Players In Pigtails

I loved that the main character, Katie, was not a “typical girl.” She could not knit, bake, or dance like the other girls, but she was really good at baseball. Katie embraced her differences and did not conform to the mainstream idea of what a woman should be. She is a great example for girls who have different interests than her peers. Another aspect of the book I liked was the historical reference to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league is often overlooked in history, though it was the beginning of a general acceptance of women as professional athletes. I found it interesting to learn the historical context of the all girls baseball league, especially since it does not exist anymore. It makes me curious show more why the league was never brought back, especially now where equality for women is emphasized. The message of this book is acceptance of differences and appreciating gifts and talents in young women, even if society opposes. show less

i enjoyed this book, We had it as a read aloud in class during Historical Fiction Week. I really enjoyed the way the book was written. The words were descriptive and allowed the reader to really relate to the character. For example, the story stated that Katie Casey preferred "batting to baking" and "sliding to sewing". It was a very clever way to engage the reader in the context of the story and just how much of a "girl" Katie Casey was not. I also liked how relatable Katie Casey is, I grew up as a tomboy as well, only I preferred goals to gold and running to relaxing. I loved soccer as much as Katie loves baseball. To me personally, she was a very relatable character. Another thing I liked is how the book portrayed history, as women show more just coming on to the baseball scene. It wasn't popular, but It was amazing. Katie's parents even eventually cam around. The main idea of this sotory is passion for sports and really achieving goals that may seem impossible. show less

Summary:
Players In Pigtails is a historical fiction book about women playing baseball. This book was set in the time period before World War II. With all the men joining the troops, there were fewer and fewer men to play baseball. Then the All American Women's Baseball league began. Katie Casey had a dream of playing professional baseball and despite what other people said to discourage her, she ignored them and helped the start of the All American Women’s Baseball league. Everyone was blown away by the performance of the girls team and began to believe that girls can play baseball.

Reaction:
I enjoyed this book because I love sports and I play collegiate golf. Golf was also considered only a man's sport back in the day and women show more fought to change that. The book proves that a woman with vision and determination can accomplish anything she wants to. The book shows young girls that they do not have to be good at “girly things” and that they should persevere on their talents and never give up. The illustrations are detailed and really helped set the time of the story. The capitalisation of certain words such as “PLAY BALL” made the text pop out and seem more alive and real.

Classroom extensions:
1. Have the class play baseball.
2. Research pictures of the beginning of women's baseball.
3. Learn the history of baseball.
4. Have a lesson on equality. show less

Katie Casey loves baeball but wasn't allowed to play until most of the men, including the baseball players, went to fight in World War II. The "girls" leagues were not welcomed at first and faced criticism until people saw that women's baseball was just as entertaining and the women were just as good as the men at playing. The time period makes the story so relevant and shocking. Women did not work and especially didn't play baseball because it was "manly" or "unfeminine." During the war, the men left and women had to take their place in factories and even for entertainment, like baseball. The main point I got from this story was that no matter what some people believe, women don't have to fit a certain societal view of "feminine" and show more activities, like baseball, should not come with a gender stereotype. This book may be set in a different time period, but it is important even today to teach students that they can do anything they want. show less

In my opinion, this is a great book. One thing I liked about the book was the plot. The book was organized and flowed well. In the beginning of the book, the reader meets Katie Casey. “Katie Casey wasn't good at being a girl at least not the kind of girl everyone thought she should be.” Katie loved playing baseball, and she wasn't very good at “ladylike” things. No one in the book could understand Katie’s love of all things baseball. “‘What good is baseball to a girl?’” During World War II, there weren't many men around to play baseball. That’s when the owner of the Chicago Cubs came up with the idea of creating an all-girls professional baseball league. The girls on the team were laughed at in the beginning, but show more they proved they had what it takes to be baseball players. Another reason I like this book is because it pushes the reader to think about stereotypical gender roles. The book pushes readers to think about the fact that women enjoy sports too. There are some women who happen to be very good at sports. Not all women enjoy baking and sewing, Katie didn't. “She preferred sliding to sewing, batting to baking, and home runs to homecoming.” The big idea of this book is not to make assumptions about a person based on their gender. show less

Summary
This book is about an All American Women's Baseball Team. Before the team had even started, fans in the stands were booing the women and telling them that they could not play because they were women. Instead of listening to the players and quitting before they even started, the women played their game and amazed the fans at how great they were.

Personal Reaction
I thought this book was very powerful, especially because I am a girl. I know that there have been times when I got told I could not do things because I am a girl and I did my best to prove those people wrong. It is how you handle the situation is what really matters and those women baseball players handled it by proving to those fans that they were good enough to show more play.

Classroom Extension
1. The students could write about a time when they got made fun of for doing something and how it made them feel.
2. Depending on the age, the students could go out at recess or a free time and we could play a game of baseball as a class. show less

I liked this picture book because I have seen the movie "A League of Their Own" and felt that this is a children's version. The story is based on the true events of how one determined girl made her way to the big leagues and found friendship in players in pigtails. I liked how the text matched the mood of the story. When the main character, Katie Casey, was accomplishing her goal of starting a girls baseball team, the text was joyful. The jubilant pictures celebrate these brave girls' love of the game of baseball. In addition, I liked how the background and small details in illustrations situate the story in WWII, it made the story historically accurate. What I did not like was how the illustrator made every female character represented show more as the same height, size, weight, skin color, and hair color. There were very few that differentiated from that look. Although, I guess that makes it accurate because during that time period African Americans were still somewhat discriminated.
I was interested to learn that "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is actually supposed to be a girl singing to her boyfriend that she doesn't want to go dancing, she wants him to take her to the ballgame. This was a tasteful detail that kept readers interested in the story.
The main idea of this story was well depicted. In the beginning, the book presented stereotypes of girls.I liked this choice by the writer because, again, it made the story accurate and since it is historical fiction, it is important to state the facts of how women were seen in that time period. And by the end, the book does a nice job celebrating that all girls can do whatever they want. show less