Dad, Jackie and Me

It was the summer of 1947 and all of Brooklyn just knew this was the year the Dodgers were going to win! Their rookie player, Jackie Robinson, promised an exciting and successful season as the first Black player in the major leagues. For one young boy, sharing his love of baseball with his deaf father made that memorable summer even more special. For the first time, his father showed an interest in the game his son so dearly loved. The two of them went to games at Ebbets Field, played catch on the street, started a baseball scrapbook and even caught a ball tossed by Jackie Robinson himself!

Dad, Jackie and Me shares the story of not only a deaf father and his hearing son, but also a glimpse at the racial prejudice experienced by the first Black baseball player of the major leagues. At the baseball diamond, the young boy felt embarrassed the first time his father yelled Jackie’s name because it sounds more like, “AH-GHEEE, AH-GHEE, AH-GHEE!” At first the crowd stared, but soon enough no one even seemed to notice. The young boy also witnessed prejudice towards Robinson, hearing the Giants call him horrible names and seeing a St. Louis Cardinal spike him on purpose. This beautifully illustrated picture book goes beyond simply focusing on one multicultural issue. It is not just a story about a deaf father and his son, nor is it only about Jackie Robinson as the first Black major league baseball player. The story naturally weaves together issues of both disability and race in a realistic manner that furthers the reader’s experience with both topics.

Inspired by his own childhood experiences, Myron Uhlberg further explains the parallels between his own deaf father and Jackie Robinson in his author’s note at the end of the story. Uhlberg points out how his father experienced prejudice similar to Robinson based on his hearing loss. Uhlberg is a child of deaf adults, also known as a CODA. He has a very personal and close connection with the Deaf Community and Deaf culture. Uhlberg also wrote The Printer which draws on similar childhood experiences of growing up as a CODA and his father’s trade as a printer for The New York Daily News. Dad, Jackie and Me is a quality piece of children’s literature that depicts deafness in a respectful and positive manner.

Uhlberg, Myron. Dad, Jackie and Me. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers, 2005.