My Dad's Baseball

The appeal of both '50s nostalgia and baseball will make Cohen's first children's book a hit with Little Leaguers as well as their parents. After a yellowed baseball rolls out of a box in his mother's attic, a man tells his seven-year-old son exactly where it came from. ``Some days stay in your mind forever, Max. June 4, 1955, is one of them,'' he explains. On that day, it develops, the boy's father went with his father and brother to Yankee Stadium to see his very first baseball game. An extended flashback presents the father as a youngster (a diehard Milwaukee Braves fan nonetheless thrilled to watch the likes of Mickey Mantle) attending a game between the Yanks and the Detroit Tigers. The big moment arrives when the boy grabs a ball that Yogi Berra has hit into the stands; when he has it autographed the next day, his Braves cap falls out of his pocket, but Berra lets him know that his allegiance to that team is okay (``You should always be who you are''). When the story returns to the present, the father gives the ball to his delighted son. There are no surprises or unexpected twists, just a thoroughly warm tale, simply told. Effectively grainy pastels ably depict the period and convey the timeless allure of baseball. Ages 5-up. (Mar.)