Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

Tavares, Matt. Becoming Babe Ruth. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2013. 40p.


As a young boy, George Herman Ruth got into a lot of trouble.  At age seven his parents sent him to Saint Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reform school, in hopes that living under strict rules would help turn him around.  At Saint Mary's, George found one thing that made him most happy, playing baseball every day. Word spread of George's ability on the baseball field, and soon he had a contract with the minor-league Baltimore Orioles. George became known as Babe Ruth. Becoming Babe Ruth shows us how he became the greatest all-around player in baseball history.


An author's note and a George "Babe" Ruth stats segment at the end enhance and extend the text. This book is great for students who like to read about sports heroes, as a class read-aloud, or as part of a character education discussion on perseverance.