Synopses & Reviews
Sharon Robinson, the daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, has crafted a hearwarming, true story about growing up with her father.
When Jackie Robinson retires from baseball and moves his family to Connecticut, the beautiful lake on their property is the center of everyone's fun. The neighborhood children join the Robinson kids for swimming and boating. But oddly, Jackie never goes near the water.
In a dramatic episode that first winter, the children beg to go ice skating on the lake. Jackie says they can go--but only after he tests the ice to make sure it's safe. The children prod and push to get Jackie outside, until hesitantly, he finally goes. Like a blind man with a stick, (contd.)
Synopsis
When Jackie Robinson retires from baseball and moves his family to Connecticut, the beautiful lake on their property is the center of everyone's fun. The neighborhood children join the Robinson kids for swimming and boating. But oddly, Jackie never goes near the water.
In a dramatic episode that first winter, the children beg to go ice skating on the lake. Jackie says they can go--but only after he tests the ice to make sure it's safe. The children prod and push to get Jackie outside, until hesitantly, he finally goes. Like a blind man with a stick, (contd.)
Jackie taps on the ice's surface, when suddenly howling and roaring sounds come out of the lake! It is only then that Sharon realizes why she's never seen her father in the water -- Jackie doesn't know how to swim! But her horror changes to relief as Jackie bravely taps his way to the middle of the lake -- and declare it safe!
In a stunning metaphor for Jackie Robinson's legendary breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Sharon Robinson honors her extraordinary father's memory with her warm graceful storytelling. Two-time Caldecott Honor Book artist Kadir Nelson has created richly rendered paintings that radiate with the beauty and spirit of one of America's finest heroes.
Synopsis
In a stunning metaphor for Jackie Robinson's legendary breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Sharon Robinson honors her extraordinary father's memory with her warm graceful storytelling. Caldecott Honor-artist Nelson has created richly rendered paintings that radiate with the spirit of one of America's finest heroes. Full color.
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About the Author
Sharon Robinson is an educational consultant for Major League Baseball and vice chairman of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. She founded Major League Baseball\u2019s Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life, a national character education program designed to teach children the values and traits they need to deal with barriers and challengers in their lives. She is the author of many widely praised nonfiction and fiction novels including Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America as well as two middle-grade novels, Safe at Home and Slam Dunk, with cover art by Kadir Nelson. Ms. Robinson divides her time between New York City and Florida.
Kadir Nelson used Jackie Robinson\u2019s personal family photographs as inspiration for his artwork in Testing the Ice: A True Story about Jackie Robinson. His many award-winning books include two Caldecott Honor books, Henry\u2019s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, written by Ellen Levine, and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, written by Carole Boston Weatherford. His own book, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children\u2019s Book and received the Coretta Scott King Author Award.