Dad, Jackie, and me book review by Noemie

Title of the Book: Dad, Jackie, and me 

Author Name: Myron Uhlberg 

Reviewer's Name: Noemie 

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers 

 Date of Publication: 2005 

 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The book Dad, Jackie, and me by Myron Uhlberg is a picture book that shows how oneselves should accept others no matter what. The book Dad, Jackie and Me, talks about a deaf dad and his son, growing into liking a new baseball player, Jackie. Jackie was the first black man to join a baseball team. He was very skilled at his job and many were fans of him. “Dad” and “me” decided to go to one of the games in order to see Jackie play. They express character development as they grow into liking him more and more. They went to a lot of his games and even created a book where they stuck pictures of Jackie from the newspaper. This book shows acceptance towards others and the growth of characters throughout it. Jackie was a baseball player. In the book, he became the first black man on a baseball team. “Dad” and “me” are shown to be very accepting of this. Throughout the book, they have never talked about how he is a black man which shows acceptance between the characters. The 2 characters “dad” and “me” actually look up to Jackie in a very respectful way. They are inspired by his skills in baseball which has inspired them to try to play baseball as well. “Dad” is a character in the book that is actually deaf. His son, “me”, has shown to accept his dad just as he is. Sometimes, he has shown to be embarrassed of his dad because he couldn’t pronounce Jackie’s name but “me” has developed in the book, showing that he should not care about other people’s opinions of him and his dad. 

This book could be a good book for children to read because it shows them the importance of accepting others for who they are internally, and not what they are on the outside. Even if they have trouble like “me” in accepting close ones because they are different, they need to know and learn that it is good for them to do so in order for people to feel loved and comfortable in their own bodies. This is the same thing for people who might not be as close, such as Jackie. Jackie is black, unlike the other players on the baseball team. And even though he is different, it does not mean that “me” and “dad” did not accept him, because they do and loved him.