THE FASTEST GAME ON TWO FEET

Need a clever book on sports to entice boys—and one of poetry, at that? These 19 poems, each for a different sport, score a goal. Under the title, a short paragraph establishes a context for the origin of the sport. “RUNNING: They Ran for Their Lives” posits that running began as a form of survival and self-defense; the fine line drawings humorously depict a wooly mammoth chasing cave people across the spread to a finish line. From soccer to surfing, the poems are tightly phrased and put a spin on the historical information of how the sport has evolved. O’Brien’s signature style of dappled watercolors-over-ink comically underscores the theme that sports are fun. “Sing a song of Frisbie, / A pie plate in the sky. / Hungry college students / Purchased a pie. / When the pie was eaten / One hurled the plate away. / Another caught it, wasn’t that / A super game to play?” Informative and entertaining, this is an all-around winner. One nit: The font of the explanatory paragraph is quite small. (author’s note, other anecdotes, timeline) (Poetry/informational picture book. 6-10)