Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In Spanish-sprinkled animated free verse, a young boy named Clemente (to honor the Hall of Famer) recites the ballplayer's awesome statistics. The text describes the sports legend's dedication to family and the humanitarian work that ended with his untimely death while bringing aid to earthquake victims. Collier's watercolor and collage illustrations are vividly compelling. Reading list, timeline, websites. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Riding the tide of his own father's ("president of the GREATEST FANS OF ROBERTO CLEMENTE CLUB, Boogie-down Bronx chapter") hero worship, a young narrator named after the great ball player and humanitarian highlights Clemente's life and achievements up to that fatal "last sacrifice fly" (he was killed in the crash of a plane filled with earthquake-relief supplies in 1972), then pays homage to his strength of character, his belief that "con respeto, / con orgullo, with faith, with hope, / with belief in yourself/ anything is possible in this world." Collier lights up Perdomo's cadenced, half-rhyming text even further with kaleidoscopic watercolor-and-collage portraits and abstract scenes, predominantly in warm browns and golds. Though, like Jonah Winter's similar but lower-key biography, Roberto Clemente, Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates, illustrated by Raul Coln (2005), there's no chart of Clemente's outstanding career stats, heartfelt personal statements from the author and illustrator add a shiny finish to this infectiously energetic tribute. (timeline, sources) (Picture book/biography. 7-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.