H is For Home Run: A Baseball Alphabet by Brad Herzog

H is For Home Run: A Baseball Alphabet by Brad Herzog, illustrated by Melanie Rose

Rating: 4.5 stars

Maybe because I'm a cheapskate, I really like this series of alphabet books published by Sleeping Bear Press.  They appeal to a wide level of readers, so they are wonderful books to grow with and grow into.

Take H is For Home Run.  Newly 3 year old Kiefer can sit and page through it by himself, looking at the bright, big illustrations by Melanie Rose about a sport about which his family is currently focused.  He can pick out the letters that he knows--K, L, B, M, and D…  I can read the first layer of story to him. That first layer is the rhyming text, the two lines dedicated to each letter and, therefore, each baseball-themed thing.  In these lines, Herzog has thrown in as many words that start with that letter, so Kiefer hears that letter again and again, reinforcing the sound the letter makes, as he also looks at the letter on the page.

D is for the diamond, a delightful design
That gives us daring double plays and doubles down the line.

5 1/2 year old Ben can read most of these words himself, so this is a challenging read-alone book for him.  He's still happy to have me read it to him (and I'm happy to read it to him).  And alongside each letter, next to each wonderful illustration, are a few paragraphs that give more details about that baseball-themed thing.  For D, for example, readers learn that a baseball field

is called a diamond because the infield is a square turned on its edge with a base located at each corner. D is also for dugouts.  Generally, the home team's dugout is on the third-base side of the diamond and the visiting team's is on the first-base side. 

The double play is a fielding play in which two outs are recorded.  It might be an infielder "forcing out" a player at second base before throwing out the batter at first base.  Or it might be an outfielder catching a fly ball and then throwing out a runner trying to advance to the next base.  It might even happen when a batter strikes out while a runner is caught stealing. 

D is also for designated hitter (DH).  Since 1973 the American League has used a DH in the lineup to bat in place of the pitcher.  In the National League and Little League, the pitcher bats for himself.

And 7 year old Lorelei can read all of this, maybe to herself or, if he's lucky, to one of her little brothers.

There's something for everyone.  Cheapskate me and Parentingkate me are both happy!


For a complete list of titles of these alphabet books by Sleeping Bear Press, please click HERE.

G is for Gold Medal by Brad Herzog, illustrated by Doug Bowles

G is for Gold Medal: An Olympic Alphabet by Brad Herzog, illustrated by Doug Bowles

Rating: 5 stars (or just one gold medal)

HURRY!  If you order this book RIGHT NOW it'll arrive at your house before the Opening Ceremonies!

We ordered our copy about a week ago and the kids were super excited to look through it.  I don't really make a big deal out of a lot of things.  I drag my feet in decorating for Halloween (much to Lorelei the Decorator's chagrin).  I force myself to put something green on their plate for St Patrick's Day (last year was guacamole.  I know...mommy demerit for me).

But the Olympics!  The OLYMPICS!  THIS is a reason for all caps and exclamation marks if I've ever had one!

I was a horseback rider growing up.  Did you know that I was the (ahem) state champion of Hawaii in both English and Western in 1990?  (It helped to have only two opponents and a cute pony named Flashdance.)  Anyway, I really believed when I was little that I would ride in the Olympics.  I was dedicated and had a lot of talent--but not the money.  When I was a child of an Army officer, I didn't realize that my leased pony was worth about as much as one unshod hoof of an Olympic steed.

But you know what?  No matter.  I believed, and I dreamed.  And I wasn't too disappointed when reality caught up with me. realized that life would not include the Games.  Sports--mostly riding, but also running--helped channel my energy into healthy pursuits.

My husband and I totally get into the Games.  We watch them as much as possible, even non-TV me.  Track and field, gymnastics, and horseback riding are my favorites.  We explain to Lorelei and Ben how much the athletes have to train, how hard they have to work, how much they have to want it.  I am inspired by these athletes, and I know they'll see that and get a little inspired in their own way, too.

It's hard to find ANY book about the Olympics, and I'm glad to say that this is a really good one that explains what the Games are about.  If you're not familiar with these alphabet books by Herzog, there are two ways to read them--first, a short poem for each letter that make the book a good sit-in-my-lap-for-a-bit-and-read book; second, an additional description of that letter-inspired theme that would take about 20-30 minutes to read out loud, but would really provide a ton of information to a curious kid.  Each one is informative and insightful.  It took us one long lunch to read this book; Lorelei and Ben had a bunch of (wonderful) questions that I was excited they asked and therefore took my time answering.

But the pictures are what make this book excellent.  They are HUGE in scale; they are drawn to draw in all these little eyes that are looking at the book, and hopefully watching a bit of the Games.  The illustrations are slightly bigger than life, and I found myself looking through the book once again after bedtime.

The Olympics only come once every four years, of course, so I think it's worth making them a BIG DEAL in your house, too.  Even if you're annoyed by these ALL CAPS and exclamation points!

(I'm excited.  What can I say?!)

P.S.  One of the other few books I can find with any Olympic storyline is the wonderful Koala Lou, which is also my very first blog post.