fred bowen | Daddy Mojo

Hardcourt, the sweet spot of making kids want to read with art and sports

“Do you know Trae Young?” I get that a lot at school. And no, elementary school students- a person with an uncommon first name does not necessarily know all other people with that same name. However, the fact that most any kid in an elementary school knows that sports figure speaks leagues about the popularity of the NBA. Hardcourt is by Fred Bowen with illustrations by James E. Ransome. They’re the same duo that produced Gridiron, an oversized book that’s this one’s sibling in the best of all possible ways.

Hardcourt is a must-own for any elementary age fan of basketball. It’s approachable and tells stories from the first 75 years of the game that will hook readers eight and up.

Smart, approachable, and one that grades 4 and up want to drive into

Soccer Trophy Mystery, intelligent, chapter book that respects its readers

Assuming that a chapter book is based in the world of realistic fiction, and it isn’t a humor book, middle to upper-elementary school readers can smell schmaltz from a mile away. This isn’t the good variety either. This is the smelly, faux-earnest, lesson learning aroma that has the power to drive audiences away just as the DJ parts the crowds when they play a slow song at the sixth-grade dance. That was one of the things that readers will immediately recognize, and appreciate about Soccer Trophy Mystery. It’s devoid of any overt lessons that adults might want to teach and tells a believable story, complete with enough sports talk to weave in certain audiences.

Soccer Trophy Mystery is a smart chapter book that brings in sports fans to a well crafted book, or turns mglit fans onto a team sport.

A Soccer Trophy that bridges to kids that don’t dig sports

Gridiron is a middle-grade book that transcends football and kidlit

One’s appreciation of a subject matter isn’t relevant to their ability to discern the quality in it. For example, you don’t have to personally enjoy a genre of music to be aware that there is some talent that goes into making it. I am that way with sports. My knowledge of football specifically is limited to what could be written on the back of a postage stamp. Gridiron, Stories From 100 Years of the National Football League is an oversized book that is perfectly aimed at me, plus any middle-school student who happens to enjoy football or the drama of sports.

Gridiron is for book fans, as well as, football fans