Baseball Bob
By Maria Strom,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Kids will accept that a dinosaur plays baseball.
Add your rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
Where to Read
Community Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
i laughed
What's the Story?
The Lazardo family has an unusual friend, a baseball-playing dinosaur named Bob. When a local baseball team sees Dinosaur Bob playing, they ask him to join their team. Bob agrees and brings the team to victory.
The Lazardo family starts to dance the Hokey Pokey, and the whole town joins in the celebration. They end their day singing their praises to Bob.
Is It Any Good?
Joyce creates an effective air of mystery reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg in the board-book adaptation of an episode from Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures With the Family Lazardo.
Readers are drawn into the story and accept that a dinosaur has human friends and plays baseball. Joyce effectively mixes an old-fashioned American scene with elements of the exotic: The Lazardo family's turbaned servant appears on the pages and feels right at home on a baseball field.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the silly premise. What other animals do you think might be good at baseball? What else do you think a dinosaur like Bob might be good at?
Book Details
- Author: William Joyce
- Illustrator: William Joyce
- Genre: Sports
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperFestival
- Publication date: February 1, 1999
- Number of pages: 16
- Last updated: September 29, 2015
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Read
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate