We Are the Ship

I loved this book for the flavor it evokes of the early days of the game: the clowning, rough play, and inconsistent pay; the bus rides, bedbugs, and vexations of segregation. All are told in the voice of an everyman Negro Leagues player.

The conceit allows author Kadir Nelson to bring the reader closer to the feel of the times and to provide interpretations that avoid sounding pedantic: “You couldn’t change those folks’ minds anyhow. We were just a bunch of ballplayers. They were long set in their ways.” Nelson’s bold, full-page illustrations are surely the most striking feature of… show more.

I thought I should include at least one kids’ sports book since I have written 28 of them.  But honestly, We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson could be included in any list of great sports books.

Nelson is a talented artist who has illustrated dozens of children’s books and whose work has appeared in art galleries and on New Yorker magazine covers.

The art in We Are the Ship is wonderful but it is Nelson’s writing that is the surprise.  Adopting the voice of an aging baseball player who saw it all, Nelson tells the story of the Negro… show more.

Open this oversized book to any page and you’ll be captivated by Kadir Nelson’s gorgeous paintings and the words of the players. This remarkable book gave me a sense of how these players, including Henry Aaron for a short stint in the Negro League, faced challenges with courage, strength, and even a sense of fun. This one really is mostly about baseball, but there was so much else going on during the time of Negro League Baseball and the author manages to help us understand the history as well.