L.A. TIMES BOOK REVIEW -

By David Davis

"WE Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball" is, ostensibly, a children's book. But author-illustrator Kadir Nelson's text is so engrossing -- and his oil paintings so evocative -- that the rubric is inadequate. Nelson's soulful work about this long-neglected brand of our national pastime deserves -- nay, demands -- an all-ages audience.

The title comes from a quote by Negro Leagues founder Rube Foster: "We are the ship; all else the sea." As it suggests, the Negro Leagues were a self-sufficient, independent enterprise where only the ball was white. Segregated baseball, which began in the 1880s, would endure until the Brooklyn Dodgers' signing of Jackie Robinson in 1945 (although remnants of the Negro Leagues lasted through 1960).

The book's narrator is an "everyplayer" who sounds an awful lot like Buck O'Neil, the Kansas City Monarchs first baseman whose storytelling skills were the highlight of Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary. This device allows Nelson to chronicle the exploits of the stars (Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell) and the lesser-known players (Chet Brewer, Martin Dihigo, Turkey Stearnes) in a folksy, tell-it-like-it-was manner.

Of Ray Dandridge, the Hall of Fame third baseman, Nelson writes: "We called him 'Squatty' because he was so bowlegged. You could drive a train through his legs, but not a baseball."

Beyond celebrating the players' athletic skills and their dignity in the face of discrimination, Nelson doesn't shy away from the ugly complexities of segregation. When teams barnstormed through the South, he writes, "We would have to travel several hundred miles without stopping because we couldn't find a place where we could eat along the way. It's a hurtful thing when you're starving and have a pocket full of money but can't find a place to eat because they 'don't serve Negroes.' "

Nelson's artistry previously earned him Caldecott Honors (for "Henry's Freedom Box" and "Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom"). In "We Are the Ship," his luminous portraits and stadium tableaux form the book's core. These lush, detailed renderings capture the pride -- and the pain -- that the Negro Leaguers experienced and, in so doing, transform them into real-life heroes.

San Diego-based Nelson has written that he spent eight years on this project. His passion and dedication can be found on every page of this creative home run. *

HORN BOOK - [Starred]

Imagine listening to baseball legends Willie Mays and Ernie Banks swapping stories about their Negro League days as they sit in the stands, munching on peanuts and watching Ken Griffey Jr. launch a curve ball into the stratosphere. That kind of easygoing, conversational storytelling is exactly what Kadir Nelson achieves in this pitch-perfect history of Negro League baseball. “Seems like we’ve been playing baseball for a mighty long time. At least as long as we’ve been free,” the narrator says. Nelson’s collective “we” honors “the voice of every player,” as he explains in an author’s note, and it also works to draw readers into and through the text’s nine “innings.” Nelson’s extensive research (including interviews with former players) yields loads of attention-grabbing details: how much money players made; where, when, and how often games took place; who the standout owners, managers, and players were; and so on. And not surprisingly, he often returns to the impact of racism on the leagues, teams, and individual athletes. His grand slam, though, is the art: Nelson’s oil paintings have a steely dignity, and his from-the-ground perspectives make the players look larger than life. The book also includes a foreword by Hank Aaron, an Extra Innings section identifying Hall-of-Fame Negro Leaguers, a bibliography, endnotes, and an index. tanya d. auger

LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION - [starred]

Through text and artwork that pulses with life, Nelson has created a book that brings personality to the Negro Baseball League. Using the voice of "Everyman" in the league, this book will attract readers because of the full and double-page vibrant, realistic oil paintings, and immerse the reader in the compelling story being told. The author brings out interesting details about the league such as bus trips where players would relieve a sleepy driver and players would entertain their teammates. The reader meets famous players, like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, and the equally talented lesser known players. One enters the world of joy in the game of baseball and the hurt of segregation through the stories that take place away from the ballpark as well as on the field. One need not be a baseball fan to enjoy this book, because it's more than a sports story. It's a story of real people enduring more than many of us can imagine, playing a game they love. The book's title comes from "We are the ship; all else the sea" a quote from Rube Foster, the founder of the Negro National League. Highly Recommended. Nelda Brangwin, Cherry Valley Elementary School, Duvall, Washington

KIRKUS - [starred]

Nelson continues to top himself with each new book. Here, working solo for the first time, he pays tribute to the hardy African-American players of baseball's first century with a reminiscence written in a collective voice—"But you know something? We had many Josh Gibsons in the Negro Leagues. We had many Satchel Paiges. But you never heard about them"—matched to a generous set of full-page painted portraits and stadium views. Generally viewed from low angles, the players seem to tower monumentally, all dark-skinned game faces glowering up from the page and big, gracefully expressive hands dangling from powerful arms. Arranging his narrative into historical "Innings," the author closes with lists of Negro Leaguers who played in the Majors, and who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, plus a detailed working note. Along with being absolutely riveted by the art, readers will come away with a good picture of the Negro Leaguers' distinctive style of play, as well as an idea of how their excellence challenged the racial attitudes of both their sport and their times. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - [starred]

Gr 3 Up-In this attractive, oversized book, Nelson offers an appreciative tribute to the Negro Leagues. Adopting the perspective and voice of an elderly ballplayer, he offers a readable account that is infused with an air of nostalgic oral history: "Seems like we've been playing baseball for a mighty long time. At least as long as we've been free." With African Americans banned from playing in the major leagues, Rube Foster organized the Negro Leagues in 1920 and grandly proclaimed: "We are the ship; all else the sea." From 1920 through the 1940s, they offered African Americans an opportunity to play ball and earn a decent living when opportunities to do so were scarce. Nine chapters offer an overview of the founding and history of the leagues, the players, style of play, and the league's eventual demise after Jackie Robinson broke major league baseball's color barrier in 1947. Nelson's brilliant, almost iconic paintings vividly complement his account. Starting with the impressive cover painting of a proud, determined Josh Gibson, the artist brings to light the character and inherent dignity of his subjects. Hank Aaron, who started his Hall of Fame career in the Negro Leagues, contributes a heartfelt foreword. This work expands on the excellent overview offered in Carole Boston Weatherford's A Negro League Scrapbook (Boyds Mills, 2005). It is an engaging tribute that should resonate with a wide audience and delight baseball fans of all ages.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

SHELF AWARENESS

After Nelson's stunning images of such historic figures as Harriet Tubman (in Moses) and W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Robeson and Duke Ellington (in Ellington Is Not a Street), he pays tribute here to the legendary players and history of the Negro League. In his authorial debut, Nelson adopts the narrative voice of a fellow ballplayer, and the portraits, too, possess the candor of a moment observed by a teammate on the field. The cover image of Josh Gibson not only conveys the home run giant's confidence and physical strength, but also an unguarded quality, a glimpse of the man behind the talent. In a later scene, we watch Gibson from behind, as he observes Satchel Paige, who is about to release a pitch to Gibson's teammate Buck Leonard; the tension in Gibson's arms, his stance and the ripples in his neck--every fiber of him absorbs the information to be gleaned for his own imminent at-bat.

The book's title comes from a quotation by Rube Foster, who had the vision and fortitude to form the Negro League in February 1920 ("We are the ship, all else the sea"). Nelson credits Foster with the invention of the "bunt-and-run" strategy, calling pitches from the dugout and running his team "like it was a big league ball club." The text takes on the conversational, easy feel of a grandfather sharing tales of his game-playing days with a grandchild recently turned on to baseball. And the history of the Negro League era comes to life most vividly through the stories of its individuals: Satchel Paige and his speeding tickets as much as his pitching prowess, Gus Greenlee running numbers as well as he ran the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Nelson suggests how the league changed baseball overall, with base-stealing, night games and batting helmets and catchers' protective gear because of their "rough" form of play. He discusses how players often had to eat groceries and sleep on their team busses because there were so few places where they would be served or put up for the night. But the author also chronicles how well leaders like Rube Foster prepared the players for the day baseball would become an integrated sport, led by Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Nelson focuses on the triumphs more than the setbacks of this era and, with his glorious paintings of baseball greats and grand ball parks (many no longer standing), makes readers feel as if they are along on a history-making journey.--Jennifer M. Brown

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - [starred]

In his first outing as author as well as illustrator, Nelson (Ellington Was Not a Street) delivers a history of the Negro Leagues in a sumptuous volume that no baseball fan should be without. Using a folksy vernacular, a fictional player gives an insider account of segregated baseball, explaining the aggressive style of play ("Those fellows would bunt and run you to death. Drove pitchers crazy!") and recalling favorite players. Of Satchel Paige, he says, "Even his slow stuff was fast." As illuminating as the text is, Nelson's muscular paintings serve as the true draw. His larger-than-life players have oversized hands, elongated bodies and near-impossible athleticism. Their lined faces suggest the seriousness with which they took their sport and the circumstances under which they were made to play it. A gatefold depicting the first "Colored World Series" is particularly exquisite—a replica ticket opens from the gutter to reveal the entire line-ups of both teams. And while this large, square book (just a shade smaller than a regulation-size base) succeeds as coffee-table art, it soars as a tribute to the individuals, like the legendary Josh Gibson, who was ultimately elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame without ever playing in the major leagues. As Nelson's narrator says, "We had many Josh Gibsons in the Negro Leagues.... But you never heard about them. It's a shame the world didn’t get to see them play." Ages 8-up. (Jan.)

BOOKLIST - [starred]

In his first outing as author as well as illustrator, Nelson (Ellington Was Not a Street) delivers a history of the Negro Leagues in a sumptuous volume that no baseball fan should be without. Using a folksy vernacular, a fictional player gives an insider account of segregated baseball, explaining the aggressive style of play ("Those fellows would bunt and run you to death. Drove pitchers crazy!") and recalling favorite players. Of Satchel Paige, he says, "Even his slow stuff was fast." As illuminating as the text is, Nelson's muscular paintings serve as the true draw. His larger-than-life players have oversized hands, elongated bodies and near-impossible athleticism. Their lined faces suggest the seriousness with which they took their sport and the circumstances under which they were made to play it. A gatefold depicting the first "Colored World Series" is particularly exquisite—a replica ticket opens from the gutter to reveal the entire line-ups of both teams. And while this large, square book (just a shade smaller than a regulation-size base) succeeds as coffee-table art, it soars as a tribute to the individuals, like the legendary Josh Gibson, who was ultimately elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame without ever playing in the major leagues. As Nelson's narrator says, "We had many Josh Gibsons in the Negro Leagues.... But you never heard about them. It's a shame the world didn't get to see them play." Ages 8-up. (Jan.)

NEW YORK POST

Kadir Nelson hits a home run with this book, subtitled "The Story of Negro League Baseball." While he clearly did a lot of research and offers a detailed history of this chapter in baseball history--creatively told from the point of view of a ballplayer from that time--it's his illustrations that raise his game to the all-star level. The Pratt Institute grad's super-realist paintings let you see the shadows in the folds of Jackie Robinson's flannel uniform and practically feel the muscles ripple in Josh Gibson's arms. You can sense the hardships of the talented players barred from the Major Leagues, and the joys of just playing the game. It's a great way to start off the new season--just six days till pitchers and catchers.