Kid Konnection: Football Then to Wow!

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you a book that Booking Son loved!

Summary: See how all aspects of football have evolved in this highly visual book filled with history and trivia about the game. You'll see a football transform before your eyes from a melon-like ball crudely stitched together to the aerodynamic pigskin it is today; or watch as a quarterback evolves from a scrawny helmetless player of the 1930s to a hulking play caller of the modern era.

From rules to equipment to the all-time greats, this book is a journey through the game spanning the years. -- Sports Illustrated Kids

Surprise! Surprise! Booking Son discovered another fantastic book about sports! This one is called SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS FOOTBALL THEN TO WOW! and it's another fun and educational book about football. Our house is definitely ready for the football season. It's pretty much all my guys are talking about. Last night, we hosted our Father/Son Fantasy draft and next week we host the neighborhood draft party.

FOOTBALL THEN TO WOW! didn't really helping my little guy prepare for his fantasy draft (he does tons of mock drafts on his iPad for that.) However, it did teach him quite a bit about the history of the sport. The book shows what football was like when it first began back in 1869 and takes the reader through the next 140+ years. It shows how the actual football itself changed as well as how the  stadiums grew and the rules evolved. It's a great way to teach kids about the game of football.

The book is divided into fairly simple sections -- The Basics, The Players, The Strategy, and The Fan Experience. It uses terrific full color photos (along with some old black and whites) along with charts, graphs, timelines. Each page looks different from the next and is full of information and trivia. I have a feeling that young sports fans will read this book over and over again and take away something different each time.

I, too, am a pretty big football fan (although I prefer college to professional.) What I found so interesting about FOOTBALL THEN TO WOW! is just how much the game as changed... while still staying the same. I enjoyed seeing how much the athletes (and their uniforms) have changed throughout the years as well as how differently the game is played now. The book even features how technology has changed the game. For example, smart mouth guards can gather data about the impact of a collision on the player's brain. And then, it can send a report to the sideline and maybe help prevent concussions! That must be one of the "wows" that they are referring to in the title of the book!

Booking Son is a huge statistics fan and he really enjoyed seeing the section on records. It was presented in a timeline format with statistics and photos. It's a pretty cool graphic! In addition, he liked learning the old rules of the game -- that was a little bit of a surprise to me. Another section that was fun for him was the one on how much the video games have improved.

FOOTBALL THEN TO WOW! is a must-read for football fans... of all ages. Highly recommended!

Thanks to Goodman Media International, Inc. for providing a review copy of this book.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!