Lipman Pike: America's First Home Run King

It seemed like everyone in Brooklyn was playing Base, a wonderful ball game. The Pike family wanted their son, Lipman to succeed in school and so succeed in life. Lip liked playing Base. He tried to go along with his parents' wishes, but finally he moved to another city to play ball. His parents were astonished to learn that Lip would be making money playing ball; this seemed preposterous to them. Lip became the first home run king.

Big illustrations that give each character an oversized head and increase the sense of silliness in the story just a bit.

“'You traveled halfway around the world to follow your dreams,' Lip reminded him. ‘There is nothing I love more than Base.' Then Lip waved his parents closer and whispered, ‘The Athletics' captain offered me $20 each week to play for his club.'

Mrs. Pike shook her head in disbelief. ‘Who ever heard of anyone being paid to chase a ball?' she asked.”