Books published by publisher Oregon State University Press, 2012

Bestselling History of Little League Baseball and the World Series. Only the eBook (KINDLE) version is updated through 2013! Includes a new chapter on John Grisham's movie, "Mickey," the Danny Almonte scandal, Tee Ball on the South Lawn, Pitch Counts and Arm Injuries, Child Protection Act, ESPN and the new World of Little League Museum. "'Play Ball!' is a delightful walk down the storied history of Little League Baseball. For those of us who played the dreams of your youth, it brings back mighty memories. For those of us reluctant adults who still dream, it's a wonderful reminder of what might have been." ~ John Grisham, bestselling author "Little League Baseball was such a huge part of my life. As a kid and as a father, the memories are, in fact, so thick that I have to brush them away from my face. Thank God for Little League Baseball and how it's managed itself." ~ Kevin Costner, actor, director "It's funny: after 40 years, I can't remember much else about a lot of the boys I grew up with, but if you give me one of their names, I can usually remember what Little League team he played on." ~ Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist. ABOUT THE BOOK Play Ball! is the remarkable story of Little League Baseball, from the first diamond in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to the playing fields of the world. On any given spring evening, 360,000 children around the world can be found on the dusty mounds and grassy fields of a Little League field. With more than four million people playing or volunteering in Little League games every year, Little League is the institutional rite of passage into the quintessential American pastime. Little League Baseball began in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1938, when Carl Stotz, an oil company clerk, agreed to a game of catch with his young nephews-who were too young to play organized baseball. He recalled how it felt to be left out, and promised to think of a way for the boys to have a league of their own. With the help of neighbors George and Bert Bebble, Stotz created a three-team league. After being turned down by fifty-six businesses, Carl finally convinced a lumber company, a dairy, and a pretzel maker to sponsor the teams, for $30 each. On June 6, 1939, the first Little League Baseball game was played at Park Point in Williamsport. Play Ball! charts Little League's history from the earliest days and shows how, in many respects, its history parallels America's history: isolation in the beginning; rapid expansion; a civil war of sorts, followed by reconstruction; struggles over civil rights and gender equity; and foreign entanglements. A microcosm of American society, Little League reflects, and is affected by, cultural, political and historical trends. Today, Little League is played on 12,000 fields in every U.S. state and in 103 other countries on six continents. Little League also sanctions play in softball, Tee Ball, and baseball for disabled children-called the Challenger Division. The Little League Baseball World Series, played annually in Williamsport, is watched by crowds of 40,000 each year in person, and by more than ten million on ESPN. The authors were given full access to the Little League Baseball archives and have created a comprehensive history. Play Ball! contains appendixes including winners of all Little League Baseball and Softball World Series, a year-by-year history of Little League, countries in Little League, and lists of some of the famous people who played the game as children, including Kevin Costner, Mark McGwire, and George W. Bush. Play Ball! will interest parents, former players and coaches, fans of Little League Baseball, general baseball enthusiasts, and anyone who has ever picked up a ball and bat.

Who's Jim Hines? is a story based on real events about Douglas Ford Jr., a twelve-year-old African American boy growing up in Detroit in the 1930s. Doug's father owns the Douglas Ford Wood Company, and Doug usually helps his dad around the scrap wood yard located in the side lot next to their house. But after Doug loses his school textbooks one day he is faced with the prospect of paying for new books and must join his father in the backbreaking work of delivering wood throughout the city and suburbs. Doug, who knows all of his father's delivery drivers, takes this opportunity to unravel the mystery of a man named Jim Hines whom he always hears about but has never seen. In discovering Hines's identity, Doug also learns much about the realities of racism in Depression-era Detroit.As she tells Doug's story, author Jean Alicia Elster incorporates rich descriptions of daily life, including glimpses into Detroit's auto factories and unions, northern-style segregation, and color distinctions within the African American community. Elster also introduces readers to the Fords' neighborhood, a racially mixed community of Eastern European immigrants and southern blacks. Readers from the ages of eight through twelve will enjoy the entertaining and educational story in Who's Jim Hines?

Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace J. Caulkins founded Detroit's Pewabic Pottery in 1903 during the height of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Now celebrating its centennial, Pewabic is one of the few historic art potteries still operating in the United States. The pottery remains an integral part of artistic life in the Detroit area; its presence in the city is underscored by such installations as the modern tile murals in Detroit's People Mover Stations, the fairy tale friezes around fireplaces in area schools, and mosaic-tiled ceilings in museums and churches.Fired Magic is the story of a child discovering the beauty of Pewabic tile installations in the metropolitan Detroit area. Readers accompany the main character Angie on a tour of architecturally significant historic and contemporary tiled floors, ceilings, fountains, fireplaces, and other tile installations that grace the city and its environs-such as Belle Isle Park, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Educational Community, and the Detroit Zoo. Readers also join Angie in taking a class at Pewabic Pottery, where she learns to make tiles and other clay objects. The book provides a glossary of ceramic terms and a comprehensive list of Pewabic installations around the United States so that readers may discover the beauty of Pewabic tile for themselves.This is the second in a series of books celebrating the cultural heritage of Detroit and the Great Lakes. Like the first in the series, The Outdoor Museum: The Magic of Michigan's Marshall M. Fredericks (Wayne State University Press, 2001), this book is written for students from age 8 and above; however, it is enjoyable for art lovers of all ages. Through its inviting tale and rich illustrations, Fired Magic relates the history of Pewabic Pottery from its beginnings in the Arts and Crafts Movement and furthers the pottery's present-day mission to support, educate, and foster appreciation for ceramic art.

Using a variety of critical approaches and disciplines, Infant Tongues examine the representation of children in literarture from the Renaissance to the present. Covering texts written in English, French, German, Russian, and Hebrew, this collection of essays looks at the child's voice and consciousness in adult and juvenile fiction and in writing by children. It illustrates that in literary works, although children's voices do indeed energize adult writing, often their voices have been mediated, modified, or appropriated by adult writers.In their discussion of works by Shakespeare, Rimbauld, Woolf, Tolstoy, and others, the authors explore numerous topics, includimg problems in the imitation of speech and dialect, uses of narrative voice, the creative development of child writers, and shifting cultural conceptions of childhood.

A deep-sea diver, a dancer, an activist, an aviator, a singer, and a soldier—Great Girls in Michigan History highlights some of the girls from Michigan’s past who did amazing things before they turned twenty years old. Author Patricia Majher presents easy-to-read mini-biographies of twenty girls with ties to Michigan, representing a variety of personal backgrounds and interests, locations across the state, and historical time periods. Majher introduces little-known stories, like those of female aviator Nancy Harkness (Love), pioneer Anna Howard Shaw, escaped slave Dorothy Butler, professional baseball player Marilyn Jenkins, union leader Myra Komaroff (Wolfgang), and Native American writer Jane Johnston (Schoolcraft). She also includes figures that many readers will recognize—including First Lady Betty Bloomer (Ford), jockey Julie Krone, Motown star Diana Ross, and tennis champion Serena Williams. Majher shows that while life wasn’t always easy for these girls, they were able to overcome any number of obstacles to achieve their goals. Great Girls in Michigan History includes a brief section on each girl’s life after the age of twenty and a glossary of selected vocabulary words at the end of the book. With its depictions of young women who have not typically been represented in history texts, this book will be inspirational reading for upper elementary school students (ages 8 to 12) and welcomed by Michigan schools, bookstores, and public libraries.

Most people recognize Michigan by its mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula and the Great Lakes embracing the state. Underneath the earth’s surface, however, is equally distinctive evidence of an exciting history. Michigan rests on sedimentary rocks that reach down into the earth’s crust more than fourteen thousand feet—a depth three-and-a-half times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Within these layers of rock rest all sorts of ancient fossils and minerals that date back to the eras when tropical seas spread across Michigan and hot volcanoes flung molten rock into its skies—long before mile-thick glaciers bulldozed over Michigan and plowed through ancient river valleys to form the Great Lakes.Under Michigan is the first book for young readers about the geologic history of the state and the structure scientists call the Michigan Basin. A fun and educational journey, Under Michigan explores Earth’s geological past, taking readers far below the familiar sights of Michigan and nearby places to explain the creation of minerals and fossils and show where they can be found in the varying layers of rock. Readers will learn about the hard rock formations surrounding Michigan and also discover the tall mountain ridges hidden at the bottom of the Great Lakes. With beautiful illustrations by author Charles Ferguson Barker, a glossary of scientific terms, and charming page to keep field notes, Under Michigan is a wonderful resource for young explorers to use at home, in school, or on a trip across Michigan.

Most people recognize Michigan by its mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula and the Great Lakes embracing the state. Underneath the earth’s surface, however, is equally distinctive evidence of an exciting history. Michigan rests on sedimentary rocks that reach down into the earth’s crust more than fourteen thousand feet—a depth three-and-a-half times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Within these layers of rock rest all sorts of ancient fossils and minerals that date back to the eras when tropical seas spread across Michigan and hot volcanoes flung molten rock into its skies—long before mile-thick glaciers bulldozed over Michigan and plowed through ancient river valleys to form the Great Lakes.Under Michigan is the first book for young readers about the geologic history of the state and the structure scientists call the Michigan Basin. A fun and educational journey, Under Michigan explores Earth’s geological past, taking readers far below the familiar sights of Michigan and nearby places to explain the creation of minerals and fossils and show where they can be found in the varying layers of rock. Readers will learn about the hard rock formations surrounding Michigan and also discover the tall mountain ridges hidden at the bottom of the Great Lakes. With beautiful illustrations by author Charles Ferguson Barker, a glossary of scientific terms, and charming page to keep field notes, Under Michigan is a wonderful resource for young explorers to use at home, in school, or on a trip across Michigan.

The Child in the World builds a bridge between continental philosophers, who tend to overlook child existence, and developmental psychologists, who often fail to consider the philosophical assumptions underlying their work. In this volume, author Eva M. Simms draws on both psychological and phenomenological research to investigate child existence in its cultural and historical context and explore the ways children interact with the world around them.Simms examines key experiences of childhood with special attention to the non-dualistic nature of the child’s consciousness and the understanding that there is more to the child’s experiences than cognitive processes. In chapters that proceed from infancy to early childhood, Simms considers how children live their embodiment, coexist with others, experience and the spaces and places of their neighborhoods, have deeply felt relations to things, grasp time intuitively and often in contradiction to adult clock-time, and are transformed by the mystery of the symbolic order of play and language.Simms’s approach is particularly informed by the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, which allows for a descriptive and grounded understanding of child experience as well as sophisticated and critical philosophical thinking about human existence in general.By respecting and celebrating the magical non-dualistic relationship child consciousness has to the world, The Child in the World offers readers a unique opportunity to expand their understanding of human existence. Students and teachers of psychology and philosophy, early childhood educators, psychotherapists, as well as general readers who are parents of young children will enjoy this fascinating volume.

Who’s Jim Hines? is a story based on real events about Douglas Ford Jr., a twelve-year-old African American boy growing up in Detroit in the 1930s. Doug’s father owns the Douglas Ford Wood Company, and Doug usually helps his dad around the scrap wood yard located in the side lot next to their house. But after Doug loses his school textbooks one day he is faced with the prospect of paying for new books and must join his father in the backbreaking work of delivering wood throughout the city and suburbs. Doug, who knows all of his father’s delivery drivers, takes this opportunity to unravel the mystery of a man named Jim Hines whom he always hears about but has never seen. In discovering Hines’s identity, Doug also learns much about the realities of racism in Depression-era Detroit.As she tells Doug’s story, author Jean Alicia Elster incorporates rich descriptions of daily life, including glimpses into Detroit’s auto factories and unions, northern-style segregation, and color distinctions within the African American community. Elster also introduces readers to the Fords’ neighborhood, a racially mixed community of Eastern European immigrants and southern blacks.Readers from the ages of eight through twelve will enjoy the entertaining and educational story in Who’s Jim Hines?

The widowed Jessie Woolman, now in her seventies, her two married daughters, Ellen and Martha, and two grandchildren live in Ann Arbor, where the family owns a museum that harbors a meandering stream and historical artifacts of the region bounded by the rivers. Just as Jessie's aging mind begins to wander, Ellen's husband dies in a car accident and the Woolman family begins a new journey led by two very different men: Harvey Mack, a developer with an eye on the Woolman property and the grieving Ellen, and Sam Theopolis, a mystic hired to care for Jessie. Sam becomes both Harvey's rival and a healing presence for the family until a crisis descends and he, too, needs the protection of the Woolmans' innocent belief in the saving power of love. Combining sorrow and grief with considerable light-hearted wit and eccentric characters, Sister Water is a novel that will reach old and young readers alike. Through her lyrical prose, author Nancy Willard draws on the rich style of magical realism to create a narrative flow that is at once powerful and seductive. Important to the Landscapes of Childhood series, this novel raises significant questions about the state of childhood and how that state affects adult sensibilities.

"Coyote was tired of being cold," begins this traditional Shoshone tale about the arrival of fire in the northern Wasatch region. Members of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation developed the concept for this retelling, in collaboration with book arts teacher, Tamara Zollinger. Together, they wrote and illustrated the book. Bright watercolor-and-salt techniques provide a winning background to the hand-cut silhouettes of the characters. The lively, humorous story about Coyote and his friends is complemented perfectly by later pages written by Northwestern Shoshone elders on the historical background and cultural heritage of the Shoshone nation. An audio CD with the voice of Helen Timbimboo telling the story in Shoshone and singing two traditional songs makes this book not only good entertainment but an important historical document, too. Sure to delight readers of all ages, Coyote Steals Fire will be a valuable addition to the family bookshelf, the elementary classroom, the school or public library.

Born in Amsterdam in 1935, Suzanne Mehler Whiteley saw the ravages of war through a child's eyes. Her memoir, written in the voice of a young girl, describes the years before the invasion of Holland, her experiences during the German occupation, her time spent in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and her childhood afterward in Europe and then the United States. Appel Is Forever describes in a child's words atrocities that should never be seen by anyone. Through young Suzanne's introspection, readers are invited to see beyond the history of events to their deeper meaning. We come to see how the miracle of having survived opens a child up to the potential for playfulness and even happiness, while a young girl's observations of coming to her new country remind us of both the promises and hardships of the American dream.