Casey At The Bat
Ernest L. Thayer
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2006 Kids Can Press Poetry
ISBN: 155337827X

The beloved baseball poem revived in a new setting.

Visions in Poetry is an exciting & unique series of classic poems illustrated by outstanding contemporary artists in stunning hardcover editions. Casey at the Bat, the fourth book in the series, is more than a poem about the proud & mighty slugger who strikes out during the big game, it's a slice of baseball lore, as much a part of the game as hot dogs & the seventh-inning stretch, to which illustrator Joe Morse has added his powerful & gritty urban street images of a multi-racial cast of characters.

Many years ago, when I was new to America, I was taken by two longtime friends to my first professional game of baseball. Sitting in between my friends in the bleachers on that gloriously sunny day, with all the colors of the field & diamond filling my eyes, & the noises of the fans & refreshment hawkers all around us thick in my ears, these two grown men set about reciting this dramatic saga. I've never watched another game without hearing their voices in the background.

This version of that poem is startlingly new because of illustrator Joe Morse's vivid & stunning imagery. Wrought mostly in black, blue & beige, with bright red highlights, we see a youth, lean & tall, with earphones attached to his CD player, watching a game & the fans in an urban diamond, as the poem, set in cartoon clouds, plays out.

An outstanding & thrilling approach that revives the poem for a new generation & also brings it new richness & depth.
(04/09/06)

Rebecca