The Pinky Ball Book

You might have called it a Spaldeen. You might have called it a pinky. Whatever its name, the pink rubber ball with the big bounce meant hours and hours of neighborhood fun. And in the fifth title that celebrates classic American games, the rubber ball is back-and bouncier than ever.

Packaged with its own pinky, which begs to be played with the minute it's out of the box, "The Pinky Ball Book & The Pinky Ball" begins with the story of the little tennis ball that couldn't-pinkies were originally the naked insides of tennis balls considered not up to par and sold to city kids for 15 cents.

It covers the lingo: roofer, chips, chops, Hindu, ham and eggs, skimming, and scroogie.

The techniques: how to throw a fastball, slider, knuckler, and fluke; how to tape a broomstick for a simple bat without splinters; how to hit the ball with your hand, including zappers, slams, and slices. And then the games. Bouncing games: Tennessee, 1,2,3 O'Kerry, A My Name Is Alice, Act It Out.

Catching games: Trigon, Hot Potato, Monkey in the Middle.

Off the Wall games: Mimsy, Russian Seven, Handball, Kings. And the most classic of all, the street games: Stickball, Slapball, Hit the Penny, Spud, Flies Up, and I Declare War.