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by Kadir Nelson (Author), Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
In this New York Times bestselling classic, Caldecott Medal-winning artist Kadir Nelson tells the incredible story of baseball's unsung heroes--with stunning, larger-than-life paintings and lively, accessible prose.
Features nearly fifty iconic oil paintings, and a dramatic double-page fold out illustration! ★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award★ Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award
★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor We Are the Ship is a sumptuous, oversize volume for all ages that no baseball fan should be without. Using an inviting first-person voice, Kadir Nelson shares the engaging story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its evolution, until after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined team owners, of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship, of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of Black America in the first half of the twentieth century. But most of all, the story of the Negro Leagues is about hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball. Additional content at the end includes an author's note, index, and bibliography. Don't miss Kadir Nelson's next American Sports History book:
Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game
Author Biography
Kadir Nelson is a highly acclaimed painter and the illustrator of many books for young readers, including the Caldecott Medal winner The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander; the New York Times bestseller We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor as well as the Sibert Medal; Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, which was an NAACP Image Award winner, Caldecott Honor Book, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner. His work has appeared in many publications, including Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and The New Yorker. Kadir's original paintings are in the permanent collections of the US House of Representatives and the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of African American History and Culture. A recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, he has also been inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. He lives in Southern California.
