Kid Konnection: The Football Fanbook & Giveaway

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 timely book for football fans! 

Summary: So you’re a football fan and now you want to take your passion for the game to the next level? Sports Illustrated Kids The Football Fanbook is just what you need. A key addition to every young sports fanatic’s library, The Football Fanbook is filled with fun trivia and unique lingo to impress your friends, illustrated behind-the-skills how-to’s, important game-winning strategies, and much more. Readers will sound like experts in no time. -- Sports Illustrated Kids

When August hits, there is definitely building excitement for the Booking Mama Family -- it's almost football season! We are huge Penn State football fans; and now that Booking Daughter will be a freshman there, we finally decided to bite the bullet and get season tickets. My husband and Booking Son are major fantasy football players, so Red Zone is on non-stop in our house every Sunday. In fact, our fall weekends kind of revolve around football.

So when THE FOOTBALL FANBOOK: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BECOME A GRIDIRON KNOW-IT-ALL by Gary Gramling arrived, Booking Son was beside himself. Truth be told, I wasn't entirely sure he'd be interested in it because he already considers himself a "gridiron know-it-all." However, he was extremely excited because "this book has stats." Actually, THE FOOTBALL FANBOOK is aimed at kids who are interested in the sport, and it's a little more detailed that some of the other kids' sports books that I've covered on this blog.

THE FOOTBALL FANBOOK is an excellent book full of trivia about football and the teams... and it does include lots of statistics. In fact, the first chapter is titled Know These Numbers -- the starts and figures NFL fans should recite by heart. It is followed by these chapters: Obscure Facts, Skills to Master, Think Like a Coach, He Reminds Me Of..., Team Tidbits, and Talk the Talk. There is plenty of football lingo and even some coaching terms and strategies for kids wanting to go to the next level with football knowledge.

As a mom, I liked quite a few things about this book too. First, I love that it's aimed at an older audience. The book is geared for kids, but it goes way beyond the basics. There really aren't a lot of kids' sports books like this one. I also loved the overall look and feel of this book. There are so many colorful photographs and unique ways to teach kids about the game. For example, there are charts, graphs, and illustrations which provide the basics, but there are also some really funny captions and explanations that make learning fun!

I had to grab this book out of my son's room to prepare this review. Usually, he waits until I review a book before claiming it but I think he couldn't help himself with THE FOOTBALL FANBOOK. It really is the perfect book for him... and other kids who love sports. I highly recommend this book for home and school libraries!



Thanks to Blue Slip Media for providing a review copy of this book.

Lucky for you, I have a copy of THE FOOTBALL FANBOOK to share with one lucky reader. To enter, just fill out the form below before Friday, August 18th at 11:59 p.m. EST. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. addresses only. Good luck!

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!