You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
Koufax was “the greatest lefty who ever pitched in the game of baseball.” In a breezy, conversational style, Winter begins his story with Koufax’s youth as “a whiz at every sport he ever played.” Growing up Jewish in Brooklyn, however, he was supposed to be a doctor or lawyer. Invited to pitch for the Dodgers, Koufax proves himself to be unfortunately unpredictable. The Dodgers move to Los Angeles; Koufax leaves, returns, and finally becomes an ace. From 1961-1966, although his elbow swells painfully, he keeps throwing strikes. He becomes a hero to American Jews when he refuses to pitch on a High Holy Day. Then, he surprises everyone by retiring “at the peak of his game.” Winter celebrates Koufax as both a private person and baseball legend. Carrilho uses chiefly black and white colors, accented with some blue and splashes of gold, to illustrate the dramatic events in Koufax’s evolution. The not-completely-naturalistic illustrations were created in graphite on paper with color and texture added in Adobe Photoshop are as anecdotal as the text. For example, the single image of a baseball uniform shirt fills the page facing an illustration of Koufax surrounded by microphones as he announced his retirement. Or we are shown a double-page spread resembling a set of “how-he-does-it” illustrations about his style of pitching, using multiple images and lines representing the path of pitched balls. The lenticular cover is created with a plastic sheet using ridges. Three images are digitally sliced and printed on the sheet, with lenses allowing you to see only one at a time, so they move as the cover is manipulated. Additional facts are included in boxes throughout the text. There is also a glossary and a list of online resources. 2009, Schwartz & Wade/Random House Children’s Books, $17.99. Ages 5 to 9.