Shoeless Joe 
& Black Betsy

By Phil Bildner

Illustrated by C. F. Payne

Simon & Schuster Books 
for Young Readers,  2002

Grades 2-5

 

Shoeless Joe Jackson earned his fame in baseball by having the highest batting average ever recorded by a rookie (until 2001) and by once playing a game in his stocking feet. Bildner uses the ups and downs of Jackson¹s career to craft an original yarn using repetition and exaggeration, especially enlarging Jackson’s relationship with his bat, Black Betsy. The illustrations extend the tall-tale qualities of the book and complement Bildner’s folksy humor. An afterword details Jackson’s career and provides information on his banishment from baseball.