Title: Take Me Out to the Yakyu

Author: Aaron Meshon

Illustrator: Aaron Meshon

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013

Genre(s): Realistic fiction

Summary:

Take Me Out to the Yakyu tells the story of a young boy who goes to baseball games in the United States with his American grandfather, and in Japan with his Japanese grandfather. From the very first page, the author shows the love that the bicultural protagonist has for baseball, whether it be in the United States or Japan. The boy describes the two distinct experiences of baseball in the two countries. Each page shows a part of the experience, first from the American perspective and vocabulary, and then contrasting that with the Japanese one. The boy shows the reader the social, cultural, linguistic, and technological differences in the two baseball outings. The illustrations depict the differences described, giving visual context to a young reader. At the end of the story, the author provides a bilingual glossary of baseball and other terms as well as a short history of the game itself.

About the author/illustrator:

Aaron Meshon graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1995, and worked as an editorial illustrator for eighteen years. Take Me Out to the Yakyu is Meshon’s first children’s book. He received the 2014 Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor. He lives with his wife, son, and their French bulldog in Brooklyn, New York.

Sources of inspirations for the author and/or illustrator:

Meshon and his wife Ayako are passionate about baseball. They frequently travel back and forth between Brooklyn and Japan.

(Saxon, A. (2013, March). Flying Starts: Aaron Meshon. Retrieved from

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/58039-spring-2013-flying-starts-aaron-meshon.html)

Geographical region/time period: Present-day United States; present-day Japan

Cultural themes: sports, baseball, social interactions, individualistic and collective society, family traditions

Media of illustrations: Acrylic paint

Awards and other recognitions: Take Me Out to the Yakyu was on the New York Times Top 100 of 2013 and received 4 starred reviews from the NY Times and School Library Journal.

Analyzing the Picture Book

For this book, we suggest integrating several varied approaches, including Whole Book Approach, Visual Thinking Strategies, and critical multicultural practices. While the book seems simple and straightforward, students can be engaged on multiple levels and with multiple modalities. In order to awaken an interest in the story, students would use visual thinking strategies to analyze the cover, the end papers, and the front matter before diving into the story itself.

Looking at the cover, the typical visual thinking strategy questions (What do you see? What makes you say that? What else can you find?) can be augmented by asking students why they think the particular fonts were used for the text, if the colors have any significance for them, and what do they think yakyu means. In addition, the question of why the title was chosen could be a thread for discussion for students who might have limited background knowledge about baseball culture. Discussion could be started using the images on the front cover, building upon what the students noticed from the original questioning threads. Using the Whole Book Approach, students could be asked to make predictions on the tone the story will take from the images on the endpapers (i.e. happy, sad, nostalgic, etc.). Turning to the copyright page, an instructor could elicit observations before reading the short story summary which is embedded in the circular form on the page.

As we begin the story itself, the facilitator can confirm or add to students’ observations about the cover. If students had not known the nations the flags represented, the facilitator can draw attention to the flags on each baseball jersey; students can then make the connection between the images and the text which identifies both countries on the first page. If students had known the origins of the national flags, the teacher can confirm that they had been correct in their observations, affirming their prior knowledge as a basis for making connections with the text (“It is wonderful that you knew which countries the flags came from. It will help us all to understand the story more fully!” or something similar).

The following pages delineate similarities and differences between the experiences of baseball in America and Japan. The first full spread is a treasure trove of What differences can you see?, which could be extended to why students believe that these differences exist, depending on student age and facilitator preparation. Differences can be observed on the first set of pages in colors, clothing, jewelry and/or accessories. Similarities could range from facial expressions, time of day, and attendees of the game. Students may find these and more if we allow them the time and impetus. On this spread, the gutter serves the purpose of separation of place. Discussion can be extended on the comparisons at the discretion of the facilitator and the level of student engagement with the book.

On the following pages, the gutter is not used in the same way and the division runs horizontally rather than vertically. As a facilitator, one can ask students why they believe the gutter was used differently on these pages. What is going on? What sense does the reader get from seeing the gutter used this way? Similarities and differences can be pointed out by students using Visual Learning Strategy questions, augmented as desired. The next pair of pages have stark differences as well as some commonalities which students can identify. The reasons behind them could be explored through a preparatory lesson on the land mass and geography, if desired.

The next thirteen full spreads could be similarly undertaken using students as the real facilitators of the discussion around the story. When the story finishes, there is a glossary of baseball terms as well as a series of “other fun words,” followed by a short narrative on baseball itself, which may help students with limited background knowledge connect more deeply with the text. A facilitator could ask students why they think the author decided to place the drawing that he did on the final page after the baseball narrative. What does it represent?

It is important that students are prompted to see more than simply differences between the two cultures, but also commonalities. At the end of the text, a written poll could be taken on small slips of paper asking which baseball game a student would rather attend and why.