Being Your Best at Soccer & Basketball -- two great nonfiction sports books (ages 8-10)

It's no secret that I don't follow many sports. My favorite outdoor activity is going for long walks--not exactly a team sport! But I do know that many kids love sports and seek out sports books in our libraries, and so I make a special effort to seek these out.

A new series presents the rules & techniques of favorite sports, along with an overview of legendary teams and players. I particularly like the way these books show girls and boys, men and women playing these sports--with a notably diverse range of players.

Being Your Best at Soccer
Being Your Best at Basketball
from the series: True Book Sports
by Nel Yomtov
Children's Press / Scholastic Library, 2017
Amazon / Your local library
ages 8-10

Every day if you look out at our school's playground, you'll see kids playing soccer and basketball. They learn the basics from an early age. Many kids will come to reading this book with a solid background knowledge of the terms, content and structure. This means that tricky vocabulary words are easier to tackle because they know the context.

These books use clear language to explain the basics of soccer and basketball, often illustrating concepts with labeled photos or diagrams. Kids probably know what gear they wear for soccer; reading it helps them become familiar with how nonfiction concepts are developed in writing.

"A player can make a chest pass standing still or moving.
Grip the ball with both hands, elbows tucked, at chest level."

Teachers can use this to model how writers expand upon an idea. This can be very difficult for kids to get used to in their own writing. They can also show how the author organizes ideas into different sections. But really, kids will just enjoy reading these high-interest books.

Look for these books in both paperback and hardcover. They'd be a great addition to home, classroom or school libraries. The review copy was kindly sent by the publisher, Scholastic Library. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.


©2017 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books