Home Run Heroes: Big Mac, Sammy & Junior

DK Readers Level 3

by James Buckley Jr.

The MLB Readers give them exactly what they cool photographs and amazing facts to encourage reading. This reader stars three of baseball's biggest Mark McGwire and his 500+ career homeruns; Sammy Sosa's rise from poverty to international superstardom; and Ken Griffey, Jr.'s out-of-the-park record-breaking career. The 48-page Level 3 books, designed for children who can read on their own, contain more complex sentence structure and more detail. Young readers will devour these kid-friendly titles, which cover high-interest topics such as sharks, and the Bermuda Triangle, as well as classics like Aladdin. Information boxes highlight historical references, trivia, pronunciation, and other facts about words and names mentioned. Averaging 2,400 to 2,800 words, these books offer a 50/50 picture-to-text ratio. The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4.

Genres: Sports

48 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2001

About the author

In addition to his work as a professional editor, James Buckley, Jr., is also the author of many books on American sports that are geared toward young fans and budding athletes.

Buckley, who has founded a company called Shoreline Publishing Group to produce books for reluctant readers, maintains that sports are far more than simple hobbies or ways to burn off excess energy.

Reviews

[Finnian McLarnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talked about the three most impactful players of their time. Buckley talked about how everyone thought that Roger Maris homerun record would never be broken and how Sammy and “Big Mac” took the world by storm by both breaking the record in the same year. Ken Griffey Jr. was looked at as more of an all-around great player who hit homeruns but he wasn’t on the same level as the other two sluggers. Buckley took us through the lives of these three player and made it about the players they were on the field and the people they were off the field.

James Buckley Jr. is an author who does children book that are all about sports. He uses text feature that really enhanced the overall experience of reading this book. He does a great job of matching the text to the picture in the book, whether it was stats, pictures, or maps. These players were “before my time” but I’m so thankful I read this book because now I can have a knowledgeable conversation with my dad about his heroes growing up. Overall, this is a book I would recommend to anyone born after the year 1995 who loves baseball, It was a great read and I learned so much even though it was a children’s book.

[Jacob Huebner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more for young readers, but it was definitely a good book. It nailed one of my biggest interests which is baseball. It is about all of the best hitters that were ever in the major leagues. My favorite is when the author talks about Mark McGuire. I would definitely suggest this book for kids that love basebal.