Let's put our hands together! Now batting for Mudville . . . Casey America has been waiting for this mighty ballplayer to step up to the plate and right his wrong that left Mudville in a state of gloom. Now, in this humorous, seam-splitting sequel to Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic," award-winning author Dan Gutman offers Casey what any failed sports hero most desires--a second chance. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher bring fans the tense excitement of a thrilling game with their fabulous art and inventive design. All eyes will be on Casey as he comes back to bat. . . . Will he finally bring joy to Mudville? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

What if the scourge of Mudville had another chance? Gutman (the Baseball Card Adventure series) takes a crack at a sequel to Ernest Lawrence Thayer's Casey at the Bat in his picture book debut. With two outs, two men on base and his team down three runs to one in the final inning of the season's last game, Casey lets two balls go by, and then, a miracle he hits it out of the park. Indeed, the ball not only travels around the world (it nearly beans a bird, and strikes a certain tower in Pisa) but also goes back in time (past dinos) and into outer space. Unfortunately Gutman's jarring modern phrasings and bumpy rhythms are a far cry from Thayer's comic stylings, (e.g., "In the depths of outer space, an astronaut named Janet/ shrieked, 'Eureka! I have found it! I've discovered a new planet!'/ Her partner took a look and told her, "Janet, in your dreams./ I've yet to see a planet sewn together at the seams' "). But Johnson and Fancher (Star Climbing) step up to the plate. With burnished-tone pictures cleverly textured with everything from vintage newspapers to a henna pattern on a pair of Indian rhinos, the artwork fully captures the spirit of the mock epic. Their chiseled-face Casey seems both deserving of vindication and cruising for a bruising. Which one does he end up getting? Suffice to say that once again, there is no joy in Mudville. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Starred Review. K-Gr 4 In this winning picture book, Gutman revisits and updates Thayer's classic baseball poem. This time around (and much to everyone's surprise), Casey hits a fly ball that soars out of the park and keeps on going. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean and has an unfortunate encounter with a tower in Pisa before continuing on to the Sphinx in Egypt. Streaking through time, it passes dinosaurs (and sends them to their ultimate fate) and astronauts before heading back to Earth. The ride is uproarious from start to finish, and Gutman's broadly humorous verse hits all the right notes. This Casey is perfect for his role: smug, dense, and deliciously ripe for his comic send-up. "His arms, his legs, his neck, his lips-his teeth had muscles too./They rippled from his little toe up to his eyes of blue." Johnson and Fancher's paintings have a playfully nostalgic look, with a mix of textured papers and newsprint splashed across the surfaces of uniforms. Though "there's still no joy in Mudville," this is a fun read-aloud, and it will have baseball fans of all ages cheering. Gutman has reaffirmed the appeal of Thayer's classic. Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

It had to happen; after all those iterations of Casey at the Bat, Gutman decides to continue the saga. Mudville is tied for first place. Casey comes to bat; even his teeth have muscles. He hits the ball mightily. He hits it so hard that it crosses the Atlantic, causes the Leaning Tower of Pisa to lean further, knocks the nose off the Sphinx--well, you get the idea. It even travels through time to explain what happened to the dinosaurs in an increasingly exuberant imagined rhyme. But in the end--suffice it to say there is still no joy in Mudville. The fab team of Johnson and Fancher makes wonderful, nineteenth-century-inspired paintings. Their amber glow, Victorian colors, and newsprint shadows are an excellent foil for Gutman's wit. An enjoyable extrapolation. GraceAnneDeCandido. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.