Swing for the Fences in Entertaining Children’s Book Written in Haiku Form

My First Red Sox Game by Christine Connelly

There’s something special about capturing the excitement and anticipation of a young child about to embark on a new experience. In the case of My First Red Sox Game by Christine Connelly, well, you guessed it, it’s about that child going with her dad to their first baseball game together.

Whether you are a baseball fan or, better yet, a Red Sox fan (in my case, an obsessed one), it really doesn’t matter. As it happens, I grew up in Boston and can remember the exact experience. Half the fun is in the planning — donning a cap, taking a glove (because, of course, you want to be prepared to catch a foul ball), bundling up, taking snacks, getting in the mood by playing catch first with dad in the yard, packing the car.

Then there are the sights, sounds and senses of historic Fenway Park — the shops, the smell of freshly roasted peanuts, Fenway franks, the brilliant organist, the championship banners, all leading to that first sighting of the field itself — you’ve never seen grass so green.

A Story in Haiku

All that is well and good, and the spirit is fully captured in the story. But Connelly goes a step further and writes this wonderful children’s book entirely in haiku form.

Haiku is a proven, historical and universal way for educators to teach kids reading and writing with counting for phonetics and syllabification. The book is a learn-to-read tool geared primarily for 5-to-10-year-olds and entertains while teaching kids about baseball. If one were to read one haiku per page, it could turn into a reader book extending to 3-to-5-year-olds.

Using the haiku structure of five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third, Connelly  is spot on in describing the mood:

Sparkling lights shine on
Glittering blades of sweet grass
Twinkling eyes await.

The book even provides the chance for readers to write their own “One-Day Haiku Memoir,” prompting young children to think about a special memory and put it into haiku form.

Entertains and Teaches

The narrative revolves around 7-year-old Sarah and her actions and emotions leading up to and watching her first game. It’s all new to her, which can evoke fear in any child experiencing something for the first time, yet there’s something familiar about each scene. Dad has prepared her well.

She rolls with each pitch, rooting hard for the home team Red Sox to prevail. Even when it starts to rain, Dad won’t let that dampen the mood — perhaps a soggy hot dog is the perfect remedy.

For a fun story enhanced by the marvelous illustrations of Chad Thompson, My First Red Sox Game has all the pieces of a fine children’s book: a touching story, the fun of a new experience, a heartwarming display of bonding between parent and child, and an educational element and introduction to the haiku.

Like any optimistic (and unrealistic) youth, Sarah does in fact bring her glove along — even though chances of her grabbing a foul ball are slim to none. But, well, you never know.

As Connelly writes,

My First Red Sox Game
Crack, the ball just flew my way
I caught the baseball!

Enjoy this “catch of the day.”