You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!

By Jonah Winter and Terry Widener

Many believe baseball great Willie Mays to be the best player that ever lived. He hit 660 home runs (fourth best of all time), had a lifetime batting average of .302, and is second only to Babe Ruth on The Sporting News's list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."

In Jonah Winter and Terry Widener's fascinating picture book biography, young readers can follow Mays's unparalleled career from growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, to playing awe-inspiring ball in the Negro Leagues and then the Majors, where he was center fielder for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants. Complete with sidebars filled with stats, here is a book for all baseball lovers, young and old.

"The Say Hey Kid had style to spare, and so does this irrepressible book." —Booklist, Starred

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9780375987823

Jonah Winter

Jonah Winter is the award-winning author of more than 25 non-fiction picture books including the New York Times Best Illustrated Books Diego and Here Comes the Garbage Barge!, and the highly acclaimed Frida and Dizzy. Winter has been listening to Jelly Roll Morton's music since he was a young boy.

Reviews for You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!

[s_trevor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Giants are doing terribly this season, so this book gets 5 stars for letting me forget about that for a little bit. The watercolor artwork is cool, and the language of this book feels southern and folksy. It details Mays' travels from his youth, imitating Joe DiMaggio's swing, to his time with the Giants, doing his part to modernize America's Pastime. The book ends with a glossary of baseball terms, and it would be a fun book for kids to read about either sports or civil rights.

[robertalea-223265 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First of this series I've read. Excellent information: .Author's notes, glossary, statistics, quotes.... so much here for young baseball fans to read and enjoy. Oh, the cover is pretty cool as well.

[adriennewood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am not a sports fan, but this book made me want to jump up and shout and cheer for Willie!! This is the story of a person that always wanted to play baseball like his hero Joe Dimaggio. His dad played for a semipro team and taught him as much as he could, but Willie was a natural. At fifteen years old, he was signed onto a semipro (black) team. Then in 1951 he signed on with the New York Giants and blew the world away. A year later he went off to war, but when he came back he picked right up where he left off. He was AWESOME!!!Great book for biography studies and to show that dreams can come true, despite the odds or people's ignorance.

[christian3mehalic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. This story is the real life events that lead him to become one of the greatest players of all time. He got his start in the Negro Leagues when he was just fifteen years old and he never looked back. He, like Jackie Robinson, was a great inspiration and icon for many people because he proved through his skills that he belonged in the majors, just like anyone else. He is credited with making one of the best catches of all time in the 1955 World Series, which his team won. The play is simply called "The Catch". This book does a fantastic job of depicting his life and putting it into a very enjoyable read. Wonderful illustrations mixed with a great story makes this book pretty awesome all around. A definite classroom book.

[jenj5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Winter's text is fantastic - full of information, but also full of excitement and very readable. Winter uses the voice of a fan who's thrilled to share with the uninformed reader all the details of Mays' remarkable career. Terry Widener illustrates in acrylic on chipboard with an impressionistic style - faces are occasionally only vaguely formed. Looking again, I'm surprised by how many spreads incorporate bright greens for the baseball fields, because my original impression was that the palette was dark and rather muddy. Instead there's a nice balance of lighter and darker scenes. I love the placement and use of the informational boxes for facts that fall outside the main narrative. And oh the stats! I love me some stats - if I ever get into baseball it will be due to all the lovely numbers. The backmatter is excellent and includes highlights of Mays' stats, a glossary of baseball terms, source notes and information about the author and illustrator.