Kid Konnection: SI Kids Baseball Books

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 two books that celebrate America's greatest pastime - baseball.

Summary: Baseball: Then to WOW! shows readers how baseball has evolved from the early days of the 1920s to the game it is today. Using MLB action photographs, illustrations, stories, and trivia, the book is a journey through time both for baseball fans and those new to the game. Kids will learn how basic equipment has changed from fingerless gloves to specially tailored leather-bound mitts and how the evolution of game strategy has transformed the sport, players, and equipment. Players throughout history are stacked up against each other in every position so fans can dream up the perfect fantasy team with Babe Ruth playing alongside Hank Aaron and Reggie Jackson. A fun-filled section of the book explores everything fan culture-from the perfect ballpark frank to the importance of baseball cards and video games in popularizing the sport.

Because the 2016 baseball season started this week, I figured that it was the perfect time to share the new kids book SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS BASEBALL THEN TO WOW! This book is just terrific! Kids ages 8 - 12 who are interested in the sport will love this book as will parents. Despite being a picture book (albeit a big one!), BASEBALL THEN TO WOW! has information showing readers how baseball has changed since it began in the 1920s.

BASEBALL THEN TO WOW! is divided into the following sections: The Basics, The Players, Play Ball!, and Fan-tastic! Within each section, the game is explained from its humble beginnings to the multi-million dollar industry it has become. And believe me, there have been a lot of changes. In addition, the book has tons of photographs and drawings which help to bring the game to life. There are also tidbits about the history of the game including stories about past players as well as charts and tables with statistics.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I loved BASEBALL THEN TO WOW! It really is a comprehensive look at the sport in terms that kids can understand. The book is just pure fun to explore, and I can totally see kids looking through this book over and over again. I especially appreciated that the book had a modern twist to it. Not only did it include current players, but it also fan culture, baseball cards and even video games.

BASEBALL THEN TO WOW! is perfect for the budding baseball fan. Highly recommended by Booking Son and me!

Summary: My First Book of Baseball, the second Rookie Book from Sports Illustrated Kids, coaches young kids through the game of baseball with a visual retelling of an actual MLB game--from the first pitch to the game winning hit! Strikes, outs, steals, foul balls, home runs and more are all explained using a fun mix of Sports Illustrated action photography, simple text with engaging graphics, and a full glossary of essential baseball terms and phrases. An illustrated rookie player character also appears on every page, providing fun facts to help the next generation of fans better understand the game. Perfect for beginning readers, My First Book of Baseball is meant to be a shared reading experience between parents and their young minor league rookies before, during, and after the ball game.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS: MY FIRST BOOK OF BASEBALL: A ROOKIE BOOK is another great baseball book; however, this one is geared towards a younger audience -- ages 3 to 8. I love this Rookie Book series because they explain the sports in easy to understand terms that even the youngest fan can understand.

MY FIRST BOOK OF BASEBALL does a fantastic job of teaching the fundamentals of baseball. In fact, the book uses a virtual retelling of a game to teach the basics like strikes, innings, home runs, etc. There are fun pictures of MLB players along with colorful illustrations; and there is even a running score in the right hand corner. There are few words per page so it will keep the attention of active kids; however, the basics of baseball are all covered.

My favorite thing about MY FIRST BOOK OF BASEBALL is that it is so darn cute. The photos of the MLB players have speech bubbles which are hilarious. For example, a player running to first base is thinking, "I think I'm going to make it!;" and the first baseman is thinking, "I think we're going to get him!" There is also a little guy (like the one on the cover) who has his own set of entertaining speech bubbles.

MY FIRST BOOK OF BASEBALL is an excellent way to introduce the game of baseball to children... or adults! Highly recommended!

Thanks to the Blue Slip Media for providing review copies of these books.

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!