Who Got Game?: Baseball: Amazing But True Stories
March 17, 2020 by Workman Publishing Company
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Sure, most young readers know about Babe Ruth, Ted Willams (who time travels in an inordinate amount of middle grade books), and Jackie Robinson. But did you know about Mordecai Brown, the who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1900s even though he had severe mobility issues with his hand. I loved that the first chapter on "Pivotal Players" had several stories I didn't know, including stories like Steve Bartman's unfortunate 2003 incident with the Chicago Cubs or Japanese hitter Sadaharu Oh.
The next chapter covers information about the spitball and Jackie Robinson, which have seen coverage in a number of books, as well as Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, but also a discussion of why Honus Wagner's baseball card is so expensive. For those who like statistics, there a chapter that includes information about records, high scoring games, and even salaries. While I don't understand baseball stats, I know this is something that big fans like to memorize. Ending with iconic comebacks is a great way to end the book, and there are some additional resources, a glossary, and a nice wrap up.
While this is a lengthy book, coming in at 172 slightly larger pages, this will not deter readers who are interested in baseball. Instead, it gives plenty of room for the text to be spread out, and for the colorful illustrations.
Readers who like sports often like to read about them, but they would much rather be warming up to pitch than struggling through any books that are dull and printed in tiny font. The Who Got Game series steps up to the plate and hits it out of the park with exciting descriptions, colorful pages, and a comfortable 18 point font. Put this in your line up for fans of David A. Kelly's Ballpark Mysteries, Tavares' Becoming Babe Ruth and Growing Up Pedro, or Sports Illustrated fantastic Baseball: Then to Wow.
Connolly, Sean and Thomas, Chad (illus.)
The Book of Wildly Spectacular Sports Science
November 29, 2016 by Workman Publishing Company
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
The Book of Wildly Spectacular Sports Science
November 29, 2016 by Workman Publishing Company
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Ready to do some experiments? This sports science manual not only has lots of ideas, but starts with a great explanation of how to set up and do the experiments in the book, including great advice about equipment and safety warnings. Some of these are trials that can be done at the kitchen table (observing the path of a marble dropped into a bottle of water), but many require attaching cinder blocks to swings with wire! Depending on your comfort level, there are lots of things to try.
The chapters are divided into different types of sports; ball and bat, goals and field goals, indoor, winter sports, outside, rackets and clubs, and aquatic sports, providing opportunities for all active readers to start with the sport dearest to their heart before branching out. I really did like how each experiment was set up in the same sort of way; this repetition makes it much easier to understand and follow the instructions. There is a fair amount of humor to the writing, which I enjoyed.
The green and gray blue two color illustrations aren't as vibrant as some books, but also don't require the heavy paper and smelly ink that the more saturated hues take. Since this book will get carried around a lot, that seems like a good editorial choice. There are plenty of illustrations to show how to conduct investigations, and some historical photographs as well.
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