Reading about recreational activities (not to be confused with “recreational reading,” though there can be overlap) is no substitute for actually getting outdoors or onto the field or court. However, it can enhance an understanding of, and appreciation for, sports’ and activities’ pleasures, hazards, specialized gear, and physical requirements. Falling well short of serving as practical handbooks but catering to basic assignment use and inspiring readers to explore and experience nature, most of the series present broad overviews of an array of outdoorsy pursuits. All of these titles are capped with leads to further relevant information in print or on the web, and the better ones also glance at conservation issues or otherwise expand the subjects. Covering related but more competitive activities, this year’s crop of surveys of professional sports records and national or international championships gives amateur and armchair athletes alike plenty to pore over.

Preschool-Grade 4

CHANDLER, Matt. Deer Hunting for Kids. maps. ISBN 978-1-4296-8425-5; ISBN 978-1-4296-9267-0. LC 2011051834.
HOWARD, Melanie A. Bowhunting for Kids. ISBN 978-1-4296-8424-8; ISBN 978-1-4296-9265-6. LC 2012006893.
–––– . Camping for Kids. ISBN 978-1-4296-8423-1; ISBN 978-1-4296-9266-3. LC 2012004671.
–––– . Freshwater Fishing for Kids. ISBN 978-1-4296-8422-4; ISBN 978-1-4296-9269-4. LC 2012006922.
OMOTH, Tyler. Duck Hunting for Kids. ISBN 978-1-4296-8616-7; ISBN 978-1-4296-9268-7. LC 2011051837.
–––– . Turkey Hunting for Kids. map. ISBN 978-1-4296-8615-0; ISBN 978-1-4296-9270-0. LC 2011051836.
ea vol: 32p. (Edge Books: Into the Great Outdoors Series). photos. reprods. further reading. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Capstone. 2012. PLB $27.32; pap. $7.95.
Gr 3-5–Despite repeated references to the “thrill of the hunt” in Deer and descriptive opening scenarios in every volume, these introductions for young anglers and hunters (Camping is the odd title out) fail to provoke real enthusiasm or provide sufficiently specific information. Though the color photos do show young people of both sexes in camouflage or blaze orange vests armed with guns, bows, or fishing rods as appropriate, the texts are skimpy. For example, in Deer readers are encouraged to field dress their kills but are not shown how, and in Bowhunting prospective hunters are left to guess what a “string silencer” might be. Coverage is not systematic either: a list of bow-hunted animals includes bears(!) but not fish even though fish are mentioned later, and the techniques in Fishing do not include fly fishing.

FRIESEN, Helen Lepp. Fishing. ISBN 978-1-61913-503-1; ISBN 978-1-61913-507-9. LC 2012005578.
GURTLER, Janet. Small Game. ISBN 978-1-61913-504-8; ISBN 978-1-61913-508-6. LC 2012005576.
MCDOWELL, Pamela. Birds. ISBN 978-1-61913-505-5; ISBN 978-1-61913-509-3. LC 2012005577.
MCNEICE, Connie-Lee. Big Game. ISBN 978-1-61913-502-4; ISBN 978-1-61913-506-2. LC 2012005575.
ea vol: 24p. (Outdoor Hunting Guide Series). photos. reprods. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Weigl. 2012. PLB $27.13; pap. $12.95.

Gr 2-4– “Hunting is pursuing animals in nature. People hunt animals for food or sport.” Like templates for Common Core instruction, these volumes survey their subjects with glances at history, techniques, and gear of their respective activities, along with profiles of the most common types of animals hunted and their habitats. They back up the informational content with color photos, discussions of responsible hunting or fishing, research suggestions for crafting a written report, brief mentions of relevant careers, and even generic but challenging recipes for turning game into roasts or other dishes. Supplementary audio, video, and other materials for each title are available on a dedicated website. The level of specific detail is thin, but the great diversity of the approaches used in this set certainly enhances its pedagogical potential.

HARASYMIW, Raymond. Kayaking and Rafting. ISBN 978-1-4339-7103-7; ISBN 978-1-4339-7106-8. LC 2011051419.
SHEA, Robert Kennedy. Hunting. ISBN 978-1-4339-7099-3; ISBN 978-1-4339-7102-0. LC 2011051099.
SISK, Maeve. Caving. ISBN 978-1-4339-7091-7; ISBN 978-1-4339-7094-8. LC 2011046302.
SNYDER, Adeline. Camping. ISBN 978-1-4339-7087-0; ISBN 978-1-4339-7090-0. LC 2011045635.
WEINGARTEN, A. J. Rock Climbing. ISBN 978-1-4339-7107-5; ISBN 978-1-4339-7110-5. LC 2011052947.
WEINGARTEN, E. T. Fishing. ISBN 978-1-4339-7095-5; ISBN 978-1-4339-7098-6. LC 2011047930.
ea vol: 24p. (The Great Outdoors Series). photos. further reading. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Gareth Stevens. 2012. PLB $22.60; ebook $22.60.
Gr 2-4–Though simply written, these guides offer cogent information and instructions about outdoor activities. Kayaking, for example, contains instructions (best learned before being needed) for rolling a capsized boat back over. Camping includes not only systematic advice about planning a trip and gathering supplies, but also mentions entertaining things to do, such as cooking and taking hikes, then ends with safety admonitions and a basic checklist. All volumes are illustrated with captioned color photos and most have value-adding features, such as a detailed account of how caves form in Caving and a page on overfishing issues in Fishing. No children are featured in the photos in Hunting except on the cover.

Grades 5 & Up

BRAR, Aneel. Super Bowl. ISBN 978-1-61913-061-6; ISBN 978-1-61913-623-6. LC 2012021769.
CHO, Alan. World Series. ISBN 978-1-61913-063-0; ISBN 978-1-61913-625-0. LC 2012021993.
DE MEDEIROS, Michael. NBA. ISBN 978-1-61913-060-9; ISBN 978-1-61913-622-9. LC 2012021768.
HOWSE, Jennifer. NASCAR Sprint Cup. ISBN 978-1-61913-616-8; ISBN 978-1-61913-618-2. LC 2012021767.
WEBSTER, Christine. The Masters. ISBN 978-1-61913-617-5; ISBN 978-1-61913-619-9. LC 2012021991.
WHITFIELD, David. World Cup. ISBN 978-1-61913-062-3; ISBN 978-1-61913-624-3. LC 2012021992.
ea vol: 32p. (Pro Sports Championships Series). charts. diags. map. photos. chron. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Weigl. 2012. PLB $28.55; pap. $13.95.
Gr 4-6–Constructed on such a rigid framework that all volumes have entries on women in their respective sports, even though all but the NASCAR races are men-only, these portraits of championship competitions and games offer fans and non-fans alike generous quantities of background information. This includes not only historical developments and highlights, but also labeled views of playing fields and competition sites, discussions of basic rules of play, official equipment descriptions, sections on “Famous Firsts,” galleries of legendary stars, maps, quizzes, and even, on a dedicated website, multimedia material. A mix of labeled images and action photos provides information and visual energy.

CARPENTER, Tom. Big Game Hunting: Bear, Deer, Elk, Sheep, and More. diag. reprods. ISBN 978-1-4677-0222-5; ISBN 978-1-4677-0225-6. LC 2012004461.
–––– . Freshwater Fishing: Bass, Trout, Walleye, Catfish, and More. diags. ISBN 978-1-4677-0219-5; ISBN 978-1-4677-0226-3. LC 2011050535.
–––– . Saltwater Fishing: Snapper, Mackerel, Bluefish, Tuna, and More. diags. reprods. ISBN 978-1-4677-0220-1; ISBN 978-1-4677-0227-0. LC 2012007053.
–––– . Small Game Hunting: Rabbit, Raccoon, Squirrel, Opossum, and More. diags. reprods. ISBN 978-1-4677-0224-9; ISBN 978-1-4677-0228-7. LC 2012002264.
–––– . Upland Bird Hunting: Wild Turkey, Pheasant, Grouse, Quail, and More. diags. reprods. ISBN 978-1-4677-0223-2; ISBN 978-1-4677-0229-4. LC 2012012214.
–––– . Waterfowl Hunting: Duck, Goose, and More. diags. reprods. ISBN 978-1-4677-0221-8; ISBN 978-1-4677-0230-0. LC 2012002263.
ea vol: 32p. (Great Outdoors Sports Zone Series). photos. further reading. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Lerner. Nov. 2012. PLB $26.60; ebook $19.95.
Gr 4-7–Regardless of a certain amount of boilerplate, such as safe gun practices and a general focus on northern climes that excludes such prey as alligators and wild pigs, these profiles of North American game hunting and fishing are valuable for their breadth of coverage. Along with providing general pictures of recommended gear and garb, Carpenter devotes spreads to each type of activity’s historical techniques and importance, ethical attitudes and practices, and even (with adult help required) how to dress and cook various kills. Color photos feature both hunters (adults more often than children) and animals in the wild, and each volume closes with both multimedia resources and a link to downloadable material from the publisher’s site.

CHAMPION, Neil. Wild Biking: Off-Road Mountain Biking. map. ISBN 978-1-59920-811-4. LC 2012004781.
–––– . Wild Rock: Climbing and Mountaineering. ISBN 978-1-59920-807-7. LC 2011047432.
–––– . Wild Snow: Skiing and Snowboarding. ISBN 978-1-59920-808-4. LC 2011051487.
–––– . Wild Trail: Hiking and Camping. map. ISBN 978-1-59920-809-1. LC 2011048316.
–––– . Wild Underground: Caves and Caving. map. ISBN 978-1-59920-810-7. LC 2012002526.
–––– . Wild Water: Canoeing and Kayaking. map. ISBN 978-1-59920-812-1. LC 2011047436.
ea vol: 32p. (Adventure Outdoors Series). diags. photos. further reading. glossary. index. websites. CIP. Smart Apple Media. 2012. PLB $28.50.
Gr 4-6–Despite some instructional information, such as how to tie useful knots in Rock and Underground and how to repair a flat in Biking,these introductions to adventuresome activities are designed more to pique early interest in readers than to serve as handbooks. Along with photos of unexceptional quality depicting mostly teenagers and adults modeling the requisite gear in outdoor settings and schematic views of important required equipment, the short blocks of expository text are accompanied by text boxes of “True Survivors” anecdotes and relevant “Amazing Facts.” A warning in Biking aside (“You should expect to take some falls–they’re all part of the fun.”), safety measures are fairly prominent. Each volume closes with a multiple choice quiz.

FREDERICK, Shane. The Ultimate Collection of Pro Football Records. ISBN 978-1-4296-8578-8; ISBN 978-1-4296-9432-2. LC 2012006162.
–––– . The Ultimate Collection of Pro Hockey Records. ISBN 978-1-4296-8579-5; ISBN 978-1-4296-9434-6. LC 2012006163.
OMOTH, Tyler. The Ultimate Collection of Pro Basketball Records. ISBN 978-1-4296-8653-2; ISBN 978-1-4296-9430-8. LC 2012009310.
WACHOLTZ, Anthony. The Ultimate Collection of Pro Baseball Records. ISBN 978-1-4296-8714-0; ISBN 978-1-4296-9428-5. LC 2012016718.
ea vol: 64p. (Sports Illustrated Kids: For the Record Series). charts. photos. further reading. index. websites. CIP. Capstone. 2012. PLB $33.99; pap. $8.95.
Gr 4-9-Consisting largely of top-ten lists with brief anecdotal accounts of particular highlights and small color action photos, these browsing items will rivet confirmed fans. Each book is organized into gatherings of individual, team, and postseason records (Basketball includes a separate chapter for the WNBA) and closes with an index of names and leads to relevant print and Web resources. Though most of the cited feats are positive ones, some (such as most “Penalty Minutes” in Hockey and “Personal Fouls” in Basketball) track less laudable behavior. Quick nearby descriptions give non-fans clues about what specialized stats (“3-Pointers,” “Hat Trick”) mean, and with rare exceptions, such as a table of “Coldest Games” in Football, the chosen data is significant. The fly in the ointment, of course, is that though the statistics include the 2011 seasons, much of the information will be out of date by the time these volumes arrive on shelves.

In sum, the two pro sports series are likely to be popular with browsers, though Capstone’s “Sports Illustrated Kids: For the Record” will start showing its age almost instantly. Gareth Stevens’s “The Great Outdoors” and Lerner’s “Great Outdoors Sports Zone” are both well designed for classroom use, but will also give prospective young vacationers and hunters informative onceovers. Even at an elementary level of discourse, Capstone’s “Edge Books: Into the Great Outdoors” leaves out too much and is too skimpy with specifics. The other series offer quick but at least systematic surveys of their topics along with generous quantities of supplementary material, making them acceptable additions where interest or local culture warrant.

WHEELER, Lisa. Dino-Football. illus. by Barry Gott. Carolrhoda. 2012. ISBN 978076136394. JLG Level: SE: Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6)

For a fun look at sports for the younger set, try Dino-Football. This rhyming tale of the plant-eating Greenblade Snackers (appropriately dressed in green and gold) versus the carnivorous Redscales pulls readers straight onto the field of action. Full of sports terms and nail-biting plays, one can only guess the outcome of the big game. Pair this with this team’s Dino-Soccer (Carolrhoda, 2009) for a solid double header.

BOELTS, Maribeth. Happy Like Soccer. illus. by Lauren Castillo. Candlewick. 2012. ISBN 9780763646165. JLG Level: SE: Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6)

“Nothing makes me happy like soccer- picked for this new team, with these shiny girls…But nothing makes me sad like soccer, too, because the restaurant where my auntie works is busy on Saturdays and she can’t take time off for something like a soccer game.” Sierra never complains that she is the only girl who has no one watching her play. Though she usually keeps her sadness to herself, a postponed game causes Sierra to speak up with a solution. Her courage will remind even adults to think outside the box- even when they feel “low around the edges.” A must-read.

Readers may also enjoy Madlenka Soccer Star by Peter Sis.

HOLM, Jennifer L. & Matthew Holm. Squish: Captain Disaster. Random. Sept. 2012. ISBN 9780375937866. SE: Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6)

The team that brought us “Babymouse” (Random) is back with the fourth book in the “Squish” graphic novel series. Squish is the new captain of the soccer team. While playing soccer is supposed to be fun, losing is not. When Squish finds the key to winning, he forgets that it’s supposed to be fun. Fans of graphic novels and sports fans alike will be satisfied with the amoeba’s latest adventures.

Kids may also like Soccer Sabotage: A Graphic Guide Adventure by Liam O’Donnell or Goal!: The Fire and Fury of Soccer’s Greatest Moment by Mark Stewart.

SANDLER, Michael. Eli Manning and the New York Giants: Super Bowl XLVI. Bearport. 2012. ISBN 9781617725784. JLG Level: SE: Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6)

For your nonfiction sports fans, Bearport releases a new biography in their “Super Bowl Superstars” series. Down two points with less than four minutes in the game, Manning needs to lead his team down the field to score a win. Knowing the outcome takes away some of the suspense, but readers will enjoy the large photographs sprinkled with informative caption boxes. Additional chapters give the Manning family’s background history and illuminate Eli’s path to professional football.

Fans may want to also pick up Goal Line by Tiki Barber or Able to Play. (Good Sports Series) by Glenn Stout.

STOUT, Glenn. Against All Odds. (Good Sports Series). Houghton Harcourt/Sandpiper. 2012. ISBN 9780544051201. JLG Level: E: Sports Elementary (Grades 2-6)

Stout tells the story of five comeback events from 1929 to 2011. These sports heroes were on the brink of defeat, but didn’t give up and led their teams to victory. Illustrated with black and white photographs, these short stories will be just the ticket for your sports readers. Interestingly enough, Glenn Stout is the author of 39 sports biographies- under the name of Matt Christopher.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»»

Storytellers venturing into the mines of Metaphor frequently fill their literary hoppers with Sports to enhance the thematic underpinnings of their tales. There is probably no richer ore. Not even Heroic Fantasy—though generally played for higher stakes and offering a comparably glittering variety of challenges, situations, and opportunities—can match it for direct, everyday parallels with the actual lives and experiences of readers. After all, who hasn’t (for better or worse), at least tried out some athletic activity at one age or another? Better writers exploit these parallels, and, rather than just shoehorning occasional references to some organized sport into tales that actually have an entirely different focus, deliver cogent insights into how the game (and, by extension, life) is, has been, or should be played. Here are some of this past year’s more memorable high scorers in the genre.

Though neither invented in this country nor, by many measures, our most popular sport (anymore), baseball occupies uniquely important niches in our nation’s history and psyche. Matt Tavares’s picture-book biography There Goes Ted Williams, the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived (Candlewick, 2012; Gr 1-4) profiles a complex American hero whose ego and ability to hold a grudge were matched only by seemingly superhuman talent and an indomitable will to excel both on the field and in wartime military service. Readers who don’t understand how high racial and religious barriers to many chosen careers used to be will be both educated and inspired by Chris Crowe’s Just As Good: How Larry Doby Changed America’s Game, illustrated by Mike Benny (Candlewick, 2012; Gr 1-3). The book makes a case for regarding the second African American to play in the modern Major Leagues as much a hero and a groundbreaking star as Jackie Robinson was, as well as Shelley Sommer’s Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer (Calkins Creek, 2011; Gr 4-6), about one of the greatest sluggers of all time and our country’s first Jewish sports superstar.

Students of baseball history will be enlightened by John Thorn’s account of the sport’s earliest days in First Pitch: How Baseball Began (Beach Ball Books, 2011; Gr 5-9), and entertained by Audrey Vernick’s Brothers at Bat, illustrated by Steven Salerno (Clarion Books, 2012; Gr 1-3), the true story of an all-sibling semiprofessional team. Students of the game itself will be delighted by the droll verse and art in Douglas Florian’s Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings (Houghton Harcourt, 2012; Gr 1-3), and the decidedly peculiar experiences of young Alex, who finds himself playing on the Oz Cyclones against other teams of literary characters in Alan Gratz’s Fantasy Baseball (Dial, 2011; Gr 4-7). Young gamers will identify with a Little Leaguer’s fear of standing at the plate after he’s beaned by a pitch in Michael Northrop’s Plunked (Scholastic, 2012; Gr 4-6) and the struggles of a teenage slugger to adapt to his team’s change from metal to wooden bats in M.G. Higgins’s all-baseball-all-the-time Power Hitter (Lerner, 2012; Gr 4-8, with hi/lo appeal)…not to mention the efforts of a very talented cow to make her dreams come true in Robert Kinerk’s Clorinda Plays Baseball!, illustrated by Steven Kellogg (S & S, 2012; PreS-Gr 2).

Football, the other contender for the title of America’s Game, anchors a lighthearted account of the renowned blooper commemorated in Dan Gutman’s The Day Roy Riegels Ran the Wrong Way, illustrated by Kerry Talbott (Bloomsbury, 2011; Gr 1-3), and pro defensive end turned novelist Tim Green’s Deep Zone (HarperCollins, 2011; Gr 4-7), in which gifted young players from the author’s previous tales go head-to-head in a suspenseful gridiron contest before a national audience.

Suggesting that football isn’t just a game for guys, sports journalist Mike Lupica chronicles the struggles of a team with a female kicker to stay together in a rapidly shrinking Pennsylvania small town in The Underdogs (Philomel, 2011; Gr 4-7), and in Miranda Kenneally’s Catching Jordan (Sourcebooks Fire, 2011; Gr 8 Up) a star quarterback on a team contending for a Tennessee state title battles distractions—such as conflicting feelings about her (yes, her) hunky new teammate’s ball skills.

The other “football,” also known (in English-speaking countries at least) as soccer, takes Center Circle on the pitch in Carol Nevius’s rhymed Soccer Hour (Marshall Cavendish, 2011; Gr K-2), illustrated with photorealistic acrylic and color pencil scenes of children practicing and playing by Bill Thomson, and in Sarah Aronson’s Beyond Lucky (Dial, 2011; Gr 4-8), in which a young goalie is rewarded for spectacular play but forced to make some tough choices when his best friend is implicated in the disappearance of his lucky playing card.

On a different scale of tough, 14-year-old Deo’s love of soccer leads to hard-fought contests and first steps to emotional recovery after a massacre drives him from his home village in Zimbabwe to a refugee camp in South Africa in Michael Williams’s Now is the Time for Running (Little Brown, 2011; Gr 7 Up). Trevor Kew’s Breakaway (Lorimer, 2012; Gr 5-7) features both soccer and hockey action, as Adam’s delight in excelling at the latter sport begins to fade as his interest in the former rises despite his father’s displeasure, and other obstacles.

And speaking of ball skills, younger fans will whoop at the hoops prowess on display when herbivores square off against carnivores in Lisa Wheeler’s Dino-Basketball, illustrated by Barry Gott (Carolrhoda, 2011; PreS-Gr 2), while in Greg R. Fishbone’s hilarious Galaxy Games: The Challengers (Lee & Low, 2011; Gr 5-7) the place of all humanity in interstellar society comes down to a game of 21 between 11-year-old Tyler Sato and a massive but talented alien made of stone.

Older readers will be drawn into the powerful—sometimes agonizing—personal and moral issues driving the experiences of a high school point guard in Matthew Quick’s Boy 21 (Little Brown, 2012, Gr 10-12) when both a more talented rival and violence to a loved one come crashing into his life. Equal parts character study and fast-break b-ball action, Paul Volponi’s The Final Four (Viking, 2012; Gr 7 Up) frames explorations of the distinctive characters, backgrounds, and expectations of two pairs of players on opposing squads within an unforgettably tense and exciting NCAA play-off contest.

The skills and challenges at the heart of fighting sports make up central elements in Ying Chang Compestine’s Crouching Tiger, illustrated by Yan Nascimbene (Candlewick, 2011; Gr K-2), a tale of a frustrated child who finds the martial arts’ true foundation in the discipline and slow movements of his grandfather’s tai chi, and also John “Red” Shea & Michael Harmon’s gritty, semi-autobiographical A Kid from Southie (WestSide, 2011; Gr 8 Up), about an amateur boxer with anger issues who becomes a mob “enforcer.”

Though other themes and issues are folded in, it’s the riveting details of fencing technique and strategy that turn Joseph Lunievicz’s Open Wounds (WestSide, 2011; Gr 6-10) into an unusually compelling read. Colorful, sometimes tongue-in-cheek views of the not-always-as-violent-as-it-seems sport of professional wrestling animate 11-year-old Max’s close-up encounter with his Lucha Libre idol in Xavier Garza’s bilingual Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel (Cinco Puntos Press, 2011; Gr 6-9), and Ray Villareal’s Body Slammed! (Piñata Books, 2012; Gr 5-7), in which young Jesse finds himself pulled in different directions by his hard working celebrity father, who plays the masked “Angel of Death,” and an up-and-coming wrestler with a taste for fast living.

Track and field triumphs climax Jane Barclay’s tale of a small boy with outsized dreams, Jojo the Giant (Tundra Books, 2012, Gr 1-2), illustrated by Esperança Melo, and Relay Race Breakdown (Stone Arch Books, 2012, Gr 2-3), by Thomas Kingsley Troupe (as “Jake Maddox,” a collective pseudonym) and illustrated by Eduardo Garcia—the story of a reluctant member of a relay team who ends up a winner even though he doesn’t cross the finish line first in the big race. Older readers will be drawn into James Riordan’s Blood Runner (Frances Lincoln, 2012; Gr 6-8), a harrowing, but ultimately uplifting story, about a boy orphaned in a South African massacre who grows up to be an Olympic marathoner.

Interest in the Olympics never really disappears, but the upcoming Summer Games in London will certainly spark a fresh wave. John Feinstein’s Rush for the Gold (Knopf, May 2012; Gr 5-8) artfully catches that wave with a suspenseful tale featuring a young reporter, his best friend—a World Champion swimmer competing on Team U.S.A.—and high-level chicanery that takes place, in part, at those future Games. Olympic dreams drive four focused young women in the new “Go-For-Gold Gymnasts” series, written by gold medalist Dominique Moceanu and Alicia Thompson. The first episode, Winning the Team (Hyperion/Disney, 2012; Gr 5-7), features Brittany, a talented but sharp-tongued newcomer to the group whose narrative offers a blend of personal issues (from making and alienating friends to an eating disorder) with technical talk about gymnastics practice and techniques.

For children too young to remember what all the hoopla is about, Brad Herzog’s alphabetic survey of past Olympic events and high spots, G is for Gold Medal (Sleeping Bear, 2011; Gr 2-4), illustrated by Doug Bowles will fill in some of the historical background, and both Deloris Jordan’s Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold (S & S, 2012; Gr 1-3), illustrated by Barry Root and Ann Malaspina’s Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper (Albert Whitman, 2011; Gr 1-3), illustrated by Eric Velasquez, provide inspirational profiles of athletes who made significant marks at the Games.

The modern Olympics’ organizer, Pierre de Coubertin, established “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (“Faster, Higher, Stronger”) as an official motto for the Games but the sentiment has wider applicability because the words in Latin are not adjectives, but adverbs—promoting and valuing not competition but effort, not beating others but playing (working, living) to the best of one’s ability. Fictional or otherwise, most of the athletes in these stories learn that lesson, and perhaps readers will, too.

Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»»

For an in-depth look at nine sports titles, and information on the standards addressed, extension activities, and related websites, read Sharon Grover and Lizette Hannegan’s “Score!: Lessons On and Off the Playing Field.”

This article originally appeared in School Library Journal’s enewsletter Curriculum Connections. Subscribe here.