Summer Olympics The definitive guide to the world's greatest sports celebration

Gr 4-8-A strong, ambitious, and useful title. Each subject is presented on a spread introduced by an enticing paragraph and accompanied by colorful, active photographs and diagrams. Subtopics are handled in lengthy paragraphs dynamically arranged across the pages. A historical introduction is followed by topical arrangements of the significance of the Olympics; track-and-field events; water events; precision, strength, and combat events; and cycling, equestrian, ball, and racket sports. They often include quick facts on past notable athletes, Olympic records, and stop-motion computer illustrations demonstrating how the sport is played. Each entry provides enough information to satisfy most casual readers, but many events are just mentioned in passing. Between these chapters there are features on past Games considered of particular significance such as those held in Berlin, Mexico City, and Sydney, but specific Olympiads are mostly underrepresented. The final section features facts, figures, and Olympic anecdotes. Overall, this is a worthwhile general addition to most collections as its usefulness will extend past this summer's games.-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A statistics-filled text illustrated with photos, this compendium both hypes the Olympic Games and provides useful information about its colorful history. About a quarter of the book is focused on track and field events, while other sections deal with individual games, water sports, team sports, and precision and strength athletics; hardly ""a definitive guide,"" but an inexpensive supplement. Websites. Glos., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.