Mudball

Mudball by Matt Tavares

          Picture book—Grades 1-4

          Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

          Summary: Mudball depicts the legendary story of little Andy Oyler, the shortest player in the baseball league. While he has never gotten a hit before, fate seeks to change Andy’s luck on a rainy day in 1903.

            Mudball is a story that I can definitely relate to as a reader. I played softball for many years and grew up in a family that loves all aspects of baseball. At first, Andy Oyler just seems like your typical underdog hero, but this story has so much more to offer. As I was reading, I recalled the many games I played in the rain and how difficult it was to run out onto the field every inning in those conditions. I also experienced many slumps in which it almost seemed like I would never be able to hit the ball again—and so I know how Andy was feeling as he went up to bat amidst the jeers from the crowd. I think the feeling of defeat is far too common, especially as young kids are immersed into the world of sports at such a young age and often pressured to do well by parents, coaches, and peers. The expectation for children to succeed athletically is an unrealistic one because kids develop at different rates and do not even have control over their motor skills until adolescence. Therefore, Mudball contains a good lesson by demonstrating that you don’t always have to be the best to be the hero, and more importantly, sports are most valuable when we are out there to simply have fun. Tavares effectively conveys this message of fun and builds the story’s excitement through his use of dialogue. As the players frantically search for the ball in the mud puddles, I felt myself on the edge of my seat with every exclamation they shouted, placing me in the moment with them and making me feel like a part of the action.

             As previously mentioned, I think this story shows us the importance of having fun with a sport, even if you’re not the best player. Relaying this message to kids is important, and that is how I would use Mudball in my classroom. I’m not exactly sure if it would fit nicely within a specific theme or unit, unless we were talking about sports. In sharing this book with children, I would really hope that they could learn from Andy Oyler that you can still make a big difference even if you’re not a natural athlete or the star player on your team. For this to set in with students, I think it would be useful to first share my own experiences playing softball as a kid and let them know that I had struggles of my own. As their teacher, this would be good for them to hear that something they might experience is not uncommon and that we all go through phases of feeling like we are not as talented as our peers. Finally, I would try to transfer this message to the classroom and talk about our differences in abilities in school as well. It would be a good opportunity to discuss how we sometimes fall short of what is expected of us in school, but that it is okay and we should always keep trying and bring our best effort to the plate, just as little Andy Oyler did.