Hockey & Other Sports
Are there actually other sports?
Pick up these books at your favourite bookstore or order online by clicking on the title(s) in the June Recommendations box at the right side of this page.
by Nikki Tate
Wondering what to do with young hockey fans now that the NHL season is over? Fortunately, there are all sorts of books (both fiction and non-fiction) with sporty themes to keep hockey fans happy until those first pre-season games show up in our living rooms this fall.
Any Books by Sigmund BrouwerWhether your young sports lover is a reluctant reader or one of those voracious bookaholics who sneaks books under the covers, Sigmund Brouwer is an author you’ll want to investigate. Brouwer is a prolific and popular author who always seems to have a new book coming out. His books for children range from first chapter books to novels for teens. Known for his fast-paced adventure stories, Brouwer’s books often include a mystery component. Using humour, snappy dialogue, and plenty of plot twists and turns, Brouwer’s novels also include lots of great sports action. His hockey novels (which include
Tiger Threat,
Rebel Glory,
All-Star Pride,
Blazer Drive, and others) appeal to reluctant readers looking for an exciting read with plenty of action both on and off the ice. For younger readers, the Timberwolf books in the Orca Echoes series focus on the Timberwolf hockey team and their often humourous antics.
Readers looking for a change of sports scenery might also want to check out some of Brouwer’s other titles.
Cobra Strike is about football,
Hurricane Power focuses on a young track star,
Scarlet Thunder is set against the backdrop of film-making and stock car racing,
Maverick Mania is about soccer,
Titan Clash is a basketball story, and
Tiger Heat is a sports mystery with a baseball twist.
Sports Facts and Puzzle BooksFor children who like to write in their books, the
All-Star Sports Puzzles books by Jesse Ross include a range of pencil-and-paper puzzles about soccer, baseball, basketball and hockey in each of four correspondingly titled books. The author is a sports fan and trivia nut and plays various sports recreationally. His sense of fun and passion for his subject are evident in these entertaining books. A different sort of puzzle or quiz graces each page, and nuggets of trivia are sprinkled throughout each volume. The series makes excellent fodder for the child who enjoys rattling off obscure facts and statistics.
Three other titles will appeal to readers who like to study facts, figures, statistics, trivia and puzzles. Scholastic
Canada’s Book of Hockey Lists by broadcaster and writer Paul Romanuk is just that—a collection of lists of all things hockey. From famous quotes to hockey blunders to favourite pre-game meals, all sorts of information about the history, people, and oddities of Canada’s game are laid out in list format.
Faceoff! Hockey Games, Facts, and Fun, by Jeff Sinclair is another book that encourages young hockey nuts to trade their sticks and pads for pencils and erasers. Cartoon-style colour illustrations give this book a playful feel and make it inviting for younger readers.
Each year, my young nephew (yes, a rabid hockey fan) eagerly awaits the arrival of Paul Romanuk’s newest edition of
Hockey Superstars, which features splashy full-colour photographs of some of the NHL’s most popular players. With player stats, quotes, trivia, and engaging commentary, it’s no wonder that readers look forward to reading about some of the league’s top players in each new volume.
Local sports writer and author Jeff Rud has written a number of sports-themed books including
Steve Nash: The Making of an MVP. His children’s novels include
Crossover and
In the Paint (basketball),
High and Inside (baseball), and
First and Ten (football). Rud is also the author of
Canucks Legends: Vancouver’s Hockey Heroes (Raincoast, 2006), so if hockey is really the only sport that gets much airtime in your household, Rud can help out.
Extreme Sports Books
For readers who enjoy extreme sports requiring equipment like kayaks, mountain bikes, wakeboards, dirt bikes and surfboards, don’t forget Pam Withers’ Take it to the Xtreme series. The tenth novel about 15-year-old best friends Jake and Peter is now out and focuses on a new sport, mountain boarding.
Mountain Board Maniacs (Walrus Books) takes place on the rough slopes of some of the biggest mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Readers who have enjoyed some of the other high-octane adventures in this series will find the same fast pace, thrills and spills for which Withers has become well known.
Who knows? Perhaps the sport of reading will eclipse Hockey Night in Canada in sports-crazed households across the nation. Or, maybe not. Even I don’t read when the Canucks have a big game!
Nikki Tate is an author who lives on Vancouver Island. Kids who like to write should visit Nikki’s website at www.tarragonisland.com or www.stablemates.net.
