Q&A with Phil Bildner and Loren Long
Q: What is a barnstormer?
LL: In the words of Uncle Owen, "Barnstorming is when folks traveled around the country presenting plays, giving lectures, or performing exhibitions like dancing, tightrope walking, or baseball" to make money!
Q: In the beginning of Game 1, we learn that Griffith, Ruby, and Graham have just lost their father. Did either of you lose someone you loved when you were little?
LL: Fortunately, I've never suffered the loss of a close family member. But as my wife, Tracy, and I are raising my two sons, my biggest fear is something happening to them followed closely by something happening to my wife or myself. Our characters’ love for their deceased father also translates into their love of baseball. A love of baseball is something he gave them and loving baseball is loving their father.
PB: I have not suffered the loss of a close relative in my lifetime; however, I have suffered other types of crushing losses, and I have certainly drawn from those experiences in order to write these scenes.
Q: Were you both big baseball players when you were young?
LL: You might say that. Before college I played for the Kishwa Ground Squirrels in the Carolina Leagues as a rising star center fielder. I was living a dream until I shattered the patella tendon in my right leg. During my rehab time off from baseball that year, I spent a lot of time coloring and drawing, and something changed inside. I left my dream of baseball for the bright lights, fortune, and fame of children's literature. Some of this story is true. . .well, maybe. But yes, I grew up playing baseball and drawing, and it is really cool to create something like The Barnstormers, marrying so many things that I love.
PB: Growing up, I was an avid baseball fan. I’ve been a Mets fan since the first grade! I went to college down in Baltimore, and I spend many afternoons and evenings at old Memorial Stadium watching the Orioles and also supporting the Johns Hopkins University baseball team. I also played baseball growing up, and I still play ball as often as I can. And whenever I travel, I always bring my glove!
Q: Baseball in 1899 must have been pretty different than what we see today. What was it like to write and illustrate something so familiar and yet so different?
LL: Writing and illustrating the game of baseball in 1899 is a treat. The fact that it is so familiar yet different in its setting, flavor, and look is one of the strengths of the series. Phil and I are baseball fans—we love the game and its history. I played on the Cincinnati Red Stockings (true story), a vintage baseball club for a few years. We played as the 1869 team following 1869 rules, traditions, and practices competing against other regional vintage baseball teams. Through that experience, I learned a great deal of the customs and vernacular of the old-fashioned game. And as for the art, I think of myself as a throwback to the American Regionalist painters. I’m a disciple of the WPA (Depression-era Works Progress Administration) and American Scene painters to begin with. So the art has been great fun! I love the old stone lithographs of the twenties and thirties. I wanted the full-page images and the spreads in these books to feel something like a stone lithograph from that period.
PB: Sure, the language and nuances may be different in places, but baseball is a constant. It’s part of our nation’s fabric, and while it may fray around the edges, the core of the game always remains the same. Interestingly, the 1899 baseball we describe is slightly anachronistic. This was done intentionally. By 1899, baseball was big business. There were already large stadiums, which seated thousands of fans, and the World Series was introduced only four years later. We also incorporated the vintage baseball era into our story because it is so colorful and flavorful.
Q: The Travelin’ Nine and the Payne children can see things no one else can see, and it has something to do with a baseball! Can you give us a clue?
LL: Well, the Barnstormers is legend, it is folklore. It is a tale that changed the history of baseball, which in turn changed the history of America. There is magic in that. Phil and I are learning about that baseball along with our readers. We are as curious as you are!
Q: What was your collaborative process like?
LL: Barnstormers started as something of a daydream that I shared with a friend. Then Phil and I started dreaming together about what could be. I believe we fed off of each other’s enthusiasm. The next thing I knew, largely due to Phil’s energy, the first book was being written and I was loving it.
PB: Working with Loren has been great. We both share the same vision for the series, and since we’re both starting from the same place, all the rest seems to fall into place naturally. For over the last two years, it’s been a constant flow of e-mails and phone calls and face-to-face conversations.
Q: Where did you get the names Ruby, Griffith, and Graham?
LL: Griffith and Graham are my two sons. And Ruby is the daughter of our Simon & Schuster art director, Dan Potash!
Contributor: Simon and Schuster
Reviews
Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin’ Nine: Game 1
Phil Bildner and Loren Long
Illustrations by Loren Long
Three siblings follow their mother, disguised as their father, across the country as barnstormers, a group who put on baseball exhibitions for pay. Guy Payne had died in the Spanish-American war as he carried his youngest son’s baseball with him. He had been the catcher for the team, and now his wife took his place. At Guy Payne’s funeral his brother, Uncle Owen, returned the baseball, now tattered and torn, to Graham, the youngest son. He shared a cryptic secret with Griffith, the oldest son, and charged him with keeping his family safe, and warned that an unknown danger was coming. The children made a pact to stay together during each of the Travelin’ Nine’s games, but during game one of the schedule, in Cincinnati, strange images appeared on the field that only the children and their team could see. They ended up losing the game, but both Ruby and Griffith studied the phenomenon and tried to piece the mystery together. In book two, as they approach the second game in Louisville, more clues will appear to help the children solve the mystery that Uncle Owen spoke of. Sidebars help the young reader to understand the rules and terms of baseball from the turn of the century. The illustrations, drawn in black charcoal, compliment the old-fashioned feel of the text. A unique and clever beginning of each chapter is exemplified by the first letter of the first sentence in each chapter being illustrated with baseball figures to form that letter. 2007, Simon & Schuster, Ages 7 to 10, $9.99. Reviewer: Gail Krause
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1863-9
ISBN: 1-4169-1863-9
The Greatest Game Ever Played: A Football Story
Phil Bildner
Illustrated by Zachary Pullen
For years, professional baseball was the prime sport occupying the national interest of devoted fans. The New York Giants ruled the scene; but, when the Giants baseball team moved to California, a great opportunity presented itself. Pro football, a less popular sport at the time, squeezed into the vacant spot and eased its way into the hearts of the television-viewing audience. The Greatest Game Ever Played spins a touching story of a father’s unwillingness to accept the sport of football replacing his beloved baseball team, and his son’s desire to continue sharing his time and fascination of this sport with his dad. This touching, heartwarming story marks the first ever NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants football teams played on December 28, 1958, resulting in sudden-death overtime. It is still referred to as the greatest game ever played. But what’s more important is that it also weaves the touching story of a son’s reluctance to give up his time with his father and his father’s rediscovery of the joys of sharing this sport with his son. The marvelous illustrations are a study in expressions and mannerisms right down to the steam coming from breaths in the cold air. A great book for fathers to share with their kids. 2006, G. P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Joan Elste (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, July 24, 2006; Cahners; United States
ISBN: 0-399-24171-X
Playing the Field
Phil Bildner
More than anything Darcy wants to play on the boys’ high school baseball team. She gets her chance when Brandon, the principal’s son on whom she has a huge crush, tells his dad that Darcy is a lesbian. The principal tells the baseball coach that he will have a new player. Darcy’s gay friend Josh flips out when he hears that she is willing to let the principal believe this lie. By the way, he also has a crush on Brandon. Telling her this is not a matter to be taken lightly; Josh threatens to expose her if she and Brandon join the Gay-Straight Alliance. Meanwhile Darcy wins a spot as a pitcher and replaces Brandon as the shortstop. To make matters more complicated, Darcy’s mother is dating the principal. Amidst these circuitous and complicated relationships Bildner presents a great deal of information about gays and lesbians. And why is it assumed that a teenage girl who wants to play sports with the guys is a lesbian? Interestingly it is left open-ended as to whether Brandon is gay. Some schools will need to be aware that the “b” word (it rhymes with witch) is used here. References to the sit-com “Friends” may date it. Humor permeates this book: the way the author sets up situations and Darcy’s reactions. This light touch makes the book highly accessible, fun to read, and perfect for discussing how we judge and label people. 2006, Simon & Schuster, $15.95. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-4169-0284-3
ISBN: 1-4169-0284-8
Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy
Phil Bildner
Illustrated by C.F. Payne
Many baseball fans claim that Shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the greatest hitters to play the game. He earned his nickname when he participated in a game wearing socks, not shoes, on account of blisters. Why was he such a great hitter? Why, it was because of his bat, Black Betsy. Just before he was to play in the minors, Joe fell into a terrible hitting slump. He paid a visit to his friend, Ol' Charlie Ferguson who agreed to make Joe a bat. Shoeless Joe named his bat after Betsy Ross so people would honor it just like they honor the flag. Ol' Charlie needed to make several bats and gave Joe specific instructions on how to rub Betsy with tobacco juice for the dark and scary-looking color. When Shoeless Joe moved up to the majors, he batted .408. No other rookie has managed to beat his record. Incredible multi-media drawings that evoke the spirit of the era accompany a beautiful nostalgic story. An “Afterword” tells more of Joe's life, his career, and of the Black Sox scandal of 1919 that banished him from the game he loved. 2002, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Ages 5 to 10. Reviewer: Laura Hummel (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2003; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, Supplement, 2003; H.W. Wilson; United States
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Show Me Readers Award 3rd Place 2005 Grades 1-3 Missouri
Storytelling World Awards Honor 2003 Stories for Pre-Adolescent Listeners United States
Texas Bluebonnet Award Winner 2004 Grades 3-6 Texas
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Show Me Readers Award, 2004-2005; Nominee; Grades 1-3; Missouri
Texas Bluebonnet Award, 2003-2004; Nominee; Texas
Young Hoosier Book Award, 2005-2006; Nominee; Picture Book; Indiana
ISBN: 0-689-82913-2
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
Phil Bildner
Illustrations by C. F. Payne
Bildner takes us back to Brooklyn in 1951, when “life revolved around the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Baseball fans can probably best understand the excitement of the young fans that summer when the Dodgers seemed headed for the pennant, until their arch rivals--the New York Giants--forced them into a play-off. But all readers can get swept up into the drama of the final game. The winner would go on to the World Series. The tension all over Brooklyn rises until the last half of the ninth inning, when Bobby Thomson’s home run wins the game and the pennant for the Giants, and we are as let down as all of Brooklyn. Payne’s single and double-page mixed media scenes are almost photographic in their effort to accurately recreate that fateful year. He designs each to provide some information about clothing, or street scenes, or even the Coney Island Cyclone ride. But each goes well beyond what a snapshot might offer in its use of color plus the artistry to depict gestures as well as settings. For example, the scene of the end of Thomson’s ultimate swing, repeated on the jacket, is shown from a low angle against black background to emphasize the peak of the drama. Note the cover picture of Ebbets field on the cover, and actual photos from the game on the back of the jacket. 2005, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, $16.95. Ages 5 to 9. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, February 7, 2005; Cahners; United States
ISBN: 0-689-86273-3
Twenty-one Elephants
Phil Bildner
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public thereby connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan Island. Little Hannah has been mesmerized by its construction as she watched it grow up out of the water from her Brooklyn home. When it is completed, she cannot wait to walk across the magnificent bridge. Her father, like many people at the time, is not convinced that the bridge will not fall down. After all, it was one of the first suspension bridges and appears to defy gravity. Hannah steadfastly defends the bridge and longs to prove to her father and all the other skeptics that the marvelous bridge is sound. Fate takes a hand when P.T. Barnum, always the showman, leads his twenty-one elephants across the bridge. This captivating piece of historical fiction features an assertive young girl whose obsession with the bridge is based completely on the facts she has learned. Her determination is rewarded when she finally walks hand in hand with her father across “her” bridge. Pham’s illustrations evoke the time period beautifully and her renderings of Hannah are animated and full of life. 2004, Simon & Schuster, $16.95. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-689-87011-6
Added 02/26/07
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