up to home plate and get a hit. He understands the mathematics behind force and trajectory, he just can't master the physical aspects of batting. Good thing he has the science part down, though, because a giant fireball is headed toward Earth, and no one knows how to stop it. No one but Randy Riley, that is.
Randy constructs an enormous robot and preps it for emergency. When the fireball is about to crash into the ground, Riley commands his robot to take a mighty swing, and the robots "bats" that fireball right back where it came from.
Van Dusen's vivid and lively illustrations are like... non-animated animation--they have a tremendous cartoon-like quality. Kids who like science and robots will enjoy this one.
Randy constructs an enormous robot and preps it for emergency. When the fireball is about to crash into the ground, Riley commands his robot to take a mighty swing, and the robots "bats" that fireball right back where it came from.
Van Dusen's vivid and lively illustrations are like... non-animated animation--they have a tremendous cartoon-like quality. Kids who like science and robots will enjoy this one.
April 30, 2015
What do you get when you combine baseball and outer space? A humorous book that is out of this world. Randy Riley, much like the author and many kids, loves two things: science and baseball. Randy is a genius in many ways, but he cannot seem to hit the ball when he gets up to bat. One night however he sees a fireball through his telescope. It is headed straight towards his town and there is only one kid who can save the day. Rhymes, robots, and some unbelievable baseball make this read aloud a guaranteed hit.
December 12, 2011
The Candlewick description is spot on. A fun mix of space, robots, baseball and ingenuity. While Circus Ship is still my favorite, I welcome Van Dusen's illustrations to any story--they are bright, classy and fun.
July 6, 2023
Randy tries but he’s not very good at playing baseball. One night while looking through his telescope, he spots a ball of fire that’s headed straight to his town. After he calculates how long it’ll be before it will hit the earth, he begins working on a way to stop it. Randy builds a huge robot. Will his robot be able to save the earth?
December 21, 2018
A giant fireball and robots . . . this book was way better than I expected! It was right on for my four-year-old too.
May 19, 2025
Hilarious and adorable, no notes
March 2, 2024
Sometimes kids who are bad at sports wind up saving Planet Earth from fiery destruction. Let that sink in
June 7, 2015
School Library Journal
( January 01, 2012; 9780763649463 )
K-Gr 3-Rhythmic, rollicking verse tells the tale of a young science geek, whose hapless efforts on the baseball field cause his teammates to hang their heads. Randy just can't help it. Both on and off the diamond, his thoughts turn more instinctively to planets, scientific equations, and robots: ".something beyond baseball/brought a smile to Randy's face/What Randy Riley really loved/was stuff from outer space!" Spying a giant fireball hurtling toward Earth through his Space Boy telescope one night, the boy frantically warns his parents-only to be sent back to bed. Undeterred, he secretly proceeds to construct a massive, top-secret robot in the backyard shed, which he unveils after the local news finally warns of the fireball's approach. The citizens watch in amazement as Randy guides the gargantuan robot to a deserted old mill, where it cracks off a smokestack and bats the fireball back into space. Randy's engineering talents have clearly saved the day. The crisp cartoon illustrations, rendered in brightly colored gouache, impart a retro small-town world with many expressive and amusing details. Full-bleed spreads delight readers with their varied and exaggerated perspectives, from under the catcher's mitt to bird's-eye views of the town. With all the bases covered-musical text, entertaining artwork, and surefire subject matter-this title bats 1,000 for group or lapsit read-alouds.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted
This review really hits the description right on. Both the rhythmic text and the beautiful artwork bring the story to life and make it exciting to follow along with. After reading the review, I was encouraged to go back through the pictures and take the time to appreciate the different perspectives that are displayed through the images that truly do add to the story.
( January 01, 2012; 9780763649463 )
K-Gr 3-Rhythmic, rollicking verse tells the tale of a young science geek, whose hapless efforts on the baseball field cause his teammates to hang their heads. Randy just can't help it. Both on and off the diamond, his thoughts turn more instinctively to planets, scientific equations, and robots: ".something beyond baseball/brought a smile to Randy's face/What Randy Riley really loved/was stuff from outer space!" Spying a giant fireball hurtling toward Earth through his Space Boy telescope one night, the boy frantically warns his parents-only to be sent back to bed. Undeterred, he secretly proceeds to construct a massive, top-secret robot in the backyard shed, which he unveils after the local news finally warns of the fireball's approach. The citizens watch in amazement as Randy guides the gargantuan robot to a deserted old mill, where it cracks off a smokestack and bats the fireball back into space. Randy's engineering talents have clearly saved the day. The crisp cartoon illustrations, rendered in brightly colored gouache, impart a retro small-town world with many expressive and amusing details. Full-bleed spreads delight readers with their varied and exaggerated perspectives, from under the catcher's mitt to bird's-eye views of the town. With all the bases covered-musical text, entertaining artwork, and surefire subject matter-this title bats 1,000 for group or lapsit read-alouds.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted
This review really hits the description right on. Both the rhythmic text and the beautiful artwork bring the story to life and make it exciting to follow along with. After reading the review, I was encouraged to go back through the pictures and take the time to appreciate the different perspectives that are displayed through the images that truly do add to the story.
Read
January 30, 2015This is a primary book for independent reading.
I selected this book because of the students interest in sports especially baseball. The piece shows how Randy uses baseball to explore the world around him. Randy shows that he can apply Math skills to save the planet by calculating the projection of the path of the fireball just as he uses math to project the path of the baseball. The piece includes some vocabulary which may be new or challenging to the student creating an opportunity for student learning and growth masked in one of the students favorite sports-baseball. The piece is nice because it shows that while not everyone is great at playing the game they can be an be asset to the game and utilize sports knowledge in other ways. I think this book provides a nice lesson for valuing an entire team and understanding everyone's strengths.This book can create dialogue about sportsmanship and valuing everyone on a team. The student indicated that he enjoys fantasy so I think this piece will be interesting Randy builds a giant robot and saves the planet with one baseball hit.
Hook for student: This book is about a boy who uses his love and knowledge of baseball to try to save the world. It shows baseball in a whole new way, read it to see if Randy can save the planet with Baseball! You will see that baseball is not just a game to play you can learn so much more from baseball and apply it to the world around you.
I selected this book because of the students interest in sports especially baseball. The piece shows how Randy uses baseball to explore the world around him. Randy shows that he can apply Math skills to save the planet by calculating the projection of the path of the fireball just as he uses math to project the path of the baseball. The piece includes some vocabulary which may be new or challenging to the student creating an opportunity for student learning and growth masked in one of the students favorite sports-baseball. The piece is nice because it shows that while not everyone is great at playing the game they can be an be asset to the game and utilize sports knowledge in other ways. I think this book provides a nice lesson for valuing an entire team and understanding everyone's strengths.This book can create dialogue about sportsmanship and valuing everyone on a team. The student indicated that he enjoys fantasy so I think this piece will be interesting Randy builds a giant robot and saves the planet with one baseball hit.
Hook for student: This book is about a boy who uses his love and knowledge of baseball to try to save the world. It shows baseball in a whole new way, read it to see if Randy can save the planet with Baseball! You will see that baseball is not just a game to play you can learn so much more from baseball and apply it to the world around you.
August 19, 2025
Pure fun! I really enjoy Van Dusen's clever stories and his illustrations are out of this world - full of imagination and color. This one is no exception. Baseball and science - who would have thought them a great combo. *wink*
Ages 4+
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
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Ages 4+
Content Considerations: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
July 23, 2018
I wanted to love this book- I really did.
Just longer than should be.
Illustrations were colorful and wonderful.
Some rich language in a theme based dialog with regular rhyme.
Not at all bad, just long.
Just longer than should be.
Illustrations were colorful and wonderful.
Some rich language in a theme based dialog with regular rhyme.
Not at all bad, just long.
December 7, 2016
Randy Riley's Really Big Hit is about a child who excels more in the classroom than athletically. He is very smart, but doesn't do well on his baseball team. Randy loves space and during the book he uses his telescope to monitor a "fireball" that is going to crash into his hometown! Randy builds a robot to fight off the fireball and with a smokestack and Randy at the controls, the robot hits the fireball like a baseball and Randy has his first GREAT HIT!
This book is fun to engage students in the art of poetry. The poetry keeps the students engaged in the text, and yet it teaches an important lesson. Just because you are not great at one thing, doesn't me you aren't great at something else! Randy tried and tried in baseball and was unsuccessful, but when he needed to build a robot to save his town he did it with ease!
Books that connect to this text: Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse and A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky
"Alarmed he started plotting the projection of its path
He formulated diagrams
he double checked his math
he calculated quickly and continued with a frown
in 19 days that fireball would crash into his hometown"
This book is fun to engage students in the art of poetry. The poetry keeps the students engaged in the text, and yet it teaches an important lesson. Just because you are not great at one thing, doesn't me you aren't great at something else! Randy tried and tried in baseball and was unsuccessful, but when he needed to build a robot to save his town he did it with ease!
Books that connect to this text: Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse and A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky
"Alarmed he started plotting the projection of its path
He formulated diagrams
he double checked his math
he calculated quickly and continued with a frown
in 19 days that fireball would crash into his hometown"
February 12, 2019
Randy Riley is absolutely awful at baseball. It isn't that he doesn't try, it's that he gets distracted by the science and misses the ball. When this young genius realizes that there's a giant fireball from space headed to his hometown and no one believes him, he decides to do something about it himself in the day he has to plan.
A fantastically imaginative story featuring a genius little boy who uses his love of space, science, and robots...and a little something else to save the day. The story is told in fantastic rhyme and Van Dusen's vibrant retro illustration style. If you're looking for a story featuring an unlikely hero, or a light scifi story, or something for robot lovers, or something for science and math lovers this is perfect. Also the well-rhymed text that makes this a fabulous read aloud.
A fantastically imaginative story featuring a genius little boy who uses his love of space, science, and robots...and a little something else to save the day. The story is told in fantastic rhyme and Van Dusen's vibrant retro illustration style. If you're looking for a story featuring an unlikely hero, or a light scifi story, or something for robot lovers, or something for science and math lovers this is perfect. Also the well-rhymed text that makes this a fabulous read aloud.
September 28, 2017
This captivating story makes a perfect read aloud for 1st through 5th graders. I used it as a science fiction mentor text for my fourth graders. Dusen's lyrical writing hooked students instantly. In the story, prodigy science genius Randy Riley constantly strikes out in little league baseball, but he's able to design a gigantic robot that saves planet Earth with the biggest home run of all.
April 13, 2020
Saving the day however you can. That's the message of this book. Randy is a kid who does enjoy baseball but isn't very good at it. He's far better at other things--think STEM related fields. Well, when a fireball threatens to destroy the town, Randy steps in and uses all of his knowledge to save the city.
Chris Van Dusen illustrates as only he can!
Chris Van Dusen illustrates as only he can!
April 15, 2023
We got this from the library yesterday, and it's a new hit for my two little boys! They love baseball, space, and robots, so this is a perfect trifecta for them! The plot is funny and unexpected, the rhyming scheme is great and doesn't feel forced, and the illustrations are fun in that classic Chris Van Dusen style! This will definitely be read over and over again in our house.
August 6, 2017
Randy is a boy who excels at many things, except for baseball. But he needs to pool all his genius (and his baseball knowledge) to save his town.
The book has very bright illustrations and they are amazing!
The book has very bright illustrations and they are amazing!
September 4, 2018
My five-year-old has really been into Chris Van Dusen books and always asks to look for a new Van Dusen when we go to the library. He was thrilled to see this one that we’d never read before and he loved it! A really cute story and another Van Dusen win.
February 14, 2019
Randy Riley is no good at baseball, but he is a scientist interested in outer space. When he discovers a giant fireball headed to destroy the city, although no one believes him, he prepares for the biggest hit of his life...
Told with Van Dusen's classic retro illustrations and jaunty rhymes.
Told with Van Dusen's classic retro illustrations and jaunty rhymes.
October 22, 2019
This is such a cute book!!!!! I love the message it sends to kids; that it is okay not to be good at one thing, because look at what else you can do (in his case make)! I love that it is in rhyme too. That makes it fun to read!
March 24, 2021
Got this for preK storytime, but it's rather long. Would be a great read-aloud for school aged kids though! Love that the boy in the book (who stinks at baseball) saves his town with his ingenuity and robot building.
September 11, 2017
I really like this book. The story and illustrations are creative and fun. The rhymes are easy to read and are not contrived. This book introduced me to Chris Van Dusen and I am grateful!
January 18, 2019
Really great illustrations and imaginative. Great to use for creative writing. Great poetry.
January 23, 2019
Baseball, sciences and excellent midcentury illustrations, what more could you want?
March 24, 2019
Just read it to the grandsons and they really liked it.
March 24, 2019
A most excellent story about outer space and baseball. Thank you, Jennifer Garner, for introducing this one to our book shelf.
July 23, 2019
Good book. I enjoyed this book and my 10-year-old son really liked it.
August 9, 2019
This book is beautiful to eyes, ears, and heart. Me and my 2 year old read this over and over for a good 30 min without either of us getting tired of it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews