Take Me Out to the Yakyu

by Aaron Meshon

A little boy's grandfathers, one in America and one in Japan, teach him about baseball and its rich varying cultural traditions.

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Baseball, Japan, Cultural, Childrens, Family

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 19, 2013

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau]

A little boy gets to see baseball through both Japanese and American perspectives...wonderful illustrations. Books like this help children understand that we share so much with other groups of people from around the world. The Japanese have embraced baseball in a special way; their fans are just as devoted as American fans.

[Betsy]

Corner a children's librarian. Say the words "Japan" and "baseball". Ask for picture books that involve both topics. What will you get? If I were a betting woman I'd say that nine out of ten librarians would probably hand you a book about America's Japanese internment camps and the folks in there that played baseball to keep their sanity intact. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki or Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss come immediately to mind. That tenth librarian might go in a different direction, though. Maybe you made it clear that you wanted something contemporary. Something that involves Japanese baseball today, but is written in a style that would engage both the very young and your older, more sophisticated seven-year-old. Until now, you would have been up a tree. Fortunately for all parties, Take Me Out to the Yakyu swoops in to save the day. Visually splendid with a text that manages to be simple without being simplistic, I look at this book and realize that while I've nothing else like it on my library shelves, I'd pay all the money in the world for this format to be replicated over and over again. Until that happy day occurs, let's bask in Meshon's gift to us.

"I love baseball . . . in America . . . and in Japan." The boy telling us this is a ruddy-cheeked cheery little dickens. In his left hand he holds the red jersey of a Japanese team. In his right, the blue of an American. He then leads us through what it's like to attend a baseball game with his American pop pop in the States and his ji ji in Japan. Some differences are small. You might take a bus rather than a car to a game in Japan, or you might wear an oversized foam hand rather than toot a giant plastic horn in America. Some differences are fairly large. There's the food, the different ways of tackling the seventh inning, and even what a fan might buy on their way out. At the heart of it all, though, is the fact that when it comes to baseball, there's only one real way to close out the day. Lie down on your bed or your mat and think, "What a wonderful day!" A glossary of terms and an Author's Note are included at the end.

When I review a book for kids I like to include some "readalikes" into the piece for folks looking for similar fare. People looking for picture books that discuss life in contemporary Japan in a style similar to Meshon's are in luck since there are books like Etsuko Watanabe's My Japan and Aoki by Annelore Parot out there. Baseball fans, by the same token, could enjoy Ballpark by Elisha Cooper or something a little more esoteric like The Boys by Jeff Newman. Where I get stumped is when I try to think of a picture book that takes a singular event and shows what it's like alongside that same event in another country. The best I could come up with was Mirror by Jeannie Baker, which shows scenes of daily life in Australia on one page, and Morocco on another. Yet even with Baker's work there was a mildly unnerving civilized vs. uncivilized vibe about the book that put some readers on edge. Amongst Meshon's many strengths here is the fact that he really manages to make Japan familiar and unfamiliar all in the same breath. I think part of the reason it works as well as it does is that our hero has been living in both Japan and America for so long that he doesn't find one style of life or living any better, or more surprising, than another. Japan isn't exoticized in any way (nor, for that matter, is America). The side-by-side comparisons also have the additional advantage of being just as interesting to American child readers as it would be to Japanese kiddos. No mean feat.

Naturally when someone makes as strong a picture book debut as Take Me Out to the Yakyu, you want to know more about them. Aaron Meshon is interesting because his forays into the book world have been relatively few and far between. A RISD grad (naturally) he did some art for a Brooklyn tour guide once but beyond that I couldn't find that he'd done much on the publishing end of things. Until now you'd be more likely to find his art in a magazine or on a mural in a Brooklyn coffee bar. His style doesn't slot into an easy description either (I just deleted a very lame attempt to call it "Hello Kitty meets Adventure Time" which has only the barest ring of truth to it). The colors are used in a clever matter in this story as well. Blue for America and red for Japan, the contrast is killer. The consistency of the color palette is comforting and moves the reader along at a smart and steady clip. There's the occasional oddity (I'm not sure why our hero's speech appears as a purple speech balloon with eyeballs during one two-page spread) but it doesn't distract much. Long story short, what we've got on our hands here is a true original. Don't blink or you might miss it.

I have a two-year-old that I have turned into a walking litmus test. It is very dangerous to use your own child as a testing ground for books that are way above their reading level/comprehension. My kid does not care about baseball. She's only just now able to define what a basketball is. As for Japanese culture, that begins and ends with her ability to dissect a sushi roll like she was a surgeon attempting a difficult removal of a kidney stone. That said, she would sit down and listen to every last word of Take Me Out to the Yakyu. Not because the text is babyish, mind. It's just that Meshon has a singular ability to get to the bloody point. From page one onward you know exactly what this book is about and how the author is going to format it. Then there are the ways in which the author has chosen to incorporate Japanese and American words into the text. Descriptive terms like "Fastball" and "Sokkyu" appear within the pictures themselves, adding life and color. Adults like myself will be interested in hitherto unknown facts like that the Japanese shout terms like "Do your best" at their players (I love that Meshon pairs these essentially positive shouts alongside the very American cheers of "Win! Win! Win!"). Likewise the Glossary of terms and informative section at the end that covers everything from baseball history to game length to mascots will be welcome reading for parents and gatekeepers and interesting for the occasional kid enthusiast.

To clarify, while I mentioned earlier in this review that there are no picture books quite like Meshon's out there, that's not 100% accurate. It's true that there are no simple picture books of a kiddo living in Japan and America that compare. There are, however, books that have taken the format of two different homes brought together for side-by-side comparisons and applied it to other situations. I've seen this happen in books about divorce like Living with Mom and Living with Dad by Melanie Walsh, and I'm sure there are stories about visiting different grandparents, or what people do in Latin American vs. United States households. That said, for sheer appeal, Meshon stands out. Basically what you have here is a book that is so amusing that the fact that it also happens to teach interesting facts is almost beside the point. Kids will gravitate to this book because the art looks like fun, the text is really amusing, and it's about baseball. And if they happen to learn a ton about Japanese culture along the way? Bonus. A necessary purchase them. For sports fans and seekers of multicultural fare alike.

For ages 3-7.

[Peggy]

1. Text to self: As a kid, I sat next to Granddad on many Saturdays, watching the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball. We discussed players, strategy, batting order, and many other points of the game. I have been to Japan, and appreciate that even with their limited space, they make room for baseball diamonds. This book really touched me.

2. Bloom’s Questions
Remembering: What game was the family enjoying?
Understanding: Can you write a brief timeline of events?
Applying: How might a fan in Japan look at the baseball game?
Analyzing: What was the purpose of the red/blue/green backgrounds in the book?
Evaluating: How similar and /or different were the game in Japan and America?
Creating: Make a guide to Japanese baseball. What would it be helpful to know before a game?

3. (February 15, 2013). Booklist
http://www.booksinprint.com.leo.lib.u...#

[Allison]

There's a lot to love about this heartwarming compare-and-contrast story about a young boy's experiences going to baseball games in America and Japan. First, I love the level of detail in the lively, colorful illustrations showing the similarities and differences in America and Japan-- like the American food tray with peanuts and a paper ticket contrasted with the Japanese food tray with edamame and a cell phone displaying a QR code/digital ticket. Second, I love that this book addresses the main character's bicultural experience in such a positive, straightforward way. He has an American Pop Pop and a Japanese Ji Ji, and both take him to baseball games. Lastly, I love the way in which the author has inserted Japanese vocabulary into the text, so that a young reader will easily pick up meaning from context.

I really, really love this book.

[Jennifer]

A wonderful and educational story about one boy who navigates between cultures as he goes to baseball games in Japan and America. The bright and beautiful colored illustrations convey so much joy, excitement, and extra detail about who the people are. And the book trailer is adorable!

[Darshana Khiani]

Recommend this for all kids who like baseball.

[Mary Lee]

Did you ever find the perfect book for the kid you had LAST year? This one's for you, Ibuki.

Summer #bookaday 51

[Betsy]

I *just* did a list of 9 baseball books for Redeemed Reader, and I totally would have swapped out one of those titles for this one!! A winner, here, I think. Meshon shows a young boy going to baseball games with his American grandfather in the U.S. and with his Japanese grandfather in Japan. Illustrations are bright and facing pages look like mirror images (although they're not exactly because things look a bit different in the two countries). Nice author's note and English/Japanese dictionary of baseball terms. Very young-child friendly as well as interesting for early elementary, too. For baseball fans as well as those who enjoy learning about two cultures compared/contrasted to one another.

Long version as posted on Literaritea

Take Me Out to the Yakyu
Aaron Meshon
Atheneum, 2013

This was one of my favorite new reads this summer. Such a fun little book and one that works equally well as a baseball story as it does an informational text on cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan--not to mention a sweet reflection of a terrific grandpa/kid relationship! So let's unpack this gem a bit.

Cover/Endpapers: The astute viewer will notice right away that the cover image is symmetrical with the boy smack in the center. He's the star of our show, to be sure, but the background shows us the world he straddles--literally. Everything on the left is U.S.A. Everything on the right is Japan. The jaunty colors and simple, bold images tell us this book is for younger folks--ages 4-6 or so (and that's pretty accurate, although I think the book can go up or down a bit). What is a "Yakyu"? Glad you asked--the cover tells us that, too, with lots of baseball imagery. This is definitely going to have some baseball game action in it, even if we still don't know exactly what a Yakyu is. Endpapers: baseball again!

Title Page: More of the same left/right juxtaposition of U.S.A. and Japan--and this will continue on most pages that have both countries/cultures represented simultaneously. American scenes are first, followed by Japanese.

Design: This book is wonderfully designed. Without spelling out, "this is a book about American baseball and culture compared to Japanese baseball and culture," it shows us this comparison quite clearly. Even young children will pick up on it as the boy goes to a baseball game with his American grandfather and with his Japanese grandfather. Most double spreads are mirror images of each other, reflecting both cultures. The similarities in layout and composition of each spread help the reader see right away what is different between the two countries. Since this book is being published in America, to an American audience, it makes sense that American scenes are the touchpoint--we know these images. The Japanese reflections stand out in stark contrast sometimes (such as sleeping on the floor in Japan) while others images show us just how similar we really are (celebrating the seventh inning, even if we do it differently).

Palette: Bright, bold, saturated colors fill this book. But there is more to it than just "fun" colors. The American side is consistently blue--background, player jerseys, shades of blue. The Japanese side is consistently red in the same way. This starts on the cover with the foam hand and plastic horn the boy is holding up, and even his clothes reflect both main colors. I used this book to introduce the concept of palette to my children (twin boys, aged 6, and a daughter, age 8). THEY pointed out to me that on the cover, the American (English) words are in blue and the Japanese word is in red!

Text: Picture books aren't just about the pictures! The text in this book nicely mirrors the symmetry of the illustrations which helps the reader know what Ji Ji means or that kilometers-per-hour is similar to miles-per-hour as a measurement tool. Just enough information given to us in the text so that we know what is going on but aren't overwhelmed with commentary on the two cultures.

End Matter: But wait! There's more! The final pages of the book have all sorts of information about baseball in the two countries. Incidentally, the informational pages continue the same blue/red palette. There's a glossary complete with the Japanese characters for words (one page of baseball-related words and one of "other fun words"). The next two pages give a short history of baseball in both countries and some other information related to baseball in both countries. And don't miss the final yin-yang illustration!

[Vincent Meyers]

The book, "Take Me Out To The Yakyu", by Aaron Meshon talks about the similarities and differences of attending a baseball game in America and in Japan. The book begins with a boy and his grandfather traveling to a baseball game. Once the boy and his grandpa reach the game, they head to the concession stand and get their favorite ballpark meal. In addition, they visit the souvenir shop and buy their favorite items. Eventually, they make their way to their seats for the game, and the boy shares some of the traditions at the baseball games like the 7th inning stretch. Furthermore, the boy’s love for baseball is showcased as he cheers on his favorite team with excitement and anticipation. Overall, it turns out that both the baseball game in America and the baseball game in Japan are great games filled with many memories. Because the boy’s favorite team wins in America and his favorite team ties in Japan, the night is even more special. The story finishes with the boy and his grandpa’s journey home, concluding an unforgettable evening.

A few things that really catch my attention in this book are the bright colors, the size of the pictures, and the fine details that the illustrator decides to incorporate into the pictures. Because each page is filled with numerous colors and small details like the scoreboards having the team mascot, a clock, the number of strikes a batter has on him, the score, and various other details, there are a lot of aspects for a child to look at on each page. With so much detail and so many action shots on each page, I believe that a parent or a teacher can find a lot of talking points to have with a child stemming from the illustrations in this book. Furthermore, I think the illustrator does a great job designing this book because the idea of baseball in America is presented on the left hand side of each page, and the idea of baseball in Japan is presented on the right hand side of each page throughout the entire book. Therefore, the cultural differences of baseball in America and baseball in Japan are easily recognizable for a young child. In addition, I also think that the illustrator is clever when adding in different borders and shapes around some of the words in his book. For example, when the author speaks about the difference in the foods at baseball games in America and Japan, the illustrator uses speech bubbles that are in the shape of steam coming up from hot food, and when the author speaks about pitchers throwing fastballs, the illustrator puts some of the words in a lightning bolt to illustrate the speed of the pitch. Therefore, there is a direct link or interplay between the words on a given page and the picture that corresponds to the text. Finally, I like how the author uses bold font when he is talking about the most exciting moments in baseball like a 90 mph fastball, fans cheering “win”, or a star player hitting a home run. To me the bold font is a feature that shows impact and the importance of these moments to young children who are just learning how to read, write, talk, and make sense of the culture surrounding them.

Even though the illustrations are very appealing and the pictures are the focal point of each page, I believe that the story lacks character development. To me, the central focus of this story is on the difference of baseball in America and Japan. The boy and his grandfather are not very developed because all the reader knows is that the boy loves baseball. Despite this one flaw, I would highly recommend this story to all age groups of readers. Overall, the text is easily understandable for all age groups, and I am impressed with how the author differentiated between the American and Japanese interpretation of baseball so clearly. This book is also a good starting point for young readers because the story and the author’s message can be grasped from the illustrations alone. However, this book is also a nice challenge for children with developing skills because this book can help children learn the early fundamentals of speaking in both English and Japanese. Therefore, this story would be a great read for all children because of the child friendly features it contains.

[Julie Lamb]

Book Title: Take me out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

Short Description of the Book: In this book, a young boy compares and contrasts his experiences with American baseball and Japanese baseball. This book entices young baseball fans while affirming the growing number of children who live between two countries and two cultures.

FOCUS: Narrative Features I would use in a Mini-Lesson:

1) Comparing and Contrasting: Aaron Meshon does an impressive job of balancing American baseball with Japanese baseball. Never in this book does one outweigh the other. If he talks about the amazingness of the American stadium on one page, he discusses the magnificence of the Japanese dome on the next. This narrative could outline ways to effectively compare and contrast for students without favoring one or the other.
2) Language: A wealth of Japanese terms are given from author Aaron Meshon in this narrative. It even contains a word bank and translation at the end of the book. This is a neat way for students to introduce the basics of another language. My students are all taking Spanish courses at school and could utilize their learning by incorporating new terms for readers to learn.

TEACH: Common Core Standards: English Language Arts (Grades 11-12)

W.11-12.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

1. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
2. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
3. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
4. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
5. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES: I hope students will learn how to effectively compare and contrast in a narrative whether it be characters, experiences, or anything else. I also would like for students to embrace another culture and language to incorporate into their narrative. They could benefit from using words they’ve learned in a foreign language course.

[James Son]

"Take Me Out to the Yakyu" shows a little boy who is very passionate about the sport of baseball. Not just American baseball, he also really loves Japanese baseball. The story revolves around the trip he takes to the baseball games with his two grandfathers. One grandfather lives in America, and the other lives in Japan. Both trips are different, but also very similar. In America, the baseball game happens in the stadium, while in Japan it happens in the dome. He also takes different transportations to each game. While at one place his grandfather buys him a foam finger, at another he gets a giant plastic horn. The food is also very different, however, the game's not. Even though in both countries they use different methods of calculating the speed of the baseball pitched, they are both thrown the same. They might have different chants, but they both want to hit a homerun! The songs, the score, the souvenirs, and cultures might also be different, but one thing is not. The boy really enjoys his day when it comes to baseball!

I really loved this book, because I feel like I can relate to it. The boy in this story is from two different countries, the United States and Japan. My parents are both from South Korea, but I was born and raised in the US. As the boy compares the game of baseball and what's it like in each country, you can really feel what he is going through. I thought it was brilliant though, how the author represented it in the story. Personally, I feel like it would be really hard to compare the two different cultures, but the author did really well. One by one, he would show them side by side, the differences in each picture. Also the way the author mixed some Japanese words into the text, I thought was very entertaining. It not only potentially taught children some basic Japanese words, but also made it more relatable. When the little boy shows the Japanese culture, that's when he uses the Japanese words. And if the readers didn't understand some of the words, the author even included the translation at the end. One last thing I did notice, was how the grandfathers were represented. The American grandfather was very hairy and was the image of most American dads, as the Japanese grandfather was almost hairless and dressed very differently. I thought that little detail of the pictures was very creative.

[Christina Martin]

This is a fun book that I found in the library of Teachers College. The title stood out to me because it incorporates both Japanese and English. "Yakyu" means baseball in Japanese, so by just reading the tile, one can already see that this book will be multicultural.

It is full of visuals about baseball in both the United States and in Japan. The author shows a little boy going to both an American baseball game and a Japanese baseball game. The author shows the similarities and differences between the two nation's baseball games. The author introduces the reader to many cultural differences that can be found at a Japanese baseball game including game time food, language and the setting.

The reader can easily see the comparisons and contrasts between the two countries as it relates to baseball because the page break separates one page explaining American baseball traditions, and the other page explaining Japanese American traditions. The two pages showing the differences are always side by side, which allows the reader to constantly compare the traditions.

The book can be used for early elementary classes and for special education classes for the pictorial references and large text. The pictures definitely dominate over the text in this book. It would be a great book to introduce children to cultural differences. If the class is highly diverse, it would be interesting to ask the students what sports are popular in their respective cultures. For an early elementary class, this book would be great for a read aloud. The students will surely be able to follow along by interpreting the pictures. This story also introduces a few elementary Japanese words, which could be used to have kids pronounce unfamiliar words to test their phonic awareness. It would also be a great way to introduce students to another language. At the end of the story, there is a section dedicated to defining a few Japanese words. This would be a great way to teach students a few fun words in Japanese.

[Oak Lawn Public Library - Youth Services]

32 pages

Lexile Level: AD610L

Age Range: 5-7, but older kids would find the Japanese aspect interesting.

Summary:
This baseball picture book compares a boy’s experience of going to a baseball game in America and in Japan. In the book the left page is about baseball in the U.S., while the right page is about baseball in Japan, so young readers can easily compare and contrast the pictures and words that are side by side. For instance, did you know that in Japan, people let balloons go and sing their team’s anthem during the 7th inning instead of singing our traditional song “Take me out to the ball game.” The book compares many things: how people get to the game, what people eat at the game, how they measure the speed of a pitch, and various other neat things.

Comments & Recommendations:
I would definitely recommend this picture book for teaching young kids about baseball and diversity. It is very easy to understand, and there is only 1-2 sentences on the page, so you can easily explain each concept. The comparing and contrasting can be very useful for kids a little older who are already interested in baseball. The pictures are colorful and large and very enjoyable. In the back of the book there is a glossary of words: showing the word in English and in Japanese and even has the picture Japanese language shown by the Japanese word.

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed By: Jen T.

[Sarah Wheeland]

Take Me Out to the Yakyu

Text to Self: One of my favorite memories as a little kid was going to baseball games with my mom and dad when we lived in Chicago. We would go to White Sox games because they were my dad’s favorite team and then we’d go to Cubs games because they were my mom’s favorite team. I had equal collections from the fan shops in both stadiums. I related to this story because the boy gets to experience baseball in two different cultures, the US and Japan, but the overall memory of both is a very good one for him!

Questions:
1.Can you name the main characters in this story? (Knowledge)

2.Compare and contrast baseball in Japan and baseball in America. (Comprehension)

3.Can you think of another example of a sport that is played in the US and another country? How is this sport the same in each country? How is it different? (Application)

4.What inference can you make about how the boy views the two cultures in his family? (Analysis)

5.Using the information from this book, create a picture of what you think a baseball game in Japan looks like. (Synthesis)

6.The US government is considering getting rid of baseball because it is too expensive. Using this book justify why baseball should or should not be saved. (Evaluation)

(2013, February). School Library Journal. http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID...

[Jean Coughlin]

1. This book made me think of the times I had gone to baseball games, and just like the book, it was more about the food, people, music, etc. than it was about the actual game.
2. Questions:
1. What was this book comparing?
2. What is meant by “7th inning stretch”?
3. How is Japanese baseball similar to American baseball?
4. How would you compare Japanese snacks and American snacks?
5. What is your opinion of cicadas as a baseball mascot and why do you feel that way?
6. Look up more information on Japanese baseball and see if you can create new pages for the story.
3. (2013, March/April). Horn Book. http://titlewave.com/search?SID=d389e...

[Viviane Elbee]

I love how this book compares a boy's baseball outing experience in both the United States and in Japan. The side by side comparison format works really well, and you can admire the similarities and differences between the two experiences.

I liked how color coding is used so you can instantly tell when it is Japan (red) and the USA (blue).

There's a glossary on the back with vocabulary words in Japanese.

My kids enjoyed this book; voted to give it a four, and asked for an immediate re-read.

I think it will appeal to baseball lovers, people seeking diverse / multi-cultural stories, preschoolers and elementary students.

[Sandy Brehl]

Parallel images show a young boy's baseball experience while providing numerous visual puzzles for comparison throughout. Despite the many distinct differences, this book provides evidence that in baseball, and in life, we are more alike than we are different. Dual language glossary at the back should spark enthusiastic research.

[Sharon]

Boy compares the difference between baseball games with with his American Dad and with his Japanese grandfather.Illustrations rendered in acrylic, with blues tones for the Dad and reds for the grandfather. Author note about baseball, and two lEnglish to Japanese word charts.

[Donalyn]

An outstanding introduction to the similarities and differences between baseball games and traditions in both America and Japan.

[Dave Schaafsma]

There's a book to look at in conjunction with this book, Baseball Haiku, written by American and Japanese poets.

[Danielle]

I love this book. That is all.

[Tracy Holland]

Learn the similarities and differences between baseball in the US and baseball in Japan through this primary picture book.

[Sara]

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of baseball culture in America with that in Japan. Would be a fun way to introduce a limited number of Japanese words to a classroom as well.

[Angela De Groot]

A very interesting look at how baseball is enjoyed in both America and Japan through the eyes of a boy with grandfathers from both countries.

[Corinne]

Great way to learn some Japanese words!

[Tracey]

diverse picture book (in English with a sprinkling of Japanese words; baseball/sports, Japan, grandparents; for preschoolers age 3 and up).
* Prominently features diverse characters: starring a Japanese-American boy (grandpa Ji Ji lives in Japan, grandpa Pop Pop is American and has orange-brown hair on his arms and legs); the stadium crowds are generic/colorless but the baseball players are diverse (a Caucasian pitcher and a black batter on the American team; Japanese players on the Japanese team of course).
* Would work for a baseball- or sports-themed (or multi-cultural?) preschool storytime. The text on each page is pretty short and action-packed, but the overall story is longer so you'll may want to read this one earlier in your circle session, before the kids get too wiggly, and maybe you would skip some pages if your audience is still working on their "sitting quietly" skills.
Some of the story is conveyed through the vibrant and appealing illustrations, so this doesn't work as well for dial-a-story over the phone, but it definitely is good as a read-aloud to one or more kids in person. There is also a glossary in the back (including the Japanese writing for the Japanese words) but it doesn't provide a pronunciation guide, unfortunately.

[Debbie]

I selected this book because I was thinking about including more diverse books in my Notice and Note list of exemplars. Like Dear Primo, a story about two Mexican cousins writing about their experiences living in Mexico and the U.S., this is about a boy who watches baseball in both the U.S. and Japan. Although there are obvious contrasts if an American child is reading the story, I don't think the thinking question for CC, "Why would the character act this way?", does not really line up with the purpose of the book, which is to reflect culturally different experiences while not judging either one.

[Jacoba]

Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon (2013)
Picture Book
Format: Book
Plot summary: A little boy's grandfathers, one in America and one in Japan, teach him about baseball and its rich, varying cultural traditions.
Considerations or precautions for readers advisory (strong language, sex, death, religious overtones, violence, etc.): No special considerations
Review citation (if available): Perkins, Linda. Booklist , 2/15/2013, Vol. 109 Issue 12, p69-69,
Section source used to find the material: Booklist review
Recommended age: ages 2-6

[Stephanie Fujii]

This one was interesting. I liked the side by side comparisons of the American and Japanese baseball experience. I got this for my daughter not because we are a particularly baseball-loving family, but more for the cultural sensitivity/awareness component. The side by side illustrations were perfect for that.

I also liked that there was a list of baseball jargon in the back, along with the Japanese word and characters for them.

[Jo Oehrlein]

A boy of mixed ancestry talks about going to a baseball game with a grandfather in both the US and in Japan (an American grandfather in the US and a Japanese grandfather in Japan). Introduces several Japanese words. Even shows that pitches are measured in kilometers per hour in Japan.

There's a glossary in the back, plus an author's note which uses two different colors of print to explain different things about baseball in the US (blue) and Japan (red).