Good Sports (by Jack Prelutsky)

This collection of poems captures the thrill, fun, and even the boredom of various sports.

You don't have to love poetry to love this rollicking collection of sports poems. Kids who may think poetry is a pretty stodgy art form best left to their elders get a chance to see all that words can do. Kids will identify with the athletes, including star players and those who are just happy to be playing -- like the swimmer who swims "like a fish / That's been sick for a spell." These are kids who play for the love of the game and their enthusiasm, caught in Jack Prelutsky's adept rhymes, will inspire the same in readers.

Chris Raschka's watercolor-and-ink illustrations loop, leap, and fly about with his signature high-energy style. He does a remarkable job of creating vibrancy and action in a static medium and it's his pictures that make the book stand out.