From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 09:01:21 -0500

Hello,

I agree with all others who have noted that sports books with the most lasting power have something else to recommend them (fiction or nonfiction), while others have temporary utility. I'll share mainly some favorite pbs or illustrated books that I think have lasting power.

The most recent one is *Ballpark* by Elisha Cooper. Cooper first wrote and illustrated books for adults, but most recently have produced picture books for younger/all age readers. He is a master of enticing, often off beat detail. It is absolutely necessary to read his pictures as well as his words (which are often pictures themselves). He takes the reader through nine innings of a baseball game at the ballpark, but he is the fan who sees the humor or interest in behind-the-scenes action most of us never see -like unloading the boxes of peanuts. His language is precise and poetic, his images often with a touch of humor. Anyone who has not yet seen Cooper's pbs has a treat in store -- sports fans or not. (and its nonlinear reading!)

As BIg Grandma said, there are lots of poems that have a sports theme. Arnold Adolf and Steve Kuzma's *Sports Pages* is, like Cooper's book, a book in which the words become pictures. It contains 37 poems about a variety of athletic experiences, often words that many athletes think but


*********************************************************************** Eliza T. Dresang, Associate Professor
                   School of Information Studies Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306!00 e-mail: edresang at mailer.fsu.edu Phone: 850 644 5877 (w) Phone: 850 224 1637 (h) FAX: 850 644 6253 (w) FAX: 850 224 1637 (h)
Received on Fri 08 Jan 1999 08:01:21 AM CST