The William Hoy Story, how a deaf baseball player changed the game
the
Remarkable
story
From a mom: “I just wanted to share. My son Matthew goes to Kumon for help in reading. This summer one of the excerpts he read was from The William Hoy Story. He loves baseball. This was the one and only time he has asked us to buy the whole book. Fast forward to this fall- his 3rd grade class did a wax museum project. He chose to be William Hoy. Our entire family has enjoyed getting to learn about William Hoy and sharing his story with others.” — Korinne Piccolo
Loved sharing The William Hoy Story as part of the Summer Storytime series at Galleria Dallas July 7!
Thank you, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio for advocating for William Hoy’s induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame! Hoy has a chance to be on the 2024 ballot and then to be considered for induction in 2025. Please send letters of support to the National Baseball Hall of Fame!
Looking forward to reading The William Hoy Story at Galleria Dallas Wednesday July 17 at 10:30 a.m.
Looking forward to signing THE WILLIAM HOY STORY with my friend Steve Sandy at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame April 7, 2024 from noon to 1 pm
Students in Plano West Senior High School’s ASL class presented an adaptation of THE WILLIAM HOY STORY in ASL! Three of the young actors spoke and used ASL; the young woman playing Hoy used ASL only, with one of the other actors speaking what she signed. The show was enjoyed by a Deaf and hearing audience, sitting side by side. Would love to see more ASL classes adapt and present THE WILLIAM HOY STORY!
Talking to Kathleen Marcath on the ASL Picture Books blog. Read the interview here: https://www.aslpicturebooks.com/post/two-worlds-unite-with-picture-book-author-nancy-churnin-deaf-historian-steve-sandy
Thank you to Steve Sandy for providing replicas of the William Hoy baseball card to give out to schools!
I met this sweet young man at the airport with his family when we were both waiting for our flights; he was going home to Japan. I had uncorrected proofs of The William Hoy Story (the book hadn’t come out yet in hardcover) and gave him one along with my card. More than a year later, he emailed me to send me this photo, telling me how happy he was that The William Hoy Story, which he loved, was translated into Japanese.
You’ll find THE WILLIAM HOY STORY and CHARLIE TAKES HIS SHOT on the Picture Book Biographies: Athletes list for New York City School Librarians here.
Loved sharing my William Hoy journey with Kathleen Marcath on #ASLPictureBooks Read it here: https://www.aslpicturebooks.com/post/two-worlds-unite-with-picture-book-author-nancy-churnin-deaf-historian-steve-sandy
A joy to share THE WILLIAM HOY STORY as part of READ ACROSS AMERICA 2022 with three schools through the wonderful Henderson County Library program in Texas. Read all about it in the Athens Daily Review here.
Courtesy of the Athens Daily Review
Available in Spanish starting September 1, 2022
Also available in Japanese and Korean
So happy you love The William Hoy Story, Zach and Matty! Thank you to my dear cousin Sheryl Churnin Galatolie for reading this book to these sweet boys and getting their Mom's permission to share these pictures!
So much fun sharing THE WILLIAM HOY STORY with Kelly Purdy’s learners and teaching them a little sign language!
A People magazine pick! May 27 (William Hoy’s birthday!), 2016
Now in Swedish! Thank you to the Malmo Deaf Association, Viktor Jaderlund and Dovas Dag 2023 for creating the Swedish translation in time for the Sweden Deaf Festival in Fall 2023.
All William Ellsworth Hoy wanted to do was play baseball. After losing out on a spot on the local deaf team, William practiced even harder--eventually earning a position on a professional team. But his struggle was far from over. In addition to the prejudice Hoy faced, he could not hear the umpires' calls. One day he asked the umpire to use hand signals: strike, ball, out. That day he not only got on base but also changed the way the game was played forever. William "Dummy" Hoy became one of the greatest and most beloved players of his time!
The William Hoy Story is on many state reading lists and a part of many school curriculums. The book is available in hardcover and paperback in English, in paperback in Japanese and Korean, as an ebook in Spanish and will be available in Swedish in Fall 2023.
Available in Spanish as an ebook here : La historia de William Hoy: Como un jugador sordo del beisbol cambio el juego
Request the ebook in Spanish at your local library to make it available for the children in your community!
On the 2023 California Reads list from the California Teachers Association for Grades 3-5
Thrilled to see The William Hoy Story on display at St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati, Ohio — William Hoy’s home state and city of his beloved Reds!
La Historia de William Hoy on the SCBWI Recommended REading List 2022 Celebrating Books in Translation
Presenting The William Hoy Story and teaching a little sign language at Bookmarks, a Dallas Public Library branch at NorthParkCenter
The William Hoy Story featured in 24 Baseball Books for Kids That Are Sure To Be A Hit from Teaching Expertise here.
Check out the Nonfiction Minute, Signs of the Times, about how William Hoy popularized signs in baseball, created for educators and librarians as part of Ink Think Tank.
Read about William Hoy on the History Channel here.
Presenting The William Hoy Story at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2016
A joy sharing THE WILLIAM HOY STORY with Christina Johnson's P.S. 287 kids for #DeafHistoryMonth! Honored that the story of this great #DeafHero is part of the HMH Curriculum. I love teaching kids a few words in sign language and showing them video of the real Hoy, courtesy of Cam Miller Films! Thank you to my friend Patricia A Sarles MA for making this possible.
HONORS FOR THE WILLIAM HOY STORY
2023 California Reads, California Teachers Association
2020 Winner-Northern Dawn Lights Award in sports
2017 Winner Storytelling World Resource Award Honor Book
2017 Finalist North Texas Book Festival Best Children's Books
2016 New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
2017 Texas 2x2 Reading List
2017 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List
2017 Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College
2017-2018 Armadillo Readers’ Choice Awards
2017-2018 Kennebec Valley Book Award Books
2018 Illinois Monarch Award Master List
2018 Connecticut's Charter Oak Book Awards
2018-2019 Louisiana Young Readers' Choice awards
Do you want to join the campaign to get William Hoy in the National Baseball Hall of Fame where he would be the first deaf baseball player honored there? Send your letters and drawings to:
Library Director
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
25 Main Street
Cooperstown, NY 13326
Send copies to Nancy on her contact page if you want your letters and drawings posted here, too!
Baseball player Sean Doolittle shares The William Hoy Story with kids.
“Hoy…is badly wanted by nearly every team in the American association.”—The Minneapolis Journal, March 20, 1902
An honor to present and sign The William Hoy Story at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame!
Watch Steve Sandy’s interview about Hoy with Kevin Landers of WBNS Channel 10 in Columbus, Ohio here.
Do you know how many bases Dummy Hoy stole in his major-league career? Over 600! That alone should be enough to put him in the Hall of Fame. We played alongside each other in the outfield with the Cincinnati club in 1902. He had started in the Big Leagues way back in the 1880’s, you know, so he was on his way out then, and I had been up just a few years, but even that late in his career he was a fine outfielder. A great one.
Did you know that he was the one responsible for the umpire giving hand signals for a ball or strike? Raising his right hand for a strike, you know, and stuff like that. He’d be up at bat and he couldn’t hear and he couldn’t talk, so he’d look around at the umpire to see what the pitch was, a ball or a strike. That’s where the hand signs for the umpires calling balls and strikes began. That’s a fact. Very few people know that.
(...) Did you know that he once threw three men out at home plate in one game? From the outfield, I mean. That was in 1889. And still they don’t give him a tumble for the Hall of Fame. It’s not right.
—“Wahoo” Sam Crawford (elected to the Hall of Fame in 1957), in Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times (1984)
One of Jez Tuya’s illustrations from The William Hoy Story on display at Mazza Museum of Children’s Book Illustration at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, where I also presented the book with Steve Sandy. The New York Times featured the same image when they reviewed the book.
The William Hoy Story in People Magazine
HOY FOR THE HALL: Learn how you can help William Hoy get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by writing letters asking for him to be inducted in our Hoy for the Hall project here.
REVIEWS
Tuya’s bright cartoons give a solid sense of the period, as well as Hoy’s pride, satisfaction and some hurtful moments on his way to becoming “king of center field.”
- Publishers Weekly
The book is well told and charmingly illustrated in a semirealistic style that conveys Hoy’s emotions. Those who enjoyed Audrey Vernick’s Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team will want to read this engaging biography.
- School Library Journal
This picture book offers a smoothly written text and simplified digital illustrations. A rewarding read-aloud choice for baseball fans.
- Booklist
Churnin tells Hoy’s story in sprightly, descriptive language that reaches to the heart of his courage and ingenuity. Tuya’s bright, flat, cartoon-simple illustrations complement the text perfectly, deftly capturing the era, Hoy’s emotional ups and downs, and his determination and spirit. A moving tribute to a hero.
- Kirkus Reviews
This feel-good story is simply told, and it will be fairly easy to follow even for youngsters unfamiliar with baseball.
- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
[Churnin] tells William’s story patiently and clearly, with a wonderfully matter-of-fact tone about the ways a deaf person navigates life.
- New York Times Book Review
Sharing The William Hoy Story with librarian Alice Hagemeyer, a visionary advocate for Deaf History Month and books with Deaf heroes at the American Library Association
Excited to have a William “Dummy” Hoy bobblehead from the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum!
Available in Japanese!
Available in Korean!