Guide to Juvenile Baseball Books: Dan Gutman

Dan Gutman, prolific juvenile writer, is the author of the most durable baseball series of the early 21st century: the Baseball Card Adventures.

Criticism: Anderson

Gutman, Dan. Casey Back at Bat. Illustrated by Steve Johnson. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. The Mighty Casey redeems himself -- or does he?.

"Casey at the Bat" has been adapted innumerable times, but this one is a nicely-paced, cleverly-executed twist and re-twist of the old idea, and works well as a picture book for young kids.

Gutman, Dan. The Shortstop Who Knew Too Much. New York: Scholastic, 1997. [Tales from the Sandlot #1] Infielder develops ESP, which is both a good and a bad thing.

Pilot for a short-lived series.

Gutman, Dan. Honus & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: Avon, 1997. A rare baseball card transports a kid back in time to the 1909 World Series.

Charming use of the time travel device that has been seen in other baseball fiction (e.g. Darryl Brock's If I Never Get Back), but is put to good use here in a children's story.

Gutman, Dan. Jackie & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: Avon, 1999. To do a report on a famous African-American, the young hero travels in time to 1947 and becomes a batboy for the Dodgers.

So he can learn about prejudice first-hand (an experience unavailable in 1999?), the white hero becomes a black kid. This sequel to Honus and Me is a solid presentation of the standard lore about Jackie Robinson.

Gutman, Dan. Babe & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: Avon, 2000. Third in the series: our hero takes his Dad to the 1930s on a memorabilia hunt.

This series is growing thin, but that's never stopped a series before. I predict a long run ahead: Rajah & Me, Yogi & Me, Buckner & Me . . .

Gutman, Dan. Shoeless Joe & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. 2002. New York: HarperTrophy, 2003. So I was wrong: in the fourth volume, Joe Stoshack heads for 1919 in an attempt to stave off the Fix.

Interesting for its hagiographic treatment of Joe Jackson, who comes across like a mix of Little Lord Fauntleroy and Jean Valjean.

Gutman, Dan. Mickey & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Even explaining the title would be a spoiler.

Fresh material here, but it's mostly expository; the book has no plot, no dramatic tension.

Gutman, Dan. Abner & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Joe Stoshack and his mom travel to 1863 to ask General Doubleday if he invented baseball.

Weird mix of genre formulas, as baseball meshes with the Civil War.

Gutman, Dan. Satch & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Joe Stoshack and his coach Flip Valentini travel to 1942 with a borrowed radar gun to see if Satchel Paige was the fastest pitcher who ever threw.

And of all baseball greats, you would imagine that Satchel Paige would be the least nonplussed by a pair of white time-traveling hitchhikers.