First, a disclaimer: I am a fellow member of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports staff with Mike Eisenbath, the book's author. Second, a disclaimer of the disclaimer: Anyone who knows me knows that I have never hesistated to criticize a fellow staff member. On to the review: Here are five good reasons ANY baseball fan would enjoy this book: (1) It's a terrific reference book. Even if you hate the Cardinals (I think they call those people Cub fans or something like that), you have to admit that the Cardinals have been a big part of baseball history with their numerous pennant winning teams and many great Hall of Famers. (2) If you are a Cardinal fan, the book will bring back a lot of pleasant memories and a few unpleasant ones. (I've learned NOT to mention the 1968 or 1985 World Series around rabid Cardinal fans.) (3) The 200 player profiles alone are worth the price of the book. In this chapter you can recall the exploits of such Cardinal greats as Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Roger Freed. (4) If baseball trivia is your thing, you can pick up all kinds of good stuff browsing and reading this book. (5) If you want to impress your friends with what a great baseball expert you are, you can memorize this book in your spare time and impress your friends. You can't go wrong buying this book.

This is a great insight into the history of the St. Louis Blues, and their first 10 or so seasons. Some interesting things that happened back then.

I read chapters 1-5 to many third and fourth grade classes in the NYC public schools. The children enjoyed the book greatly. Their favorite parts were when Bradley talks to his toy animals, makes up stories about doing well in school and starts making a friendship with the new kid Jeff. Each class has always reacted to the dialoque between Bradley and the other characters like "give me a dollar or I'll spit on you," to Jeff, "Call the zoo if you dont believe me",to his parents, "Lori loudmouth" to Lori, his classmate, Get out of here to his sister who barges in his room and says "what are you doing playing with your animal friends?" and Bradley responds "No I am arranging them in alphabetical order, it's a project for school." After I finish reading a section, I will hear a few kids saying the lines to themselves and laugh too. They also like the part when Bradley tells the guidance counselor that he eats dog food. I see how much the children relate to this book and many of the children who are not big readers have been inspired to read and get the book after I have read the first four chapters. I enjoy the rationale behind the book and how Bradley starts to grow and learn.

This is a story about Bradley Chalkers. He is the oldest kid in fifth grade. No one likes him. That is, until he meets Jeff Fishkin. This is a great book about friendship. It taught me to be kind to everyone, even to a bully like Bradley. This is a very comical book. It is a funny way of telling the story of a boy and how he overcomes his problems with friends and school. Ten-year old Bradley Chalkers is one tough bully. He doesn't do his homework, he scribbles in school, and he doesn't have any friends; at least for a while. There were exciting and emotional parts of the book, especially when Carla, the 4th grader's counselor and friend, had to leave the school because the parents didn't like her. I recommend that you buy this book!

I also recommend THE PRICE OF IMMORTALITY by C.M. Whitlock. It is a GREAT BOOK!

This is a book about a boy named Bradley Chalkers who gets into a lot of trouble. He meets a new kid at school. His name is Jeff Fishkin. Jeff gets tied up with the wrong people. Then comes the new school counselor, Carla, who thinks Bradley is very interesting and doesn't believe in accidents. Carla tries to help Bradley but all she gets is a bunch of lies but she believes him and he feels special. Jeff goes to see Carla. Whoa! He doesn't believe what he's hearing. Then both Jeff and Bradley get black eyes. Then it gets very complicated. If you like humorous books you have to read "There's A Boy In The Girls Bathroom"