Books and baseball—a winning combination. On April 13 and April 27, students who brought a copy of Little Rhino: My New Team to Harbor Park Stadium received free admittance to the Norfolk Tides baseball game. Dozens of area families took advantage of this special offer from the Tides to enjoy a Sunday afternoon at the ballpark.
These events marked the culmination of the highly successful spring All District Reads program. More than 30,000 elementary families in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Portsmouth all read Little Rhino: My Team, a baseball-themed book written by 2006 Major League Baseball MVP Ryan Howard and his wife, Krystle Howard, a former elementary school teacher. The Howards graciously did a Zoom interview to help kick off the spring reading program. See excerpts of the interview here on the ADR website.
All District Reads had a table at both Tides games and gave out free copies of several different books. A big thank you to Scholastic for donating 100 copies of My Baseball Book by Gail Gibbons for distribution at the game on April 27.
Many families stopped by to get books and talk, including several families who had just finished reading Little Rhino. Kids identified with Little Rhino’s desire to excel at baseball and his struggles with a bully on the team. One student said he liked the book because “It’s about baseball, and I play baseball. He’s like me because he’s small but plays good.” Another liked Little Rhino’s close relationship with his grandfather, saying that his favorite part of the book was when the family was eating pizza together.
Meanwhile, parents appreciated the family time together that All District Reads promotes. One mother said that her children are in different schools. “The fact that they were all talking about the same book was great.”
The Tides loved collaborating with All District Reads to promote baseball and reading. Heather McKeating, Director of Community Relations for the Tides, did a recorded reading of the final chapter of the Little Rhino book, with team mascot Rip Tide acting out some of the action. Then one night at a game, as she was talking to some people in the Tides’ merchandise store, a young student recognized her simply by hearing her voice. “Oh, my God,” he said. “It’s you.” McKeating was amazed that the child was so excited to meet the “celebrity reader” whose voice he had heard on the recording.
McKeating said that the Tides like to do community outreach, and the partnership with All District is “a perfect fit.” She added, “We believe in literacy, and the number of kids you’re reaching is great.”
All District Reads looks forward to continuing to build on this books and baseball connection!