Skiing

Gr 4-6-The colorful, appealing design will draw students to these fact-filled titles about popular winter sports. (Actually, curling's still gaining fans: though enjoyed by 1.2 million Canadians, only 16,000 people in the U.S. play). The books' tiny font is offset by attractive design elements, including the use of captions, highlighted information, and sidebars in bright colors. Dramatic color photos and a readable text cover important athletes, rules and gear, and instructions for both watching and/or participating in these sports. One noteworthy feature is mention of differently abled athletes and the ways in which they may participate in athletics such as sled hockey and the Paralympic games. All the volumes include a quiz, and Curling and Figure Skating offer topics for further research. Fact-filled and readable, these titles will be a hit with both sports browsers and research writers. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In each of these small-trim books, informative text begins with a brief history of the winter sport then covers the variety of events, equipment, techniques, and worldwide competitions. While the action shots are eye-catching and the content solid, the tiny type gets lost within a busy format filled with captions, quotes, bios of star athletes, and "No Way!" sidebars. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Winter Sports titles: Skiing, Snowboarding, and Figure Skating.] (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.