“Earlier that same year, my family moved from Queens in New York City to Cascade Road in Stamford, Connecticut. Our new house sat in the middle of six acres on a narrow, twisted road named for the waterfall at the end of it. The best part, according to my father, was the woods on three sides of the house, which screened us from passing cars and curious strangers.”
I was lucky enough to be watching one of the morning news shows not too long ago when Sharon Robinson was being interviewed about a new book she had written about her father. I found myself intrigued by her story, a true story from her childhood and about a baseball hero...Jackie Robinson.
When Jackie retires, he moves the family to a new and peaceful place where his children can run and play, and enjoy the lake that is the focal point of their new property. As the children romp in the water, their father never does. No one seems to notice! When winter winds and cold cover the lake with ice the children beg to skate on it. Ever the protective father, Jackie will allow no skating until he has tested the ice. He starts tapping it with a stick, and what a noise erupts when he does that. Finally, he makes it to the middle of the ice and declares it safe for his children. It is while she is watching her beloved father walk out on the ice that Sharon makes the connection that she has never seen her father in the water, and the discovery that he cannot swim. But that fear does not keep him from protecting his family.
This, of course, is not the only 'ice testing' that Jackie Robinson did. He was the first African American to play in major league baseball, and the man attributed with breaking the color barrier in 1947 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. We all know the rest of that story!
Kadir Nelson used family photographs to inspire his amazing artwork for this picture book biography. They are so real to their time, and to the Robinson family. It must be such a special blessing to have them be part of this heartfelt and personal story.
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