Book Series: Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

**Winner of the
Maryland Library Association’s Blue Crab Award
for transitional non-fiction!**

Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and Secret Mud that Changed Baseball! Learn the incredible story behind the slippery, slimy stuff they have to rub on baseballs before each major league game.

Lena Blackburne loved baseball. He watched it, he played it, he coached it. But he didn’t love the ways players broke in new baseballs. Tired of soggy, blackened, stinky baseballs, he found a better way. Thanks to a well-timed fishing trip and a top-secret mud recipe, Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud was born. For seventy five years, baseball teams have used Lena’s magic mud to prepare baseballs before every game. Read the story of how Lena’s mud went from a riverbank to the major leagues and all the way to the Hall of Fame.

Read about baseball rubbing mud in Sports Illustrated.

Learn about how David A. Kelly researched baseball rubbing mud

Awards and Nominations

• Winner - Black Eyed Susan Book Awards
• Connecticut Nutmeg Award (2015)
• Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth
• Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year
• Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices
• Grand Canyon Reader Award
• Illinois Monarch Award
• Library Media Connection Editor's Choice
• Maine Chickadee Award
• Maryland Blue Crab Award
• Missouri State Teacher's Association Reading Circle selection
• New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
• Nutmeg Award

Reviews
“Dominguez’s illustrations, which are painterly in style, look as if pastels were used to draw the dramatic baseball poses in a variety of perspectives….This accessible story with be enjoyable to a larger audience than just baseball fans.” —School Library Journal

“Kelly provides information about an unusual aspect of the game in a sprightly, entertaining story with a great ‘aha’ moment. Dominguez’s bright, expressive double-page spreads follow the events closely and make them live.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The colorful, exaggerated paintings artfully (and comically) capture the full allure of ballpark ambiance by including plenty of behind-the-scenes activity. The information provided in the minimal text is bolstered by a solid two-page author’s note.” —Booklist