This was an encouraging sports story. Not too many children will be familiar with the 21 game losing streak that the Orioles endured, but they'll easily be able to identify with the concept of enduring through difficult circumstances. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. This biography included many overall facts about Cal Ripken Jr’s baseball career, but the major focus of the book was his 1988 season with the Baltimore Orioles. I liked the selection of this particular season: the one in which the Orioles lost the first 21 games straight. When writing about an athlete as celebrated and talented as Cal Ripken Jr. it would be easy to simply write positives, and the decision to focus on this struggle instead made the story more meaningful to read. The meaningfulness of the text was highlighted on the last page with the words: “winning is easy on a person, but you learn more from losing. you learn to keep trying, each day a little harder than the day before”.
The depicted time period highlights a sore period of Cal Ripken Jr.’s career. The book, however, includes information regarding Ripken’s positives and strengths, though, so that readers do not walk away with a skewed and inaccurate image of Ripken. The first page of the book includes a large header that reads “Iron Man Cal” and details Ripken’s feat of playing in 2,632 straight games in his career, his World Series wins, as well as his 1983 title of Most Valuable Player of the American League. The author’s decision to preface this story of loss and struggle with Ripken’s many achievements creates a nice balance for readers.
The message of the story is: losing teaches you a lot. ( )

I really loved this book. One reason I loved this book because of the way the author keeps the reader anticipating what will happen next. For example, as a header for each page the record the team held was in bold print. “0-5, 0-12, and 0-18” Every time I flipped through the pages I was anxious to find out if the team had won or not. Another example of anticipation is when the author wrote, “Game 22. I hit a home run and score three runs. Our pitching is on target today. Could it be?...” As a reader I could not wait to get to the next page to find out if they had won the game or not to end the losing streak. The second reason I loved this book was because of the realistic illustrations. For example, every picture in the book had Orioles orange incorporated it somewhere. Another example of the realistic illustrations was the graphics that the illustrator used. For example, the humans in the book looked very real and also the emotions they felt were shown in the illustrations. The big message of this book is to never give up no matter how much the odds are against you. ( )

This book tells the story of the beginning of the Baltimore Orioles 1988 season when they started 0-21. It talks about how difficult it was to be off to such a rough start and how the players and fans reacted to the situation. The book also goes into detail about Cal Jr., Cal Sr., and Billy Ripken all being a part of the same team.

I enjoyed this book and I feel like many students can relate to the story. The majority of students play some type of sport and can relate to how it feels to lose. The moral of the story is not to give up and to play for the love of the sport. This is a message that many children need to hear so that they understand that it really is just a game. The author also talks about the importance of family and working together as a team to reach your goals. These are all important lessons for children to learn. ( )

Cal Ripken, Jr The Longest Season, is a great sports book that goes through the struggle of losing that Cal Ripken deals with. This book was a great read and I liked it for three reasons. First, I liked how the book was a biography and picture book at the same time. This was portrayed through the illustrations, as they varied throughout the book. Within the book there were a number of photographs, which enhanced the story. These pictures captured Cal Ripken’s life, which included baby and childhood pictures, family pictures, and pictures of his career as a baseball player. Along with these pictures there were a number of illustrations that were drawn and that were appropriate to the mood of the story to show how Cal was feeling. Secondly, I liked the writing technique that was used throughout this book. Usually, books that talk about an influential person can get boring. Though, this books writing style was engaging, as Cal Ripken Jr. incorporated stories throughout his childhood that children can relate to. Finally, I loved the lessons that were incorporated into this book. Children learn that losing streaks happen and that it’s important to remain positive throughout them. Cal brings the positive out when something negative happens. For example, “Yet the 0-21 losing streak would be the one thing I wouldn’t mind forgetting, were it not for what I learned. Winning is easy on a person, but you learn more from losing.” Overall, the “big idea” of this book is that losing teaches you more. You learn how to be a better teammate, and how much you need one another to play well as a team. You even learn how to win. ( )