Playing ice hockey is very hard,"" Kalb begins, and indeed the kids he's writing for are probably still wobbly in their ankles. For them, the author of The Easy Baseball Book comes through with some down-to-earth tips on skating fast, skating backwards, and turning before proceeding to the rudiments of stick handling, passing, and shooting. With advice on selecting skates and equipment worked in along the way, it couldn't be put more succinctly or read more comfortably; yet there's enough well-aimed instruction here to keep a beginner busy all season.