Baseball Bonanza!
2012 Children’s Book Festival
June 9, 2012
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
All events free with Museum Admission
Join a host of authors and artists who have created some of your favorite baseball picture books for our 7th annual Children’s Book Festival in conjunction with the exhibition We Are The Ship: The History of Negro League Baseball, original paintings by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson.
The Museum will host members of the Negro League Baseball Players Association for a special program in the Auditorium. In addition, this event for art-, book-, and baseball-lovers of all ages will feature art activities, artist and author presentations and demonstrations, and book signings. Enjoy ballpark fare or bring your own picnic to enjoy in our apple orchard.
Schedule of Events
10:15 – 10:45 am (Auditorium)
Film — Interview with Scott Simon, Kadir Nelson and Sharon Robinson
10:45 – 11:15 am (Reading Library)
Museum Storytime — Kevin Markey (author of Super Sluggers series)
11:15 – 11:45 am (Reading Library)
Presentation — Andy Zimbalist: "Why are Baseball Players Paid So Much?” (author of Circling the Bases and Home Team, written with Shelley Rotner)
11:45 am – 12:15 pm (Auditorium)
Presentation — Rich Michelson (author of Lipman Pike, America’s First Home Run King)
12:00 - 12:30 pm
Presentation — Martha Ackmann, (author of Curveball the Remarkable Story of Toni Stone)
12:15 – 1:00 pm (East Gallery)
Guided tour of We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, Original Paintings by Kadir Nelson exhibition by baseball historian Doron "Duke" Goldman
12:30 – 1:00 pm (Reading Library)
Meet the Artists — Shelley Rotner, Diane deGroat (author/illustrator team behind Homer)
1:00 – 1:30 pm (Auditorium)
Performance by Children’s Chorus of Springfield; Reading of Casey at the Bat
1:30 – 2:00 pm (Reading Library)
Meet the Artist — Jim Burke (Illustrator of All Star)
2:00 – 2:50 pm (Auditorium)
Special Program with members of the NLB: Robert Scott of the New York Black Yankees and Gilbert Black of the 1956 Indianapolis Clowns
3:00 – 3:30 pm (Reading Library)
Museum Storytime — Audrey Vernick (Author of She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story and Brothers at Bat)
3:30 – 4:00 pm (Auditorium)
Meet the Author and Artist — James Ransome and Lesa Cline-Ransome, (Author/illustrator of Satchel Paige)
4:00 – 4:45 pm (East Gallery)
Guided tour of We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, Original Paintings by Kadir Nelson by baseball historian Doron "Duke" Goldman
4:00 – 4:30 pm (Reading Library)
Meet the Artist—Matt Tavares, (Author of There Goes Ted Williams)
4:15 – 4:45 pm (Auditorium)
Film—Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (Excerpt from Inning 5)
- Book signings
- Studio and Gallery Activities
- Face Painting
- NLB items for sale
- Outdoor Games
- Food from Foley’s Franks and Flayvors of Cook Farm (Cash Only)
Participating Artists and Presenters
Martha Ackmann
www.marthaackmann.com
Martha Ackmann is a journalist, author and editor who writes about women who have changed America. Her works have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications around the country. A frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the nation’s newspapers, Ackmann focuses on science, women’s history, medicine, politics and sports. She is also a commentator for National Public Radio. Her newest book, Curveball, recounts the life of the remarkable Toni Stone, baseball’s “female Jackie Robinson.” A member of the faculty of the Gender Studies Department at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Martha Ackmann teaches courses in women’s public writing, biography and the poet Emily Dickinson.
Jim Burke
www.jimburkeillustration.com
Jim Burke has illustrated nine award-winning picture books with publishers including Harper Collins, Little, Brown & Company, and Candlewick Press. Awards include a Gold Medal, 23 Awards of Excellence for illustration and 7 Medals for art direction from the Society of Illustrators, as well as accolades from Print Regional Design, 3 x 3 and Communication Arts. Burke taught at Pratt Institute and Syracuse University before becoming the Illustration Chair at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2009. His recent book, All Star! was exhibited in the "Original Art" Juried Exhibition at the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration which showcases the best picture books of the year. He lives in Manchester, NH with his wife and their two young daughters.
Diane deGroat
www.dianedegroat.com
Diane deGroat graduated from Pratt Institute in commercial art and began her career at Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, designing their first basic reading series. Since 1972, Diane has freelanced in advertising, editorial, and design, but the main focus of her work has been in children's book illustration. Having worked on over 130 books, her honors include a California Young Readers Award for Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth by Lucy Bate, as well as three more state children's choice awards for her popular Gilbert and Friends series. Her book, Charlie the Ranch Dog, written by Ree Drummond, was on the New York Times Best Selling Picture Book list. Her recent book, Homer (written with Shelley Rotner, also to be in attendance at Baseball Bonanza), features the story of a dog who really like to play baseball! She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Doron "Duke" Goldman
Doron "Duke" Goldman is a baseball historian and presenter living in Western Massachusetts. Formerly a Marketing professor at UMASS/Amherst, where he taught a course entitled "Baseball Myths and Legends", Duke is now participating in a Teaching American History program at Westfield State University, developing future baseball courses, and performing presentations in the area. In the past, Duke has presented at regional and national conventions of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), as well as collaborating with Michael Silverstone on the publication "Latino Legends" and writing and editing a variety of baseball publications.
Kevin Markey
www.kevinmarkey.com
Kevin Markey grew up in a big family in Massachusetts, where he spent a lot of time running around outside with his brothers and sisters. They built forts in the woods with neighborhood friends, skated on frozen ponds in the winter, and played backyard baseball all summer long. Home plate was sweatshirt dropped on the lawn in front of a big woodpile, which made a great backstop. At the opposite side of the yard was a long, high forsythia hedge. Threading a hit between various trees and over the bushes was an automatic home run. Kevin wrote his first story (a science-fiction cowboy story about a kid who gets captured by aliens while walking the dog) when he was seven years old, and has been writing ever since. He is the author of Slumpbuster, Wall Ball, Wing Ding, and Rainmaker all in his Super Sluggers series of baseball adventures, and several books of nonfiction. The Washington Post writes that “The Super Sluggers books are always filled with humor, adventure and excitement.” He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children and a dog named Happy. He bats left, throws left, and types with both hands.
Richard Michelson
richardmichelson.com
Richard Michelson’s numerous books for children have received a New Yorker Best Book Award, a New York Times Best Book Award, a Children's Book Committee Book of the Year and a Sydney Taylor Gold Medal from the Assoc. of Jewish Librarians. His has twice been awarded the Stepping Stone Multicultural Book Award and his work has been listed among Amazon.com 12 Best Books of the Decade. Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King was a finalist for the 2011 National Jewish Book Award, and was a NY Times Notable Book. In addition to being an author, Richard is a popular guest speaker. He has lectured, and read from his works in India, Eastern Europe, and throughout the United States. Richard Michelson is the current Poet Laureate of Northampton, MA where he owns R. Michelson Galleries, which represents many of the country’s preeminent illustrators.
Barry Moser
www.moser-pennyroyal.com
Barry Moser studied in Alabama and Tennessee and later at the University of Massachusetts. A member of the National Academy of Design, his work is in numerous collections, including The National Gallery of Art, The Metropolitan Museum, and The British Museum. He taught at Rhode Island School of Design for ten years; was the 1995 Oates Fellow in Humanities at Princeton; and was a distinguished scholar at the University of Louisville in 2001. He has illustrated and/or designed over 250 titles including, Moby Dick, The Divine Comedy, and an acclaimed edition of the Bible. His edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland won the 1983 National Book Award. His collaboration with Cynthia Rylant, Appalachia, the Voices of Sleeping Birds, won the prestigious Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1991, and his collaboration with Ken Kesey, Big Double the Bear Meets Little Tricker the Squirrel, was named one of the best books of 1990–1991 by the International Board of Books for Young People of Zurich, Switzerland. His collaboration with his granddaughter, Isabelle Harper, My Dog Rosie was named a Best of the Year by Parents Magazine in 1994. Whistling Dixie, his collaboration with Marcia Vaughn was a 1995 ALA Notable Book, as was his collaboration with Virginia Hamilton, When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing, in 1997. In addition to being an illustrator he is also a printer, painter, printmaker, designer, author, essayist, and teacher. Moser also frequently lectures and acts as visiting artist and artist in residence at universities and institutions across the country. He is the Irwin and Pauline Alper Glass Professor of Art at Smith College.
James Ransome and
Lesa Cline-Ransome
www.jamesransome.com
www.lesaclineransome.com
James Ransome grew up in North Carolina. Lesa Cline-Ransome grew up in Massachusetts and the two met as students at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. James and Lesa collaborated on their first book together with a biography of Satchel Paige, an ALA Notable Book and a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. They later created Quilt Alphabet, a collection of alphabet poems, the companion book, Quilt Counting, Major Taylor: Champion Cyclist, Pelé: Soccer’s First Star and Helen Keller: The World in her Heart and Before there was Mozart: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George. Their newest book, Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass received starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal and the NY Times called it, “Visceral, intimate and plainly told….”
James and Lesa’s books have received numerous honors and awards including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book for Picture Book, the Coretta Scott King Award, Coretta Scott King Honor Award, two NAACP Awards, two Top 10 Sports Books for Youth, and the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Award. They currently live in Rhinebeck, NY with their four children and St. Bernard, Nola.
Shelley Rotner
www.shelleyrotner.com
Shelley Rotner is the author and photo-illustrator of over 30 award-winning children’s books, including Many Ways; Every Season; Feeling Thankful; What’s Love?; and Dogs Don’t Brush Their Teeth. She is also a noted free-lance photojournalist, with work in Time Magazine, National Geographic’s World Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Outside Magazine, Food and Wine, and numerous others. She has also traveled extensively for UNICEF documenting programs about children, women and education. Shelley received her undergraduate degree in photography and psychology from Syracuse University and a dual Master’s degree in elementary education and museum education from Bank Street College. Before she became involved in the creation of children’s books, she worked as a teacher, a photographer, and a curatorial assistant. As both an author and a photographer, Rotner has worked on many titles for young readers that celebrate differences or answer common questions asked by children. Her recent book, Homer (written with Diane deGroat, also to be in attendance at Baseball Bonanza), features the baseball adventures of the Hounds and the Doggers! She lives in Western Massachusetts.
Matt Tavares
matttavares.com
Matt Tavares grew up in Winchester, a suburb just outside of Boston. He wrote and illustrated his first picture book, Sebastian's Ball, as his senior thesis at Bates College. Three years later, after much revision, Sebastian's Ball became Zachary's Ball, his first published picture book. Zachary's Ball went on to win an Oppenheim Gold Seal Award, a Massachusetts Book Award Honor, and was named one of Yankee Magazine's 40 Classic New England Children's Books. Since then, Matt has published eleven more books including There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, Henry Aaron's Dream, Mudball and Oliver's Game. Matt's books have won several awards, including three Parents' Choice Gold Awards, a Parents' Choice Silver Honor, four Oppenheim Gold Seal Awards, an International Reading Association Children's Book Award, and an Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. His books have also garnered starred reviews in Publisher's Weekly, The Horn Book Magazine, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews. His artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators, the Brandywine River Museum, and the Mazza Museum of Picture Book Art. Matt lives in Maine with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters.
Audrey Vernick
audreyvernick.com
Audrey Vernick grew up in Whitestone, New York, where she lived with her parents and two sisters and a not very bright small white dog. She always loved to read and still counts Harriet the Spy as one of her favorite books. She was not one of those children who always knew she wanted to be a writer; she didn't love to write until college. She's been writing ever since. Audrey Vernick is the author of several books for children, including Is Your Buffalo Ready For Kindergarten? and She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story as well as Bark Tim: A True Story of Friendship, cowritten with her sister Ellen Glassman Gidaro. Most recently, she has written Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. In addition to writing for children, Audrey has published more than a dozen short stories for adults in a variety of magazines and literary journals. She received an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and has been honored twice by the New Jersey State Council of the Arts with its prestigious fiction fellowship. She lives near the ocean in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and two dogs.
Richard Walz
Richard Walz has illustrated sixty books for children and has contributed single illustrations, or small groups of illustrations, to many additional books. Fairy tales have frequently been his subject matter, though he has also had substantial experience recreating the licensed characters of Disney, Dr. Seuss, the Muppets, Sesame Street, and others. He has recently illustrated half a dozen books on biographical subjects from Descartes to Babe Ruth, for RandomHouse`s "Step Into Reading" series. He finds energetic, lighthearted, and flamboyant projects a lot of fun.
Andrew Zimbalist
sophia.smith.edu/~azimbali
Andrew Zimbalist is the Robert A. Woods professor of economics at Smith College in Northampton, Ma., and a member of the Five College Graduate Faculty. He received his BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and his MA and PhD in economics from Harvard University. He has been a visiting professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, at the University of Hamburg in Germany, at the University of Chile, and at Harvard University. He serves on the editorial boards of various scholarly journals. He has consulted widely in the sports industry for players’ associations, teams, leagues, cities, commissions, foundations, film projects, and law firms, and in economic development for international institutions, is a frequent media commentator, and has published twenty-one books, including Baseball and Billions (1992), Sports, Jobs and Taxes (1997), Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports (1999), May the Best Team Win (2003), National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer (2005), In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig (2006), The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business (2006), Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change (2007), Circling the Bases: Essays on the Challenges and Prospects of the Sports Industry (2011), and The International Handbook on the Economics of Sport Mega-Events (2012), and over one hundred articles. He did a regular commentary on NPR’s Marketplace during 2002-05 and contributes opeds frequently to leading newspapers and magazines. He has testified on numerous occasions before the U.S. Congress, state legislatures and city councils. He served as the Smith College faculty athletic representative to the NCAA for over ten years. Zimbalist lives with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts.