Sports

Dan Gutman

Book - 2016

A treasury of sports facts includes entries about the NFL touchdown thrown by a quarterback to himself, the only sport ever played on the moon, and the metal that is really used to make Olympic gold medals.

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j796/Gutman
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Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room j796/Gutman Due Apr 19, 2024
Subjects
Published
New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Dan Gutman (-)
Edition
First Edition
Physical Description
170 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780062306180
  • The Beginning
  • Chapter 1: Baseball
  • Chapter 2: Football
  • Chapter 3: Soccer
  • Chapter 4: Basketball
  • Chapter 5: Hockey
  • Chapter 6: Golf
  • Chapter 7: Automobile Racing
  • Chapter 8: The Need for Speed
  • Chapter 9: Other Sports
  • Chapter 10: The Olympics
  • Chapter 11: More Weird Sports Facts
  • The Ending.
Review by Booklist Review

Gutman's new My Weird School Fast Facts series features two fictional narrators, who introduce themselves as Professor A.J. (the professor of awesomeness) and Andrea Young (I'm in the gifted and talented program). (Better known as A.J. and Andrea, these characters appear in Gutman's popular My Weird School series.) Here, they deliver material that varies from a chapter on speed records, to the story of an octopus thrown onto the ice during a Red Wings hockey game, to a quote from Benjamin Franklin about inventing swim fins. While debunking the idea that Abner Doubleday invented baseball, the text credits William Hoy with persuading umpires to use hand signs a widely repeated but disputed notion. Drawn from baseball, football, soccer, basketball, hockey, golf, auto racing, the Olympics, and other sports, the well-chosen and, yes, sometimes weird factoids are informative and definitely entertaining. Grayscale illustrations include vintage photos as well as drawings, and the colorful jacket art features A.J., Andrea, and friends. A companion volume, subtitled Geography, will also be available in June. No sources appear in the review copies.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-Gutman's familiar characters A.J. (Arlo) and Andrea are here to entertain and to inform young readers about geography and sports. Taking turns, A.J., the comedian, and Andrea, the straight man, relate odd and interesting tidbits. Geography includes chapters on the continents, water, and natural disasters with fun facts, such as that Antarctica is the world's largest desert, the Grand Canyon existed before the dinosaurs, and in 1928 a tornado pulled the feathers off of chickens. In Sports, which divides chapters according to individual pastimes, readers discover that a 14-year-old girl struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Tom Dempsey kicked a 63-yard field goal despite a disability, and Detroit Red Wings fans throw an octopus on the ice during playoff games. Gutman certainly knows his audience as the jokes, puns, and interactions between A.J. and Andrea are solid. Paillot's hilarious illustrations make both books even more engaging. VERDICT Gutman's witty presentation and comfortable, familiar characters will appeal to all, especially fans of the series.-Margaret Nunes, Gwinnett County Public Library, GA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.