May. 10, 2007 - Audio Book Review -- The Boy Who Saved Baseball
About the Book
The Boy Who Saved Baseball is a really interesting book about a town fighting a battle with developers who want to turn it into suburbia. Apparently, many funny referrences to baseball history are included for the baseball fan -- I did not noticed because I know almost nothing about baseball culture. The story is actually quite delightful in spite of its anti-sprawl message. I am sure my children did not catch on. The book is written from a strong Hispanic reference, and frequently small bits of Spanish is spoken. I found this aspect to be very fascinating and delightful. Nearly always, my children understood what was being said due to context. I will say that the book included some subtle references to teenage romance which aggravated me. Overall, however, we truly enjoyed this work. You can read what the author has to say on Amazon; unfortunately they do not currently carry the cd version. We found it at the library :)
About the Reader
Robert Ramirez reads this book very well; though I did feel it took him a couple chapters to find his rhythm. It took my children a short amount of time to adapt to the Spanish inserts. As with any audiobook; I recommend you give the reader 3-4 chapters before deciding you don't like the reading style. We develop a kind of loyalty to whichever reader we have just listened to; and unless the next reader is above excellent, it is hard to get into their rhythm sometimes.
The bottom line is; We try not to insist on parent-led learning or gravitate toward child-led learning. We try instead to focus on God-led learning and ask for His input and perspective on every aspect of our home school. That way, when others fuss about what Dan and I are doing and make me second guess our decisions -- I can go back to our decision process and find God's fingerprints, reminding me that this is His way.
