Babe Ruth and the Ice Cream Mess

CRASH! Young George (Babe) Ruth sends his friends' baseball right through a kitchen window. George runs in fear all the way to his father's tavern, where he finds a dollar. That's enough money to buy ice cream for all his friends to make up for the lost ball! So he takes it. Even as a boy Babe Ruth was generous. But sometimes, it got him into big trouble....

Customer Reviews:

Very strange book

By Austin Blair - March 9, 2007

This book is very odd and, quite frankly, not very good. First of all, Babe Ruth seems like an unusual subject for a kids' book about childhood, since from what I know, Ruth had a fairly unpleasant childhood. After all, his father signed off on parental rights when Babe was seven and he spent the rest of this youth living in a boys' reformatory (St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore).

In the story, seven year-old George (before he became known as "Babe") breaks a window while playing baseball with his friends, runs away from the scene, sees an ice cream cart, later steals a dollar from his father's inexplicably empty tavern, then buys ice cream for all his friends with the dollar. His parents discover his theft, and after a heartfelt exchange with his mother, the book ends with George's father chasing the boy out of the house with a wooden paddle! (I found myself checking the back of the book to make sure I didn't miss the last page--I couldn't believe that... read more

What on Earth is the Moral of this Story?

By Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" - December 8, 2004

Strange tale for a young kid. Babe Ruth as a child steals a dollar from dad to buy his friends ice cream and runs away from a beating at home. What?????? This story is a strange tale in the manner it is told.

HORRIBLE....

By Justine M Cirinelli - October 24, 2012

I purchased this book, signed by the author, at a school event and when I read it to my 5 yr old I was astonished. Page 22: "George didn't like to lie. His father went down to the basement to get his paddle." Page 28-End: "Mr. Ruth came up the stairs from the basement. He looked angry. George knew what would happen next. He ran out the front door before his father could catch him! 'Come back here, George!' his father yelled. Mrs. Ruth watched her son, and wondered what would become of him."

Is this what we want to read and teach our kids? Is this what you want our public schools selling?

The pictures that go along with the dialog are terrible. I contacted my public school district and returned the book. I do NOT recommend purchasing this book and providing the author with any additional royalties from such a horrible story. I only gave it one star because you had to, otherwise it would be zero.