Browsing: Sports

These three contemporary books—one chapter book, one middle grade reader, one young adult—all published since 2011, represent the range of what’s possible in the genre. They’re are all excellent choices for your child—whether she loves horses or not, whether she’s a she or not.

As the London 2012 Olympics come to a close, you may be looking for a way to fill the void which was recently filled with hours-on-end of summer sports. The following books may be just what you’re looking for; they offer samplings of ancient and early modern Olympics, gymnastics and some good, old-fashioned exploration of London.

It’s summertime with its big bowl of a blue sky. Outside becomes another room, with open fields and the whir and buzz of bugs and baseball, and the voice of the water and the touch of sand.

Day One of summer, my son asks, “Now what?” So we ride our bikes to the library and load our backpacks with books about summer. Here’s a list to fill up the baggy pockets of summertime.

Sometimes, as I ponder tactics for encouraging the “reluctant readers” in my life (typically late-elementary through middle-school boys), I cast my mind back to an earlier generation’s paragon of averseness, Mikey [Life cereal commercial]. Only instead of confronting Mikey with healthy breakfast cereal, in my imagination, I confront him with fiction.

Audrey Vernick is the author of many books for all ages; including her latest “So You Want to be a Rock Star” and “Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All Brother Team” coming in April. Vernick also garnered rave reviews for her touching middle grade novel Water Balloon.

These books will open a ballroom door to the world of dance in its wide variety of forms, from the gypsies who migrated from India to Spain to the prima ballerina who dedicates her life to her craft.