Tuesday, October 10, 2017

   Who’s on first is a classic American comedy, originally done in the mid-1930s by Abbott and Costello, this is a funny story as well as a play on words that to this day is considered one of the greatest bits ever done. I believe that this story translates well to young readers because it is entertaining, short concise dialog, a lot of site word practice, and it also presents a bit of a challenge to understand the complex structures of the English language. Also baseball (in my opinion sports in general) can cross culture/socioeconomic boarders. The story breaks down to this there is a baseball team on which the names and positions of the players are as follows, Who- is the first baseman’s actual name, What- is the second baseman’s actual name, I don’t know- is the third baseman’s actual name, Tomorrow- is the pitchers actual name, Why- is the actual left fielder’s name, Because- is the actual center fielder’s name, and I don’t give a Hoot- is the actual shortstop’s name. One can see how there may be some funny and confusing dialog with that’s being the names of the players. This book I have found is a popular choice for young readers.
   Illustration by John Martz. This illustration in this book is fantastic, however it also allows the storyteller to explain the story without actually explaining it. The illustrator actually maps out for us the positions and the players’ names so the students can follow along with minimal effort. John Martz is a cartoonist and a comic book artist from Toronto. He has an extensive work catalog with many children’s books as well as comic’s.
   The reason I picked this book is my little cousin who is in second grade said this was his favorite book. So I checked it out and quickly understood why. As a child I remember seeing this sketch done on TV and thinking how clever and funny it was. I also feel like it creates a great example of how our language can be challenging. However with the illustration I personally feel that it provides enough assistance/ contexts to get early readers through the story successfully. Sources:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/9148377/abbott-costello-first-routine-celebrates-75-years-baseball-comedy

http://johnmartz.com/