Pelé, King of Soccer/Pelé, El rey del fútbol en español
In honor of the 2010 World Cup final …
Pele, The King of Soccer/El rey del futbol from Monica Brown on Vimeo.
Pelé, el rey del fútbol en español from Monica Brown on Vimeo.
Add this book to your collection: Pele, King of Soccer/Pele, El rey del futbol by Monica Brown
Soccer Books That Heal World Cup Fever!
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 19, 2010
It’s World Cup Soccer time! Which means that there is a good chance you know someone who is suffering from World Cup Fever. This is one kind of fever that can’t be treated with medicine. It must be treated with a high dose of, you guessed it, soccer. Soccer in any form you can get it: watching the game, playing the game, talking about the game, dreaming about the game, and reading about the game. Yep, that’s right, reading about the game.
No matter which team you go for (GO SOCCEROOS!), here is a team of books (complete with publisher’s synopsis) to whet the appetite of any young soccer enthusiast: Read more
Two Tutu Books for Little Ballerinas
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: February 23, 2010
I don’t know about you, but we certainly have a large collection of tutus at our house. Too too many tutus in too too many different colors. I can’t let my daughter hear me say that—she is of the belief that a girl can never have enough tutus (or books about tutus, for that matter). Read more
Video: Million Dollar Throw: Mike Lupica
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 27, 2009
Author Mike Lupica is well known among sports-lit fans. His latest book, Million-Dollar Throw, a sports novel for kids ages 9-12, released this month and is already a best seller!
Add this book to your collection: Million-Dollar Throw
Giveaway: Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: October 27, 2009
“In the early 1950s, legendary baseball hero Jackie Robinson literally “tested the ice” for his kids who so eagerly wanted to skate on the frozen lake near their home. Under Sharon Robinson’s skillful authorship and Kadir Nelson’s vivid illustrations, TESTING THE ICE also becomes a stunning metaphor for her father’s remarkable racial breakthrough.”
Thanks to Scholastic, we have a wonderful Testing the Ice prize pack to giveaway, as well as four additional copies of the book. You can find out how to enter, below.
Gallop! & Swing Leap to Life With Scanimation: Rufus Butler Seder
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 15, 2009
Gallop! and Swing!, NY Times bestsellers, are two very special books created by the very talented Rufus Butler Seder. These are two books that sell themselves based on the sheer amusement they provide to anyone that lays an eye on them. They walk themselves right off the check-out counter (which is where they are always strategically placed for an easy hand-sell) and straight into shopping bags (hopefully the recyclable type).
Seder has used a new, patented technology called Scanimation, a “state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the “persistence of vision” principle with a striped acetate overlay to
give the illusion of movement.” In simple terms, Scanimation is an optical illusion that makes objects, animals, people, you-name-it, leap to life on the page. Gallop! is sure to appeal to animal lovers, and Swing! is great for sports fanatics or kids that love to move (do you know one that doesn’t?). Most of the images in the books began as gift cards, so it’s easy to see why they have transitioned so easily into the perfect gift-book. Rufus Butler Seder, a star is what you are!
We can’t wait for Seder’s next creation, Waddle!, to be released in October! Take a look at all three of the Scanimation books …
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 12 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (November 22, 2007)
Publisher’s synopsis: There’s never before been a book like Gallop! Employing a patented new technology called Scanimation, each page is a marvel that brings animals, along with one shining star, to life with art that literally moves. It’s impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again.
A first book of motion for kids, it shows a horse in full gallop and a turtle swimming up the page. A dog runs, a cat springs, an eagle soars, and a butterfly flutters. Created by Rufus Butler Seder, an inventor, artist, and filmmaker fascinated by antique optical toys, Scanimation is a state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the “persistence of vision” principle with a striped acetate overlay to give the illusion of movement. It harkens back to the old magical days of the kinetoscope, and the effect is astonishing, like a Muybridge photo series springing into action—or, in terms kids can relate to, like a video without a screen. Complementing the art is a delightful rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo!
Every child who opens the book will be amazed—and so will every parent.
Add this book to your collection: Gallop!
by Rufus Butler Seder
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 12 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (October 15, 2008)
Publisher’s synopsis: Published last fall, Gallop! introduced the amazing technology called Scanimation and took the children’s book world by storm. It became an instant bestseller—#1 on The New York Times children’s list.
Now Swing! does for kids what Gallop! does for animals—a boy rides a bike, a girl kicks her soccer ball, a swimmer cuts through the water, and a skater pirouettes on ice. The effect is joyous, magical, mesmerizing, and taps into the the endless fascination that children find in watching other children. The second book created by Rufus Butler Seder, the inventor, artist, and filmmaker who developed Scanimation out of his obsession with antique optical toys and other pre-motion-picture illusions, Swing! uses “persistence of vision” and a patented state-of-the-art multiphase animation process to create astonishment. There is nothing else like this unique, patented technology that literally inspires wonder.
The images burst with activity, and adding greatly is a happy, rhyming text that captures in words the pure energy of the figures in motion. You can’t put it down.
Add this book to your collection: Swing!
Coming Soon:
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 12 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (October 1, 2009)
Publisher’s synopsis: It’s Waddle! And it’s in color. And boy, is it irresistible. In the same way that kids can’t read Gallop! without wanting to gallop around the room, Waddle!, an animals in-motion Scanimation book, will inspire prancing, hopping, stomping, and scampering. And did we mention color? Created by the optical genius behind the phenomenal #1 and #2 New York Times bestselling children’s books, Gallop! and Swing!, Waddle! adds touches of color to the images and integrates it into the text. That prancing pig is pink, the leaping dolphin is blue, the slithering snake yellow. The Scanimation itself is also more lifelike, as the author continues to refine his patented Scanimation process, resulting in a more fluid, realistic motion. Nothing else compares.
Waddle! teaches color and movement. Its language is a joy, the rhymes inspiring, the animals full of life. And one more thing: Waddle! has a surprise ending. Something else to grab the reade —literally.
Add this book to your collection: Waddle!
I found this link via 100 Scope Notes, and it shows how scanimation works: http://blogoscoped.com/files/stripes.html
Learn more about Rufus Butler Seder and the path he took to creating these must have books:
Have you read these books? Are you excited about Waddle!? Tell us your thoughts by leaving us a comment below!
Sluggers: Loren Long & Phil Bildner
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 1, 2009
Adventure, mystery, magic, camaraderie, and a serious dose of baseball is what you’ll get from the Sluggers series. It holds all the right ingredients to satisfy even the biggest baseball fans, including collectible baseball cards. With a whip of the willow (a swing of the bat) Loren Long and Phil Bildner have combined their talents of illustrations and writing to create a “screamer” of a series. A fantastic family read — a definite four-bagger!
by Loren Long (Author & Illustrator), Phil Bildner (Author)
Reading level: Ages 8-12
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (February 24, 2009)
In book 1, or game 1 as it may be, readers receive a nice introduction to the well developed characters. The scene is set clearly, and the tale begins to unravel slowly in a well formulated manner that is carried through all of the books. Long’s superb charcoal rendered illustrations are masterfully placed, and the useful annotations that explain 1800’s baseball terminology are worth their weight in gold. The series is also based around family strength and the power of faith, which is delivered in many ways — I treasure the wonderful words of wisdom that are shared.
“–how we deal with it.” The three Paynes finished the sentence.
Add this book to your collection: Magic in the Outfield
by Loren Long (Author & Illustrator), Phil Bildner (Author)
Reading level: Ages 8-12
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (February 24, 2009)
In book 2, game 2, the adventure continues with perfect continuity. A new addition to the easy to follow format is the useful scoreboard which is illustrated at the end of each chapter. It enables you to truly lose yourself to the strengthening mystery and increasing magic. “Huzzah” to Long and Bildner.
“Huzzah!”: common cheer to show appreciation for a team’s efforts.
Publisher’s synopsis: As the team heads into the River City, Griffith is beginning to realize that there’s more at risk than meets the eye, something beyond the need to raise money — something involving the ball that could put his entire family in danger.
Ruby is eager to help solve the mystery of the ball and plans on keeping her eyes and ears wide open and writing everything down. She knows the answer is out there. All she has to do is see the things that others don’t. And figure out what those things mean.
Then there’s Graham, who usually only thinks about how to get more time on the baseball field. Even he’s beginning to notice that there are strange and shady characters at just about every turn.
Finally there’s the Chancellor, one of the wealthiest and greediest businessmen in the entire world. And it looks like he’s got his eye on the ball!
Add this book to your collection: Horsin’ Around
by Loren Long (Author & Illustrator), Phil Bildner (Author)
Reading level: Ages 8-12
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (April 14, 2009)
In book 3, game 3, the mystery and adventure are building with strong momentum. Drama and danger are added– enough to compel readers forward, but never too much to scare them away. The ending is thrilling and leaves readers urgent for book 4.
Publisher’s synopsis: Pulling into Chicago, Griffith has a run-in with an enormous thug and is more convinced than ever that the nefarious robber baron called “The Chancellor” knows about their magic baseball.
Ruby also has an encounter with a mysterious stranger, and even though she doesn’t know why, she knows that he will change the Travelin’ Nine.
And Graham launches a towering shot out of the park when he thinks no one is looking. Unfortunately, the wrong eyes may have seen what the youngest Payne can do with a baseball.
Chicago is a hot town, so the Paynes better keep their cool. The Travelin’ Nine still have more money to make!
Add this book to your collection: Great Balls Of Fire
by Loren Long (Author & Illustrator), Phil Bildner (Author)
Reading level: Ages 8-12
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing; 1 edition (April 14, 2009)
In book 4, game 4, the stage is set effectively with a climactic carry on from game 3. Long and Bildner’s talents shine even more brightly in Water, Water Everywhere when they manage to maintain their uncanny way of delivering their mysterious and magical story, while gallantly adding new elements like discrimination. This fabulous pair are in scoring position for the last two books in the series.
Publisher’s synopsis: Griffith has a run-in with the Chancellor and learns that the baseball isn’t the only item the infamous industrialist is after. Even more mysteriously, the Chancellor claims to have something that the Paynes want.
And Ruby. Where in the world has she vanished to? Does her disappearance have anything to do with the Chancellor’s threats? Or is there some other plan in play?
And finally, Graham makes a heartfelt birthday wish and somehow gets exactly what he asks for. But questions still remain: Was it real? Can it possibly be true? Or is it all just a dream?
If they don’t watch out, Griffith, Ruby, Graham, and the Travelin’ Nine may find themselves in deep water in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!
Add this book to your collection: Water, Water Everywhere
To read more about the series, check out our interview with Loren Long or visit: http://www.philbildner.com/ and http://www.lorenlong.com/
Younger readers may enjoy: Casey Back at Bat by Dan Gutman
Going Going Gone! and other silly dilly sports songs: Alan Katz
Going Going Gone! and other silly dilly sports songs
by Alan Katz (Author), David Catrow (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 3-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (February 24, 2009)
What to expect: Sports, humorous songs
It’s still National Poetry month, but even more importantly (for some) it’s baseball season. This book will certainly be a hit with sports fanatics as well as those of us who appreciate a good rhyme. From my experience as a bookseller, parents who truly appreciate poetry will pick up a new Alan Katz book and purchase it straight away without even reading it. On the other hand, I had never read one of his books before. I was missing out — H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!
Going Going Gone! and other silly dilly sports songs is a terrific collection of poems that have been written to match the tunes of many well known songs. The opening “silly dilly” song is titled On Top of the Bleachers and is paired with the the tune of “On Top of Old Smokey”.
that’s where we just sat.
Dad bought me a peanut,
a scorecard, and hat.”
