Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Curlee (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Brooklyn Bridge) takes readers out to the ballparks in this high-spirited paean to the nation's legendary "green cathedrals." Along the way, he offers a concise yet conversational chronicle of modern baseball's origins, milestones, rituals and the feats of its superstars ("The history of the sport reflects the story of our country," he posits, "and even something of our national character"). The construction of ballparks began after the Civil War, when soldiers took the sport back home across the country, and the destruction by fire of many late-19th-century wooden "baseball palaces" paved the way for steel and concrete structures, beginning with Philadelphia's Shibe Park in 1909. The text also includes brief biographies, such as Babe Ruth, whose record crowds spurred the building of Yankee Stadium, as well as Jackie Robinson, his courageous entry into the segregated Major Leagues and its affects on the Negro Leagues. Curlee's paintings capture some bittersweet moments: when he mentions the late 1950s move of the Dodgers and the Giants to California, he depicts a brass band playing "Auld Lang Syne" next to the wrecking ball—painted to resemble a baseball—that would raze both Ebbets Field and, four years later, the Polo Grounds. The advent of expansion teams precipitated the "superstadiums," criticized by many as bland and impersonal. As a result, more character and retro features were incorporated into the 1992 design of Baltimore's Camden Yards and subsequent parks, which offered state-of-the-art amenities, while also "serving up a nostalgic baseball experience." That is, in fact, exactly what Curlee does so gracefully here, in words as well as spare, sparkling acrylic paintings. Fans of America's favorite pastime will happily pass time with this handsome book. All ages. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Veteran nonfiction author and Sibert Honor Book winner (for Brooklyn Bridge , 2001), Curlee offers an engaging history of baseball parks in words and pictures. The text briefly recaps the history of the game, mentioning star players through the years (Cobb, Ruth, Robinson, Mays, et al.) but emphasizing the game's growth through the evolution of its playing fields: from parklands to enclosed stadiums with grandstands. Naturally, the most loving attention is paid to the classic ballparks built in the early twentieth century (of which only Chicago's Wrigley Field and Boston's Fenway Park remain), but Curlee also notes the low points in ballpark architecture (the concrete doughnuts and domed stadiums of the 1970s). The text is concise and serviceable, but the striking, acrylic-on-canvas illustrations--in bold colors and evoking the baseball art of the early 1900s--are the superstars here, effectively carrying the narrative. One caveat: the upbeat ending, asserting that the game remains in good health and celebrating the home-run records of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, rings hollow in light of the ongoing steroid scandal.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Three fairies must find a magic wand to save Never Land from a mermaid-issued flood. This might sound promising, but it's impossible to keep the countless characters straight (familiarity with this book's predecessor, Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, seems essential). Quirky writing (the fairies finish each other's sentences) and a whiplash-inducing roving point of view stoke the chaos.

Kirkus Reviews

Adding to an impressive and growing body of work about important places, Curlee here celebrates America's "green cathedrals," offering a fine survey of American history through the story of baseball. From early American bat-and-ball games to the present, every era has its story, from the Black Sox scandal after WWI, Babe Ruth and the Roaring Twenties, the Negro Leagues and the Great Depression, and on into the modern era of ballparks shaped like "concrete doughnuts" and the reaction to them in retro ballparks such as Baltimore's Camden Yards. The text is dense but full of fascinating history, and the glorious colors of the acrylic paintings effectively celebrate the ballparks and the players, stiff and formal as the stately cathedrals they inhabit. Double-page spreads featuring Ty Cobb and Jackie Robinson, majestic paintings of Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field, and a diagram of Fenway Park add to the work's tremendous visual appeal. The volume arrives with the new season, and readers who need encouragement to get out to the ballpark will surely find it here. (bibliography) (Picture book/nonfiction. All ages)

School Library Journal (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Gr 3-5 In this succinct and thoughtful overview, Curlee traces developments in the game from the mid-1800s to the construction of landmark arenas. The early 1900s saw the building of intimate playing fields such as Boston's Fenway Park and Chicago's Wrigley Field. Yankee Stadium, "the House that Ruth built," opened in 1923 and immediately became one of the country's best-loved ballparks. In the era of expansion teams, Houston's Astrodome opened in 1965a huge but characterless stadium typical of the era. Baltimore's Camden Yards in 1992 saw a return of nostalgia-inspired fields. Stylized, full-page acrylic paintings add to the nostalgic tone of the book: players appear dramatically frozen in time as flags flap crisply against pastel-tinted skies. Lack of an index limits this title's usefulness for report writers, but both fans and those new to the sport will find that it succeeds admirably at showing the venues, famous and not-so-famous, that have featured so highly in baseball history. Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA