Book Blast + Giveaway: Soccer Trophy Mystery by Fred Bowen

This fall, award-winning author and Washington Post KidsPost Sports Columnist ("The Score") Fred Bowen is back with more soccer action and a new mystery - in Soccer Trophy Mystery, the newest addition to the popular tween Fred Bowen Sports Story Series. 

Soccer Trophy Mystery by Fred Bowen

(Fred Bowen Sports Stories Series #24

Peachtree Publishing,  9/1/2021, 144 pages

$16.99 ISBN: 978-1-68263-078-5

Thirteen-year-old twins Aiden and Ava and their good friend Daniel, all avid soccer players, have just learned their county league soccer trophy mysteriously disappeared forty years ago from the town library. It was never recovered.

So between games and practices for the town's soccer championships, the three friends try to solve the case. But will these amateur detectives be able to unravel the mystery and find someone who had both motive and opportunity to commit the crime? And will their teams make it all the way to the championships?

As with the rest of the acclaimed series, Fred Bowen weaves exciting play-by-play sports action with real sports history, including a chapter in the back of the book of "The Real Story" behind the disappearance of the original World Cup trophy that was never recovered. Featuring a new mystery storyline, as well as focusing on girls in sports, Soccer Trophy Mystery  is also a great book for character education both on and off the field.

Now with 24 books and close to a million copies sold, the bestselling series has received national and critical acclaim, saying the series "is flush with life lessons about perseverance, dedication, and picking oneself up after a hard knock" (Booklist) and "Fred Bowen never disappoints. His many action-packed novels speak to the hearts and minds of young sports lovers, and he demonstrated know-how and grace in writing about baseball, basketball, soccer and football" (Washington Parent). Each title in the series functions as a stand alone, so readers can dive right in whether this is their first foray into the series or their 24th. 
 

Meet the Author: 

Fred Bowen is the author of Peachtree's popular Fred Bowen Sports Story Series for middle grade readers. A lifelong sports fanatic, he has coached youth league baseball, basketball, and soccer. His kids' sports column "The Score" appears each week in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post. Bowen lives in Maryland.

Visit his website at fredbowen.com

You can also find Fred on Twitter @FredBowenBooks

THE GIVEAWAY

5 Winners will receive a 3-book set from the Sports Story Series: Soccer Trophy Mystery, Hardcourt Comeback, and The Golden Glove. The giveaway is open to residents living in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico and ends September 19, 2001 at 11:59 pm ET

Hardcourt Comeback (2010) by Fred Bowen

Part of Fred Bowen Sports Story Series

Calling all basketball fans! Return to the court in this action-packed Sports Story Series book from Washington Post KidsPost columnist and author Fred Bowen – perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green.

“Reads like a successful drive to the hoop—quick, purposeful, and effective.” ―Booklist

Brett Carter, the Wildcats’ star forward, is a hotshot on his basketball team—or at least he was. After missing an easy layup shot at the buzzer in one of the most important games of the season, he feels like a total loser. And things only get worse from there…

At his best friend’s birthday party at a rock-climbing center, Brett freezes on the wall. Then he blows an easy question in the American history bee at school. And when he gets back on the court, he can’t get rid of this terrible pounding in his chest. Brett is losing his confidence fast. With the championship game is coming up, can he overcome his fears and play like a “winner” again?

In the afterword, author Fred Bowen shares real stories of well-known players and their hard-fought comebacks.

Buy: 

https://peachtree-online.com/portfolio-items/hardcourt-comeback/

Excerpt: 

https://peachtree-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/HardcourtComebackexcerpt.pdf

Discussion Guide: 

https://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/DiscussionGuides/HardcourtComebackDG.pdf

The Golden Glove (2009) by Fred Bowen

Part of the Fred Bowen Sports Story Series

Ready to hit the baseball diamond? Check out this action-packed Sports Story Series book from Washington Post KidsPost columnist and author Fred Bowen – perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green.Jamie’s lucky glove is the most precious thing in the world to him. He’s spent all winter oiling it while readying his skills for the upcoming season. But what happens when he loses the glove?After an unsuccessful search and a disappointing first game, Jamie realizes he’s lost much more than his glove. He’s lost confidence. So when he seeks help from the owner of a local sporting goods shop—a former minor league player—the old-timer shares the history of baseball gloves along with a few fielding tips to help improve Jamie’s game. But will it be enough to rebuild his confidence and replace the “luck” his beloved glove gave him?Author Fred Bowen engages baseball lovers in this relatable story of self-doubt, luck, and facing your fears. In the afterword, readers can learn more about the history of baseball gloves. 

Buy: 

https://peachtree-online.com/portfolio-items/the-golden-glove/

Excerpt: 

https://peachtree-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GoldenGloveexcerpt.pdf

Discussion Guide: 

https://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/DiscussionGuides/GoldenGloveDG.pdf

Reviews

“The books in the Fred Bowen Sports Story series are fast-paced, and at just over 100 pages, they’re perfect for reluctant readers…. Young readers will devour these stories, along with their painless lessons, and still have time to join their friends for games.” 

—School Library Journal 

Hardcourt Comeback: “This entry in the Fred Bowen Sports Story series is flush with life lessons about perseverance, dedication, and picking oneself up after a hard knock, not to mention loads of on-court action. It reads like a successful drive to the hoop—quick, purposeful, and effective.” 

—Booklist 

“Fred Bowen never disappoints. His many action-packed novels speak to the hearts and minds of young sports lovers, and he demonstrates know-how and grace in writing about baseball, basketball, soccer and football.” 

—Washington Parent Magazine

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three for Friday: Power Forward, On Point and Bounce Back by Hena Khan, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

There is nothing like the comfort that comes from knowing that the character you have just met in a book will be back in subsequent books. One of our favorite series is the Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream trilogy by Hena Khan. These three chapter books are wonderful sports stories that are ideal for kids ready to move on from easy readers to longer, more complex stories, or even for reluctant early middle school readers. They are clearly written, narrated in the first person by the protagonist, the issues are age appropriate, and they are diverse. Yes, the Pakistani American Saleems - Baba, Mama, older sister Zara, Naano (grandmother), Nana Abu (grandfather), and Jamal Mamoo (uncle) - are a Muslim family, but this is also a basketball story. The Saleem's culture and religion are a big part of Zayd's family life, and readers are given a nice window into what that is like, but most of the conflicts and challenges he faces are the kind that any kid might be confronted with at that age, both within the family and in the outside world. 

Power Forward by Hena Khan, 

illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

(Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream Book #1)

Salaam Reads, 2018, 144 pages

Meet Zayd. He's a fourth grader who loves basketball way more than he loves playing the violin in the school orchestra. And all he really wants is a chance to tryout again for the winning gold team and play his favorite game with his best friend Adam. So when Adam encourages him to skip orchestra practice and practice basketball in the gym instead, Zayd is all for it...until his mother finds out and he is grounded from anything basketball related for two weeks. And that includes the gold team tryouts. Zayd learns an important lesson in this book, but it's not the one you might think it should be. It's even better. There's also a nice story line about Zayd's favorite uncle beginning to think about marriage, an event Zayd has no interest in, but it does present a dilemma for him. If Jamal Mamoo gets married, he'll probably be too busy to hang out, shoot baskets or play basketball video games with Zayd. How can Zayd find the courage to let his family know how he really feels about playing the violin, playing basketball, and possible abandonment by Jamal Mamoo?

On Point by Hena Khan,

illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

(Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream Book #2)

Salaam Reads, 2018, 144 pages

Yes, Zayd did manage to get to the gold team tryouts and he's finally part of this winning basketball team. Except, they aren't such a winning team anymore - they've lost their first two games and now Zayd's best friend and teammate is starting to play football with some other guys. Zayd is afraid that Adam may be blaming him for the games the team has lost. When Adam stops coming to practice and playing on the team altogether, Zayd worries that Coach Wheeler will also think that's his fault. But then, Coach Wheeler has him play point guard, Adam's usual position. Not feeling particularly confident in his new position, the team loses yet again. Meanwhile, Jamal Mamoo and the family are busy making wedding plans and Zayd is indeed feeling abandoned by his favorite uncle. These wedding plans offer readers a further window into Muslim culture and religion, but this time with lots of wonderful mouth-watering food descriptions thrown in (which means a trip to Sahadi's in Brooklyn for me). But when Adam has to stay over at Zayd's house, the two friends have a really serious talk. Can Adam help Zayd get past comparing himself on the court to Adam and become a great player in his own right? 

Bounce Back by Hena Khan,

illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

(Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream Book #3)

Salaam Reads, 2018, 144 pages

Adam's talk really helped boost Zayd's confidence and he's on fire on the court, thanks also to the new basketball hoop he and his parents went halfsies paying for. Maybe, just maybe Coach Wheeler will name Zayd team captain now. But as the team approaches the end of the season and looks forward to the playoffs and hoped-for-championship, Zayd has an accident on the court and ends up with a severely sprained ankle and no basketball for four weeks. Already feeling sorry for himself, he begins to feel jealous as he watches teammate Sam take over his spot and do a great job. When he starts skipping practice, Baba finally convinces him to start going again. Sitting on the bench, he can see exactly what the team does right and what it does wrong, especially Sam. Can Zayd put team over jealousy and say something to Sam? Meanwhile, Jamal Mamoo's wedding approaches and it is truly a family affair. But when Nana Abu has a heart attack, and falls into self-pity, it takes clever thinking by Zayd and sister Zara to get him up and moving again in time for the wedding. Jamal Mamoo's wedding offers a great introduction to Muslim festivities and traditions surrounding his pending marriage, and shows a family happily involved (maybe too much for Mamoo and Nadia Auntie, his fiancée) in all the preparations and the big day.

I loved this trilogy and was sorry to say goodbye to Zayd and his family. Khan did a great job of seamlessly weaving in so many details about Zayd's life as a member of a Muslim family, while also showing that other aspects of their lives are similar to all families. I especially like how Zayd's budding maturity over the three books was depicted by his ability to incorporate the lessons he learned about good sportsmanship into his life off the court. 

I can't recommend the books in the Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream series highly enough.

These books are recommended for readers age 7+

These books were borrowed from the NYPL

A Review of Unstoppable: How Jim Thorp and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army by Art Coulson, illustrated by Nick Hardcastle for Multicultural Children's Book Day

Friday, January 25, 2019 is the annual Multicultural Children's Book Day! and once again, I am proud to be participating in this wonderful event that brings a world wide awareness to importance of having a broad range of diverse children's books available to young readers. Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6^th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators, books like

Unstoppable: How Jim Thorp and the Carlisle Indian School Football

Team Defeated Army by Art Coulson, illustrated by Nick Hardcastle

 Capstone Editions, 2018, 40 pages, age 9+

Born in 1887, what was then Indian Territory and is today's Oklahoma, a young boy named James Francis Thorpe would grow up to become one of America's most versatile athletes and the first Native American to win two Olympic gold medals in pentathlon and decathlon. Jim was member of the Fox and Sac Nation, and was called Wa-tho-huk (Bright Path) by his mother.

As a boy, Jim loved to fish, ride and playing with his dogs, but because he didn't like school and kept running away. Finally, in 1904, his father sent him to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School at age 16. Though he worked a farm job off campus, it was soon discovered that Jim was an athletic phenom, a gifted athlete excelling in baseball, lacrosse, track, hockey, and football and it didn't take long for Carlisle's coach Glenn "Pop" Warner snatch him up. 

But what Jim really wanted to do was play on the Carlisle varsity football team and despite being small for his age, in 1907, he finally made the team and played for them for two seasons before leaving school again. Then, in 1912, Pop Warner asked him to come back and he promised to train the now 25-year-old Jim for the 1912 Olympics, which he did, enabling him to win his two Gold Medals in .

But 1912 was also the year that Carlisle would be playing Army, one of the country's best teams. The Indian team was considered the underdogs. Did the Carlisle team stand even the remotest chance of beating such a premier team as the one from West Point?

Though Jim Thorpe's athlete career was mainly spent playing baseball for the New York Giants and the Boston Braves, Coulson has chosen to focus Unstoppable on Thorpe's early life up to and including the 1912 game against Army. He does not, however, ignore the painful and humiliating treatment of Native children at the early Indian schools, and Carlisle was no exception. It was then the practice of the American government to remove Native children from their homes, sending them to Indian boarding schools, where their hair was cut, tradition clothing was burned, and forbidden for speaking Native languages or practicing their own religion. 

Nick Hardcastle's realistic illustrations add much dimension to Jim Thorpe's story. His color palette choices definitely have a aura that is reminiscent of the early 20th century and the style reminded me of the old cigarette cards that people used to collect featuring athletic greats. 

Back matter for Unstoppable includes a short biography about Jim Thorpe, the members of the 1912 Carlisle Indians Varsity Football Team, a glossary, information about Pop Warner, and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, as well as information for further exploration.

I found Unstoppable to be a very informative, well written picture book for older readers. I didn't know that much about Jim Thorpe other than the fact that he was a Native American athlete and Burt Lancaster played him in a not terribly good movie called Jim Thorpe - All American that can sometimes be seen on TV. Unstoppable is a book that should be included library and classroom collections for teaching kids about Native peoples. 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was sent to me by the publisher, Capstone.

Thank you, Capstone, for providing me with a review copy of Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army to use in conjunction with Multicultural Children's Book Day.

And thank you to everyone participating and helping to make Multicultural Children's Book Day such a success:

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BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield

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We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

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Patina (Book #2 of Track) by Jason Reynolds

In this second book of Jason Reynold's Track series, we meet Patina Jones, 12, a new girl and a gifted athlete on the Defenders track team, who has just come in second in an 800-meter race, and considers it a loss. Because Patty Jones, fastest girl on the team, needs to win - she's already experienced too much loss in her young life. As a 6 year old, she lost her adored father when he went to bed one night and never woke up. A few years later, her diabetic mother began a series of amputations until finally she lost both legs when Patty was 9. Patty may be a sore loser, but as her mother likes to  remind her, Patty Jones ain't no junk either.

Now that their mother can't really take care of the Patty and her younger sister Maddy, 6, they live with her Uncle Tony, and his white wife, Emily called Momly. Patty has taken on a protective kind of responsibility Maddy, believing Momly can't understand some things about being a black girl, like braiding Maddy's hair. The girls still see their mother every Sunday for church, and Momly, who is a nurse, takes her to dialysis three times a week. Since moving, Patty and Maddy both attend a fancy white charter school. Patty doesn't feel like she fits in with the girls in her class, whom she calls "hair flippers," and tends to keep to herself, missing her best friend Cotton from her old neighborhood. Now, though, she has been assigned to work on a school project about Frida Kahlo with three white girls, Taylor, Taylor, and Becca, and Patty isn't any too happy about it, especially since she seems to be the only one doing any work for the project.

On the track team, Coach Brody doesn't hold with attitude from any of his runners, including Patty.  Soon, Patty finds herself a member of the 4x400 relay race, a race in which the runners must rely on each other in order to win. However, Patty is a fiercely independent girl, and one who likes to control her world as much as possible. But Coach Whit, Coach's assistant, has other ideas, including some unorthodox ways of teaching the girls to work together - but teaching them to waltz? Brilliant!

At home, in school and on the track team, Patty needs to learn how to be a team player. Can she let go of her independence enough to succeed?

I really liked Ghost, the first book in Jason Reynolds' Track series, so much so that I had kind of a hard time getting into Patina, and yet, once I got past the first few pages, I couldn't put it down. The story is told from Patty's point of view in the first person, so the reader knows exactly what is going on in her head. She is a wonderfully fully-fleshed out character - loving, fiercely competitive, very opinionated (though she keeps her opinions mostly to herself and the reader), but also conflicted, flawed, and very afraid of more loss in her life. That fear prevents her from allowing herself to rely on any one other than herself. But, as the story unfolds, Patty is thrown into situations where she must learn to work with others in order to succeed - at home, at school, and on the track.

Patty has some important lessons to learn, and we do see some wonderful character development, Reynolds' narrative arc progresses at just the right pace for that to happen. For example, one of the things I really liked about her story is the way Reynolds subtly introduces the idea of teamwork all through the novel - it is slow, and steady, so the reader can really absorb it and really appreciate Patty's reaction to it.

Patty's life isn't easy, but she, like Ghost, has a loving family support system - they are there for her and she needs them much more than she is willing to admit, because Patty Jones definitely "ain't no junk" but she is not the tough cookie she would like us to believe she is, either.

Ghost handed off the baton to Patina and Patina hands it off to Sunny in April 2018. And I for one can't wait to continue this relay race.

You can find a useful Teacher's Guide for Patina HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the Bank Street School Library

On a personal level, I can really relate to Patty's feelings about her father and losing him so suddenly. When my Kiddo was young, her father also went to bed one Friday night, after an evening of talking and kidding around while they decorated the Christmas tree, and never woke up. She was devastated for the longest time, and even now will ask do I think he would be proud of her.

Blog Tour: How to Coach Girls by Mia Wenjen and Alison Foley

From the Publisher:
How to Coach Girls provides the most comprehensive guide available to the many issues associated with coaching girls teams across the spectrum of sports, from soccer to lacrosse, field hockey to softball. Volunteer parents and experienced coaches alike will find invaluable advice on the process of making a successful team, encouraging girls to stay in sports beyond the middle school years. Twenty-two chapters cover all the major issues, including how to pick captains, the importance of growth mindset, issues around body image and puberty, as well as the intricacies of coaching your own daughter. This invaluable guide is the brainchild of Alison Foley, Head Coach of Women's Soccer at Boston College and Mia Wenjen, a parenting and education blogger at PragmaticMom.com and the mother of two daughters, who provide personal accounts to illustrate issues discussed throughout the book. The combination of Mia's voice of parental experience coup0led with Alison's professional expertise provides an innovative and highly accessible apporach to considering potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. In the final section, a broad range of experienced college coaches, including former Olympians, give crucial guidance on what it is that girls need from a coach to allow them to flourish in sports, and most importantly, have fun.

I am not the least bit athletic, although I did play right wing on my high school field hockey team for four years. We had two coaches, and I and my teammates remained part of the team mostly because we all liked the coaches, but I never thought about it beyond that until I read How to Coach Girls.

I was not the least bit surprised to learn that 70% percent of kids give up organized sports by the time they reach middle school, and that girls drop out 6 times the rate of boys. Why? Well, according to Wenjen and Foley, coaching girls is different than coaching boys. In short, they conclude that girls need a social emotional relationship with their coaches, whereas boys don't. The way to achieve this kind of connection is called the Whole Child Approach. Once the players feel comfortable, safe and engaged, they are willing to take the kind of risks on the playing field that boys just seem to automatically take.

Authors Alison Foley and Mia Wenjen

This is a slim volume divided into three sections. Each section deals is devoted to ways a coach can  achieve a winning team of girls. The first section, The Big Picture, looks at the ways a coach can makes team sports fun, but also how they can develop a team chemistry, using positive reinforcement and, most importantly, have a team of good people, not just good players.

Section two, Solutions to Specific Issues, offers some really helpful how-to ways for different situations, such as coaching one's own daughter, building confidence in players, how to handle a losing streak, and issues around body image, puberty and sports.

Section three, Pre-Season Planning, is a really helpful section for new coaches, especially for volunteer coaches who may not be very experienced, and let's face it, with budget cuts, girls' sports get slashed first in school and sometimes the only way to play is if parents help with the coaching. Here coaches will find some very useful guidelines, such as creating a player code of conduct, a parent code of conduct, putting together that all important medical emergency plan, setting goals and evaluations, and finally, pre-season logistics.

When I began this, I said that me and my teammates continued to play field hockey for four years because we liked our coaches. It turns out that many of the approaches I read about in How to Coach Girls were actually many of the reasons why we remained. We were lucky, but so often girls continue to drop out of sports because their coaches don't understand the difference between coaching boys and girls, and girls begin to feel like just a player expected to win, and not a person playing a sport that she enjoys being a part of. 

How to Coach Girls is an invaluable guide for all coaches, offering suggestions, strategies, and guidance to help make each girls' team, regardless of the sport they are playing, the best they can be.

To learn more about this book, please visit the  How to Coach Girls website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook page

Be sure to visit these stops on the How to Coach Girls Blog Tour:

February 22  Shelly Bean the Sports Queen   
March 1        Wise Owl Factory                       
March 2        The Conscious Kid                     
March 3        Jump Into a Book                   
March 4        Books My Kids Read                 
March 5        Ms Yingling Reads                     
March 7        All Done Monkey                     
March 8        Miss Panda Chinese                   
March 9        Biracial Bookworms                 
March 10      Mom of all Capes                     
March 11      Franticmommy                         
March 12      Randomly Reading                   
March 13      Here Wee Read                         
March 14      DawnDavis.com                       
March 15      The Pragmatic Parent               

Fun Books About Sports

I'm not a very athletic person and as a result, I don't really follow sports.  Sure, I played field hockey in high school, but that was only to get out of the house on Saturday mornings so I wouldn't have to smell my dad's Saturday kippers steaming (but in all fairness, I was a pretty good right wing for four years).  All kidding aside, I do understand the importance of participating in sports for kids.  It teaches them so much - focus, discipline, sportsmanship, among other things.

And while I don't follow football (both kinds), baseball, basketball or hockey, I do like to watch the Olympics and have a fairly good understanding of Gymnastics thanks to a young family gymnast. But this year, along with a young pal of mine, we've both decided to learn more about the games played in the different Olympic events and beyond.  To help us along, we've chosen some nice book from National Geographic.

First up:

Everything Sports: All the Photos, Facts, and Fun to Make You Jump! by Eric Zweig with Sports Reporter Shalise Manza Young
National Geographic Kids, 2016, 84 pages, age 8+

Did you know that the word sport comes from the French word desport, meaning leisure or diversion?  And isn't that just what sports are?  This is just one of the interesting facts you will learn when you begin reading this book (and I was happy to see that field hockey has more than 2 billion fans - not bad).  From these, readers will learn about competitions and tournaments around the world, and what countries play what games. Readers will also learn the basics of basketball, baseball, American football, and ice hockey.

Current champions in each sport, as well as hall of famers are highlighted, and accompanied by lots of fun facts about games and players.  There is even a section on extreme sports, which look scary but interesting.   Included in the back-matter is a list of websites and books for further, more in-depth exploration about individual sports.

Weird but True! Sports 300 Wacky Facts About Awesome Athletics by National Geographic Kids, 2016, 208 pages, age 8+

With a little information about different sports, games and players, my young friend and I decided to have some fun. This book is a playground for trivia lovers with all of its unusual facts, statistics and stories from the world of sports - all kinds of sports, from falconry and racing "dunnies" to skateboarding and hot dog eating.  We sat down to read this book on a rainy afternoon, and spent the whole time reading and laughing, and repeating the things that we enjoyed most to everyone else in the house.  The only fact I really didn't enjoy reading was on page 19: It seems that the odds of picking all the right teams for an NCAA March Madness bracket are about 1 in 9,200,000,000,000,000,000.  I guess I'll pass on the office pool next year.  This is a great book that will give you hours of fun and entertainment even as you pick up some great information to dazzle your fellow Olympic viewers with.

Funny Fill-In: My Gold Medal Adventure by National Geographic Kids, 2016, 49 pages, age 8+

And finally, this was saved for a long car ride and proved to be lots of fun. Designed to help kids learn the parts of speech, and have a good laugh at the same time, this can be played alone, but works better with at least one other person.  First you pick a story, then ask a friend to call out a word the blank space calls for - a verb, a noun, an adjective, etc. and writes the answer in the blank space.  Once all the blanks are filled in, someone reads the story out loud and it is sure to be a good laugh. These can be done with one, two or more people, which really can make for a silly story.

Not only do Funny Fill-Ins help kids understand the different parts of speech, but it encourages them to really use their imaginations.  After all, made-up silly words are allowed and sometimes, they can even be encouraged.  There are a total of twenty-two stories in all and if you use pencil to fill in the blanks, they can be erased and a whole new story can be created.  I have to say that these fill-ins were a lot of fun on our car trip and so much better than the dreaded question "are we there yet?"

A sample of one of the stories

Thanks to National Geographic Kids for providing review copies of these three fun books.  We've learned a lot about different sports and have a whole new appreciation for the athletes we are watching on the Olympics.  I highly recommend these books for kids who don't know much about sports and even for kids who do.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge is a weekly celebration of 

nonfiction books hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy