Lipman PikeIllustrated by Zachary Pullen

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In the mid 1800s the sport of baseball was working its way across the United States. Amateur teams were springing up and in 1858 the National Association of Base Ball Players was formed. Young men were eager to show their prowess on the field and in the batter’s box.

Lipman Pike’s father, a Dutch immigrant, runs a small haberdashery in Brooklyn, New York, though Lip is more interested in watching the ball players than working behind the counter. His mother doesn’t approve— Jewish boys should be paying attention to more sensible matters.

But when Lip is barely a teenager, he’s invited to join a local club. When he hits his first pitch over the right fielder’s head, Lip knows baseball is the sport for him.

Award-winning author Richard Michelson chronicles the meteoric rise of one of baseball’s earliest (and unsung) champions.

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Hank Aaron, America’s greatest living home run king recommends 
Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King

For more about Lipman Pike I recommend:

Too Jewish interview with Richard Michelson:

Michelson and Pullen recreate a slice of immigrant life in mid–19th-century Brooklyn in their story of Jewish baseball player Lipman Pike, one of the first “professional” athletes…Readers should gain a vivid picture of Pike and the fledging days of baseball.
Publishers Weekly

Lipman Pike played “Base” every chance he could get in his Brooklyn neighborhood. …He often faced anti-Semitism and distrust, but he won over his teammates and the “cranks” with his outstanding play. … Michelson adeptly employs fictional conversations interwoven with factual details as he reconstructs a long-forgotten time, managing to bring Pike’s story out of obscurity and relate it to modern young readers. …An insight into baseball and America that is at once historical and timeless. (full review)
Kirkus Review

Michelson and Pullen offer a fast-paced introduction to a pioneering ballplayer and a rollicking glimpse of baseball’s early years…. Young fans will enjoy this vivid glimpse into baseball’s early years, and the story of an unsung hero of that era.
School Library Journal

LIPMAN PIKE: America’s First Home Run King is a must have book for children ages 6-10 who love the national sport − the story is full of vigor, tradition, and courage.”
The Children’s Bookshelf