(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats series. These slim volumes demonstrate how statistics drive decision-making for professional basketball and football teams, aiding players, coaches, and fans to better understand wins and losses. References to specific athletes and their performances abound. The book design is uninteresting, but color photographs, tables, and graphs appear throughout, helping to clarify the information. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats titles: Basketball Is a Numbers Game and Football Is a Numbers Game.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats series. These slim volumes demonstrate how statistics drive decision-making for professional basketball and football teams, aiding players, coaches, and fans to better understand wins and losses. References to specific athletes and their performances abound. The book design is uninteresting, but color photographs, tables, and graphs appear throughout, helping to clarify the information. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats titles: Basketball Is a Numbers Game and Football Is a Numbers Game.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Shockers! series. Fourteen brief chapters discuss a variety of players and teams who have come from behind or otherwise defied expectations to succeed in their sport ("Fleury was one of the smallest players in the NHL"; "Few people thought New York could defeat the New England Patriots"). The pages are crowded with main texts, sidebars, photographs, captions, etc., but fans should enjoy the highlights. Reading list. Ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Shockers! titles: Pro Football's Underdogs and Pro Hockey's Underdogs.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Shockers! series. Fourteen brief chapters discuss a variety of players and teams who have come from behind or otherwise defied expectations to succeed in their sport ("Fleury was one of the smallest players in the NHL"; "Few people thought New York could defeat the New England Patriots"). The pages are crowded with main texts, sidebars, photographs, captions, etc., but fans should enjoy the highlights. Reading list. Ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Shockers! titles: Pro Football's Underdogs and Pro Hockey's Underdogs.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Record Breakers series. Each book features thirteen two-page chapters that highlight remarkable achievements by athletes in the title sport. Aimed at young middle-grade sports enthusiasts, the volumes are best used for browsing; there's no particular organization to the material, but the combination of main texts, informative sidebars, and action photos produces a decent amount of engaging sports facts. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Record Breakers titles: Basketball's Record Breakers and Baseball's Record Breakers.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Real Heroes of Sports series. Barriers highlights ten individuals or teams who have "pushed the limits of their sport into new territory," from Roberto Clemente to the all-women's Toledo Troopers football team. Comebacks's ten chapters focus on "athletes who don't listen to those who doubt." The informative but adulatory texts stick to a rah-rah inspirational tone. Well-placed sidebars and photos appear throughout. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Real Heroes of Sports titles: Breaking Barriers and Heroic Comebacks.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Record Breakers series. Each book features thirteen two-page chapters that highlight remarkable achievements by athletes in the title sport. Aimed at young middle-grade sports enthusiasts, the volumes are best used for browsing; there's no particular organization to the material, but the combination of main texts, informative sidebars, and action photos produces a decent amount of engaging sports facts. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Record Breakers titles: Basketball's Record Breakers and Baseball's Record Breakers.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Sports Illustrated Kids: Starting Line Readers series. Illustrated by Ed Shems. These cheery sports-themed easy readers star girl soccer player Mia and boy baseball player Jackson, two smiley kids on not-very-competitive sports teams. Cartoony illustrations and bland story lines may not stand up to repeat readings, but the volumes' few words (eighty-one in Score, eighty-three in Buzz) and simple vocabulary encourage success. Glos. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Starting Line Readers titles: Baseball Buzz and Soccer Score.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Sports Illustrated Kids: Starting Line Readers series. Illustrated by Àlex López. These cheery sports-themed easy readers star girl soccer player Mia and boy baseball player Jackson, two smiley kids on not-very-competitive sports teams. Cartoony illustrations and bland story lines may not stand up to repeat readings, but the volumes' few words (eighty-one in Score, eighty-three in Buzz) and simple vocabulary encourage success. Glos. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Starting Line Readers titles: Baseball Buzz and Soccer Score.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Pro Sports Team Guides series. Superfans pride themselves on their deep knowledge of their favorite sports teams, but these slim titles provide only a smattering of facts about each of the thirty pro baseball and basketball teams. Each team gets a dedicated double-page spread with a "Trophy Case" sidebar highlighting the number of home runs, rebounds, etc., posted by individual players. Photos appear profusely throughout. Reading list. Ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Pro Sports Team Guides titles: A Superfan's Guide to Pro Baseball Teams and A Superfan's Guide to Pro Basketball Teams.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Pro Sports Team Guides series. Superfans pride themselves on their deep knowledge of their favorite sports teams, but these slim titles provide only a smattering of facts about each of the thirty pro baseball and basketball teams. Each team gets a dedicated double-page spread with a "Trophy Case" sidebar highlighting the number of home runs, rebounds, etc., posted by individual players. Photos appear profusely throughout. Reading list. Ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Pro Sports Team Guides titles: A Superfan's Guide to Pro Baseball Teams and A Superfan's Guide to Pro Basketball Teams.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Real Heroes of Sports series. Barriers highlights ten individuals or teams who have "pushed the limits of their sport into new territory," from Roberto Clemente to the all-women's Toledo Troopers football team. Comebacks's ten chapters focus on "athletes who don't listen to those who doubt." The informative but adulatory texts stick to a rah-rah inspirational tone. Well-placed sidebars and photos appear throughout. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Real Heroes of Sports titles: Breaking Barriers and Heroic Comebacks.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories series. For young sports enthusiasts with an interest in numbers, these two books identify old and new statistical concepts in each sport; explain their potential importance; and personalize this analysis with vignettes of pro athletes who have set game, season, and career records. The numbers-focused narratives are supplemented by action photos and many charts with stats. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories titles: Basketball Stats and the Stories Behind Them and Football Stats and the Stories Behind Them.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Everything Super Bowl series. For young sports enthusiasts with an interest in numbers, these two books identify old and new statistical concepts in each sport; explain their potential importance; and personalize this analysis with vignettes of pro athletes who have set game, season, and career records. The numbers-focused narratives are supplemented by action photos and many charts with stats. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories titles: Basketball Stats and the Stories Behind Them and Football Stats and the Stories Behind Them.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Top 10 Science series. These books present the importance of scientific principles to success in baseball and hockey. Chandler explains how velocity, torque, kinetic energy, mass, friction, momentum, center of gravity, molecules, reflex, and more are related to performance. The books make science relevant and appealing to middle-grade sports fans; color action photos of professional athletes demonstrate the ideas. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Top 10 Science titles: The Science of Baseball and The Science of Hockey.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Top 10 Science series. These books present the importance of scientific principles to success in baseball and hockey. Chandler explains how velocity, torque, kinetic energy, mass, friction, momentum, center of gravity, molecules, reflex, and more are related to performance. The books make science relevant and appealing to middle-grade sports fans; color action photos of professional athletes demonstrate the ideas. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Top 10 Science titles: The Science of Baseball and The Science of Hockey.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(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

(4) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Fantasy Sports Math series. With lots of color photographs, charts, and quizzes, these optimistic introductions to fantasy sports explain key game concepts and how to manipulate the variables to create a winning team. It's much easier to learn the real sport than it is to understand these difficult-to-follow overviews with their dizzying number of fantasy leagues and scoring rules. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Fantasy Sports Math titles: Fantasy Football Math and Fantasy Baseball Math.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories series. For young sports enthusiasts with an interest in numbers, these two books identify old and new statistical concepts in each sport; explain their potential importance; and personalize this analysis with vignettes of pro athletes who have set game, season, and career records. The numbers-focused narratives are supplemented by action photos and many charts with stats. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories titles: Basketball Stats and the Stories Behind Them and Football Stats and the Stories Behind Them.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Sports Illustrated Kids: Everything Super Bowl series. Third- and fourth-grade sports fans will likely embrace these slim books about one of American sports' biggest events. Stars gives brief vignettes of Super Bowl powerhouses including Tom Brady, Joe Namath, and Jerry Rice. Records centers on statistical information, such as passing performances, yards gained, longest runs, receptions, and interceptions. Football buffs will appreciate the action photographs of legendary performers. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Everything Super Bowl titles: Super Bowl Records and Stars of the Super Bowl.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg