KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grand slam! Baseball’s back, and for many young children, their first experience with baseball this year will be watching the game from home. To help these future fans learn the ins and outs of America’s favorite pastime, Stephanie Montgomery, author, TV personality, MLB wife and mom, released a children’s picture book that provides an engaging and easy to understand introduction to the game through fun illustrations and rhymes.
Titled Max and Ollie’s Guide to Baseball, Stephanie’s foray into the children’s book world was inspired by her husband Mike Montgomery (currently with the Kansas City Royals), their son, Max, and their faithful pup Ollie. The story follows Max as he brings his best friend, Ollie the Aussie, to the ballpark for a day of fun. Together, they learn the basic rules of the game, and why baseball is the best game of all.
“I grew up with baseball. It was always on when I was growing up, and I spent my childhood going to Mariners games in the Kingdome and feeling like I was part of the game,” said Stephanie. “Now being married to Mike, baseball has become my life. But with him constantly on the road, I knew I was going to be the one to teach Max about baseball at a young age. When I was looking for things to help incorporate baseball into Max's life, I didn't find much besides a few A-B-C books, so I decided I wanted to create something that would get kids excited about baseball and bring them the joy I felt while watching and attending games when I was younger.”
Stephanie wrote this book with two goals in mind: to help get children excited about the game of baseball, and to further support charitable organizations. After becoming parents, Stephanie and Mike wanted to increase their charitable contributions to organizations supporting local families. A portion of the proceeds from each book sold will be given to charities supporting women and children through their family foundation, Monty’s Marvels. During the 2020 baseball season, these donations will benefit local Kansas City organizations as part of a partnership with Royals Charities.
“Another big motivator for writing this book was to bring back the feeling that baseball is for everyone,” said Stephanie. “When I was younger, attending baseball games was a family affair and one of our favorite summer pastimes. The players and game day activities are less accessible now, especially with the pandemic, and young kids have less opportunity to fully experience the greatness of baseball. My hope is to change that with this book, and eventually evolve this idea into a bigger campaign to make baseball more inclusive.”
To learn more about and purchase a copy of Max and Ollie’s Guide to Baseball please visit maxandollie.com.
About Stephanie Montgomery
Stephanie Montgomery is a Google alum, technology and TV correspondent, author, wife and mom. Stephanie began her professional on-camera career by acting as the face & voice of LG Mobile phone and has hosted shows and videos for the Home Shopping Network, People Magazine, Amazon, Traveler’s Insurance and more. Her first book, Life Plan? Trash Can: How I Learned to Embrace the Unpredictable (and how you can, too!), was published in 2018. When she’s not hosting, chasing a toddler around or watching baseball, she loves to stay active, encourage people to learn about technology and technological security, and manage her family’s charitable outreach via their family foundation, Monty’s Marvels, with a focus on organizations supporting women and children.
Media Contact:
Samantha Breccia
FischTank PR
samantha@fischtankpr.com