Book details

  • Genre:children's fiction
  • Sub-genre:Sports & Recreation / Baseball & Softball
  • Age Range (years):3 - 8
  • Language:English
  • Pages:64
  • Hardcover ISBN:9798317831165

Home Is Where the Heart Is

An ABC Baseball Book

By Kristine Benevento

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Overview


Home Is Where the Heart Is: An ABC Baseball Book is a love letter to baseball, family, and the values that shape children long before they realize they are learning them. From A to Z, young readers step into the rhythm of the game while discovering what it means to play fair, lift a teammate, try again after falling short, and show up when it matters. Each letter pairs the language of baseball with the language of growing up, reminding children that how they play the game reflects who they are becoming. More than an alphabet book, this story honors the quiet moments that build character, the traditions shared between generations, and the simple truth that "home" is not only a field or a place, but the people who cheer us on. Thoughtfully written for preschool and early elementary readers, this book is well suited for family reading, classrooms, school libraries, and young sports fans. It blends early literacy with social-emotional learning in a way that feels natural, gentle, and sincere. In the end, the scoreboard fades. What remains is heart.
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Description


Home Is Where the Heart Is: An ABC Baseball Book is a tender celebration of baseball, family, and the quiet lessons passed from one generation to the next.

At its heart, this story is about how the love of a game becomes the language of a family.

From grandparents who once kept score in worn notebooks, to parents teaching a careful grip on a bat, to children nervously stepping onto the field for the first time, baseball becomes a thread that connects decades of stories, values, and love. It is how many families learn to talk about effort, fairness, disappointment, pride, and hope, without ever needing a lecture.

Through the structure of the alphabet, young readers travel from A to Z through moments both small and meaningful: learning to wait their turn, cheering for a teammate who struck out, shaking hands after a hard loss, listening when a coach explains what could be done better next time, and discovering that being part of a team means showing up even when confidence wobbles.

Each letter introduces a baseball-connected term while gently revealing a deeper truth: that excellence is built through practice and patience, not perfection; that mistakes are not failures but invitations to grow; that collaboration matters more than credit; and that no one succeeds alone.

The story honors the kind of strength that does not shout. The strength that steadies a child's shoulders before a tough game and stays even after the season ends. The strength that teaches, "You are enough - even without the win."

Woven throughout is the feeling of someone loving the game deeply, and loving their family even more.

We acknowledge the presence that lingers in the stands, their advice quietly passed down. Their belief that character matters more than trophies. It is a gentle tribute to the kind of love that continues to guide long after the voice that first taught the lesson has gone quiet.

Written for preschool through early elementary readers, and those well into their later years, this book supports early literacy through its clear alphabet structure while also nurturing social and emotional learning.

It encourages teamwork, empathy, perseverance, and courage, offering children permission to try, to stumble, and to try again. Educators and librarians will find it well-suited for classrooms and story times that explore sportsmanship, cooperation, resilience, and family traditions.

Parents and grandparents will recognize their own memories in its pages: the dusty cleats by the door, the drive home after a tough game, the pride that has nothing to do with the score. Because in the end, the field changes. The players grow. Seasons turn. But love, once taught, keeps playing on. Home is where the heart is.

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About The Author


Kristine Benevento is an inspirational author, blogger, and contributor to multiple Chicken Soup for the Soul collections. She is the author of the children's books, A New Baby at Happy Gates Ranch and Buttercup the Brave. 

Her stories gently explore kindness, courage, and emotional resilience. Her writing centers on love, grief, faith, family, and the quiet strength people discover when life changes without warning.

Whether she is writing for children or adults, Kristine brings honesty, warmth, and a deep respect for the human heart.

Kris lives in Bradenton, Florida, where she writes beside her blue-eyed cat, Moonlight Graham, and believes the most meaningful legacy we leave behind is how well we love others while we are here.

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