Author(s): K. Hallinan

Illustrator/Photographer: K. Hallinan

Publisher and Year: Ideals Children’s Books in 1996

Number of Pages: 22

Genre: Fiction

Analysis:

This book was about a group of friends who all have different talents and enjoy playing different sports, and they are trying to decide what game they should all play together. In the end, they decide to play a sport that nobody is particularly good at, but by creating teams fairly, all their talents will shine through.

I believe that this story could function as a door for some children to realize that everybody has different talents and interests, and this is a good thing, especially when working together as a team. This could also function as a mirror for children to recognize situations where they have been in a team and how much fun it was when everyone had the chance to be included. Also, the illustrations for this book include children of many different races, genders, and abilities, to enforce the idea that everyone is different and has different talents. All the illustrations are unframed and take up the entire page, which allows the reader to really feel like they are a part of the action and decision making as well, thus emphasizing the theme of teamwork and togetherness.

Although this story’s main intent may be to teach children the importance of teamwork, I think that there are a few issues with the way it was presented. This book seems to give white people the power, or explain why the American culture is the best. For example, all the children seem to have very white names such as Sue, Henry, Ben, Jay, Jeannie, and P.K. (the author’s name), but these children are portrayed as coming from different races or ethnicities. Also, the American flag is continuously shown throughout the text, from the title page of book where all the children are shown paying their respects to it, to the ending of the end of the book where the little white boy is holding it. There are also references to the way that the American people vote for their government, the children all vote and they state that it is “democratic and just” (Hallinan 22). However, I believe that this story is not an accurate representation of the American culture, because it does not reveal the injustice and corruption that is within our country and specifically the government. This book may reinforce the idea that the American way of life is better than other countries because there are no flaws and everyone is included, without discrimination.