(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kim Smith. In a bouncy rhyming text, a new youth soccer team bombards their patient coach with questions and concerns, "Who's in? What now? Which side? / We chase the ball. We all... / collide." Digitally created cartoon illustrations display the season's satisfying progression, from bumbling little kids running the wrong way with bonked noses and loose shorts to a team of passing, kicking, scoring soccer players.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Making the Play series. Linking science to sports, each volume makes physics concepts accessible to elementary-age readers. Eye-catching visuals and simple texts explain how concepts such as force, mass, and inertia affect performance in these sports. Each book includes a final hands-on activity (not sports-related) to test the concepts (e.g., in Football, using a garden hose to test projectile motion). Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Making the Play titles: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 A bow-tie-sporting boy sits for lunch at a fancy restaurant and encounters endless surprises in his soup. Each time the frazzled, snooty waiter tries to correct the gaffe, he returns with a bowl brimming with another silly zoo-animal guest. The humor is one-note, but the illustrations successfully take advantage of white space and proportion in depicting the menagerie of boisterous beasts.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 Fizzopolis series. Illustrated by Brian Sheesley. In this series-starter, ten-year-old Harold Fuzzwonker is as effervescent as Fuzzwonker Fizz, the soda (created by his scientist dad) known for its drinkers' record-breaking burps. When Harold meets the "Fizzies," his father's accidental living creations, he brings one to school; the ensuing trouble threatens to expose the family secret. Energetic spot illustrations and fast-paced silliness will hook young readers.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 Fizzopolis series. Illustrated by Brian Sheesley. In book one, Harold discovered the "Fizzies," his father Dr. Fuzzwonker's accidental living creations. Here, a glob of Snood's Flooze ("the yuckiest candy in the world") gets shoved into the Fizzomatic, and gloopy Floozombies take shape--and take over. Harold, Sammy, and Fizzy Floyd work together to squelch the Floozombie invasion. Goofy-gross spot illustrations complement the frenetic hijinks.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 Edge Books: The Science of the Summer Olympics series. Including physics, nutrition, and psychology, the science behind Olympic events is examined. The series organization feels unfocused: Popular skims through dissimilar sports (basketball to badminton to cycling), while gymnastics gets its own volume. Still, the sound science will intrigue kids who enjoyed the recent Games. Color photos (some oddly cropped) and diagrams aid in instruction. Reading list. Glos, ind. Review covers these Edge Books: Science of the Summer Olympics titles: The Science Behind Gymnastics and The Science Behind Soccer, Volleyball, Cycling, and Other Popular Sports.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Wacky Sports Trivia series. This series discusses quirky details of popular sports, incorporating athlete superstitions (NBA player Caron Butler chewed on a dozen drinking straws during each game), unusual pregame rituals (a Spanish soccer team sprinkles garlic cloves around the pitch), team trivia, and fanatic fan behavior. Even knowledgeable sports fans will learn something new in these interesting books. Color photographs illustrate the pages. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Wacky Sports Trivia titles: Wacky Basketball Trivia and Wacky Soccer Trivia.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Polona Lovšin. This tribute in verse extols the virtues of loving (dog) fathers. "Daddies are playful. / They swing you around. / You ride on their shoulders / or hang upside down." The illustrations swing between sweet and goofy in their depictions of the various dogs partaking in father/child activities. The large font; repetitive structure; inviting use of white space; and happy, warm-eyed pooches combine for an accessible celebration of fatherhood.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Noah Murphy is determined to help his family financially and further his soccer dream by playing in the Schools' World Cup. Falsely accused of fighting and banned from his school team, Noah, with help from his friends, hatches a plan to enter the tournament with a new team. Set in Ireland, the story hooks readers through its humor, sports action, and cast of well-developed characters.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 Pebble Plus: Women in Sports series. These books offer brief introductions to female leaders in professional basketball (Parker), golf (Wie), and soccer (Wambach). A timeline footer carries readers through the pages as large color photographs illustrate the athletes in action. While the brief, large-font texts are designed with early readers in mind, fans will find them skimpy in content. Common Core critical thinking questions appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Pebble Plus: Women in Sports titles: Candace Parker, Michelle Wie, and Abby Wambach.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 Pebble Plus: Women in Sports series. These books offer brief introductions to female leaders in professional basketball (Parker), golf (Wie), and soccer (Wambach). A timeline footer carries readers through the pages as large color photographs illustrate the athletes in action. While the brief, large-font texts are designed with early readers in mind, fans will find them skimpy in content. Common Core critical thinking questions appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Pebble Plus: Women in Sports titles: Candace Parker, Michelle Wie, and Abby Wambach.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 Sports Trivia series. Trivia questions, divided into four chapters by difficulty, appear directly above answers. The format makes "cheating" hard to avoid: "In which sport did Lindsey Vonn win a gold medal in 2010?" is asked on the facing page to Vonn's downhill skiing picture. Sports fans are better off quizzing one another. A final quiz is provided. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following SportsZone: Sports Trivia titles: Basketball Trivia, Olympic Trivia, Baseball Trivia, Soccer Trivia, Football Trivia, and Hockey Trivia.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 Triple Threat series. Alex's baseball season begins with a surprise: his friend Matt wins the appeal of his PED suspension in football (The Walk On). However, Matt's baseball prowess and desire to prove himself challenge their friendship. Series fans will engage with these returning characters as they maneuver jealousy and loyalty within their team, families, and friendships. Dramatized sports action scenes reward baseball fans.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 Bumba Books: Sports Time series. Each volume's straightforward text boils the sport down to the most basic (and dull) terms (Basketball: "You need a ball. You need a hoop... Players bounce the ball. This is called dribbling"). Clean, brightly colored pages feature crisp photographs of diverse boy and girl athletes plus occasional questions to encourage further thinking. A diagram of the sport's field/court/etc. is appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Bumba Books: Sports Time titles: Baseball Time!, Basketball Time!, Football Time!, Gymnastics Time!, Soccer Time!, and Swimming Time!.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 Bumba Books: Sports Time series. Each volume's straightforward text boils the sport down to the most basic (and dull) terms (Basketball: "You need a ball. You need a hoop... Players bounce the ball. This is called dribbling"). Clean, brightly colored pages feature crisp photographs of diverse boy and girl athletes plus occasional questions to encourage further thinking. A diagram of the sport's field/court/etc. is appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Bumba Books: Sports Time titles: Baseball Time!, Basketball Time!, Football Time!, Gymnastics Time!, Soccer Time!, and Swimming Time!.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan