SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Kids BIG BOOK OF WHY

I received a copy Sports Illustrated Kids Big Book of Why Sports Edition of from the publisher and am so happy to have this one to add to my classroom this year. I know already that it will definitely be a popular one.

The book is filled with interesting facts about sports. (The cover states that there are 500+ Sports Facts in the book!)  The facts cover lots of sports and lots of topics.  At first I thought I'd pull out lots of math facts--statistics, measurements, etc. to keep handy for math work. But as I read through the book, although I found some number facts (Why is a standard marathon 26.2 miles?), I found far more interesting facts about words:



Why is football called soccer in America?
Why is it called a turkey when you get three straight strikes in bowling?
Why do baseball players sometimes "choke up" on the bat?
Why is the middle of an archery target called a bulls eye?
Why are some dunks called alley-oops?
Why is the home of the Boston Red Sox names Fenway Park?

I learned so many interesting things in this book and can see pulling it out for word study minilessons all year. If I can get my hands on it, that is.  I think kids are going to love this book. I sometimes worry about books with random facts spread all over the page, because so often, kids merely skim and scan and never really get to the reading part.  But this one seems very accessible for kids.  There are 2-3 facts per page with a paragraph or two about each fact. It seems like the pieces are the perfect length for kids to read and the font and layout is not intimidating at all.  Very inviting and filled with great stuff!