Sponsored.  Summer reading is critical for students to retain knowledge and skills learned in the previous school year.  For many families, the longer days of spring and summer are synonymous with baseball.  Many hours are spent cheering at little league games, playing catch in the front yard, and staying up way past bedtime to see who's on their way to another World Series victory, so squeezing in reading can become a challenge.


For kids who are baseball enthusiasts, finding a book to read can be easy once you tap into the love of the game, which is exactly what author John Gurney has done! Gurney, a lifelong baseball enthusiast and the author and illustrator of the story time favorite Dinosaur Train, serves up the action-packed graphic novel, Fuzzy Baseballoween, this summer with Papercutz.

Though their roster is full of animals, the Fernwood Valley Fuzzies are a classic underdog team.  Along with the slick play-by-play narrative of the game.  Gurney slips in plenty of entertaining extras, such as baseball cards and team photos.  Meanwhile, the players' names are all baseball and animal puns, and there's a spread detailing each team's sponsored products - Hammy Sosa (a pig) owns a clothing boutique, while Snaps Tortelli (snapping turtle and Red Claws catcher) has a barbed wire company.  The scenes are densely packed with detail, and the players -rendered in a slightly cartoonish but naturalistic style - are richly expressive at every turn.

Fuzzy Baseballoween will be the 5th book in the Fuzzy Baseball series!

In the first Fuzzy Baseball book, it’s the game everyone has been waiting for - The Fernwood Valley Fuzzies play The Rocky Ridge Red Claws!  The Fuzzies feature all-star players Jackie Rabbitson, Sandy Kofox, and Hammy Sosa.  Together they’ll make this the greatest game ever played between the longtime rivals.  And you have a front row seat at Fuzzy Field!

In Fuzzy Baseballoween, The Fernwood Fuzzies get the rare opportunity to play an extra game after their baseball season ends.  So rare in fact that this team only competes once a year… on Halloween night!  Things get a bit spookier when Count Flappula and the Graveyard Ghastlies have their own frightening style of baseball and their own brand of bats (the animals, of course!).  Are the Fuzzies ready to face their fears and put on a brave furry face to play ball?  It's a spooky tale with America's favorite pastime by beloved Children's book illustrator John Steven Gurney of A to Z Mysteries and Bailey School Kids!

If you’re looking to catch up on the Fernwood Fuzzies greatest hits in time for the 5th inning, Fuzzy Baseball Triple Play has all your bases covered.  Ninjas, Robots, and Baseball, oh, my!  Join beloved childrens illustrator John Steven Gurney and rookie to the Fernwood Valley Fuzzies, Blossom Honey Possum, as they play ball in this triple play.  Will the Fuzzies win a home run against the Rocky Ridge Red Claws?  Will they learn the ins and outs of manga baseball before competing with the Sashimi City Ninjas in a "Ninja Baseball Blast"?  And, why are the Geartown Clankees more like "R.B.I. Robots"?  Collecting the first three Fuzzy Baseball graphic novels in one convenient volume.

Baseball-loving kids will get a kick out of the action on the field, while burgeoning graphic-novel readers will appreciate the snappy visual storytelling.

Early on, author Gurney offers readers clues about whom to root for and who the "bad guys" are on the Red Claws team, and uses the graphic format to help kids better understand baseball.  Panels illustrate where players are as they steal bases and the action speeds up.  The overall effect is a very clear picture of the game; kids will enjoy the rising action and cheer the underdogs to victory without getting lost in any complicated details.

With raving reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and a plethora of passionate readers, the Fuzzy Baseball books are a sure "must-add" to the summer reading list!

Click on Gallery below for full-sized images.