Sports Illustrated Kids 1st and 10: Top 10 Lists of Everything in Football (Revised & Updated), by the Editors of Sports Illustrated for Kids, (July 2016, Sports Illustrated, $19.95, ISBN: 978-1-61893-173-3
Recommended for ages 8+
Do you love lists? Do you love stats? Do you love football? There’s something for everyone in this updated edition of Sports Illustrated for Kids’ book, 1st and 10: Top 10 Lists of Everything in Football. There are loads of Top 10 lists, sure: Top 10 Rivalries, Nicknames, Fantasy Performers, Stadiums, and more, but each of these lists is loaded with stats: dates, scores, major games, players, you name it. There are 36 lists in all, with some great career highlights for longtime football fans and new ones who want to learn some of the history behind the sport.
Since I’m not well-read or conversant in sports, I’ve been trying to beef up some of that knowledge so I can guide the kids at my library to books that will interest them; 1st and 10 is a great book for me to lead them to. I can easily booktalk it, because it’s quick bites of information. There are things I can focus on, like the Top 10 Artifacts (the first Super Bowl ring! A football from 1895! My inner archivist and history nerd is rejoicing!), Movies (The Replacements is a long guilty pleasure of mine), and Hairstyles (My hair on the most humid of days has nothing on Troy Polamalu). Add in the stunning photography that you’d expect from Sports Illustrated, and you have a book that collectors of any age will enjoy.
1st and 10 is part of a series of Top 10 lists for each sport: you can also add Full Count: Top 10 Lists of Everything Baseball, Slam Dunk! Top 10 Lists of Everything Basketball, Face-Off! Top 10 Lists of Everything Hockey, and The Top 10 of Everything Sports. I’ll be putting these books on my shelves, now that I know about them. They’re great go-to resources for any library that has sports fans coming through the doors.
Mom Read It 