Emily Arnold McCully's newest book, Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story, is a lovely historical picture book written about the first woman to play major league ball. When I found out about this story, I knew I had to put it on my hold list since I played softball as a kid. I loved my team, I loved the practices and I loved real-life stories about women who played ball.
I happily read stories to my kids about lesser-known Americans that challenged the system and changed the way things were done. Lizzie Murphy was a woman who not only played professional ball on an all male team--a major feat in the early twentieth century-- but also demanded the same wage as the men. This story tells the story of Lizzie's childhood, her parent support, and the team she played with. It's a story I didn't know about, and that I found myself enjoying the history lesson along with sharing with my kids.
As for the author, Mirette on the High Wire was the only book I'd recognized as having read before (we love that true story, too, it's an award winner and your local library will be sure to have it). I've now been opened up to a plethora of new historical picture-books that I can't wait to read to my children! Among those new-to-me titles that I'm eager to check out by McCully's are Wonder Horse, Marvelous Mattie, and The Escape of Oney Judge.
What are some of your favorite children's books that are true-life sports stories? Please leave them in the comments!
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