Any sports aficionado will easily be lost in these pages.
The title says it all.
There will certainly be the temptation to ask if some of these endeavors are sports at all. Rolling down a hill in a plastic ball (aka “zorbing”)? Professional-grade pillow fighting? Lawn-mower racing, or rushing about in a toilet bowl? Extreme ironing (that’s with an ironing board and laundry, up high on some radical rock spire)? But, ultimately, this collection of odd-fellow sports is good fun. You can see it on the faces of the participants pictured here—just joy, or terror or complete flabbergastation, though thoroughly in the moment. Each sport gets a two-page spread, and its depiction can be somewhat hectic and haphazard. Yet the photographs and artwork are sharp and nicely illustrative of the strange happenings. The text is bell-clear as well, if a little overloaded with exclamation marks: “Inuit even skip rocks on ice!” Birmingham has done her homework, however, and come up with some of the most bizarre sporting stories to be told, including a football game during which the fog got so dense, the players couldn’t see the ball and the baseball game that lasted 33 innings (only 19 fans were in the bleachers at the end).
Any sports aficionado will easily be lost in these pages. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-926973-60-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
“Bizarre” barely covers some of the wacky incidents Tocher gathers from baseball history. A trainer inserted a severed ear into “Sweet Lou” Johnson’s abdomen after a bus accident (for temporary safekeeping), and it was never removed. Mets outfielder Joe Christopher was able to move his cap around by wriggling his ears. Ineffective Giants hurler Cliff Melton tipped off batters to his pitches during his delivery because his ears were so big they blocked out the stands behind his head. And that’s just “All Ears,” the first of nine thematic “Innings,” each presented as a set of simply drawn cartoon panels threaded with terse commentary and the occasional punchline. Though a little knowledge of the game will make it easier to appreciate some of these feats and mishaps, even nonfans will wince at the account of a fan who was hit by a foul ball twice during the same at-bat, marvel at the achievements of one-handed pitcher Jim Abbott and laugh at the generally futile attempts to catch balls (or in one messy case, a grapefruit) dropped from the top of the Washington Monument, a passing stunt plane and other high points. An easy pitch, particularly to reluctant or inexpert readers. (Nonfiction browsing item. 9-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5813-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In sports, just as in every other endeavor, women have had to struggle to be accepted, let alone recognized—same as it ever was. Stout profiles five women who pioneered their gender’s place in sports theretofore the exclusive preserve of males. It might have been nearly a century ago, as in the case of swimmer Gertrude Ederle, who swam the English Channel in 1926, and Louise Stokes and Tidye Pickett, America’s first African-American women in the Olympic games (in 1932 and in Berlin’s notorious 1936 venue). More recent pioneers include the jockey Julie Krone, who won the Belmont Stakes in 1993, and Danica Patrick, who won an Indy-car race in 2008. Stout tells their stories with bubbly enthusiasm, exploring the roots of their interest and ably conveying the joy they found in their respective endeavors. Despite the high level of their achievements, he draws them as natural talents, not as freaks of nature. There is much here of perseverance and courage, of training and sacrifice, but what Stout zeroes in on is a moment of triumph, whether it be a checkered flag or breaking the color barrier. Never patronizing, he captures both grit and glory in a fast-paced package that goes down easy even as it inspires. (Collective biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: April 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-41725-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Sandpiper
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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