The Greatest Moments in Sports [Hardcover]

Len Berman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009 | Age Range: 9 and up | Lexile Measure: 820L (What's this?)

Experience all the action of the GREATEST MOMENTS IN SPORTS!

If you had to pick the greatest thing in sports you'd ever seen, what would it be?

Was it a miraculous comeback?
An amazing catch?
A game-winning buzzerbeater?
Or something completely different?

The best thing about sports is that you never know when a great moment is going to happen. And everyone has a different opinion about what the greatest moments are. Sportscaster Len Berman reveals his favorite moments in sports and offers this challenge—what are yours?

Hear the cheers, create and share your own memories, and let the debate begin! Plus, the included CD features many of the actual broadcasts—you'll hear all the drama and excitement as it happened!

HEAR THE ACTUAL BROADCASTS OF:

• DAVID TYREE'S Super Bowl helmet catch
• WAYNE GRETZKY breaking the NHL scoring record
• A RECEPTION SO GREAT they call it "immaculate"
• MICHAEL JORDAN'S championship buzzer-beater
• and SIX MORE GREAT MOMENTS on an EXCLUSIVE AUDIO CD.

PLUS DISCOVER THE INSIDE STORY BEHIND:

• How a young Tiger Woods destroys the field to win his first major championship
• Why one race-car driver is called "The King"
• College basketball's biggest upset
• When Babe Ruth tells a pitcher where he'll hit his home run—then does it

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–9—Forty years as a sportscaster gives Berman plenty of experience to choose the 25 greatest sports moments. His writing is lively, humorous, and informative—just right to sustain kids' (or adults') interest. Quality photos throughout are another plus. Each of the entries for the individuals chosen includes a brief biographical profile with birth date, birthplace, height, weight, and a fact about their accomplishments. Other boxes feature interesting trivia such as the price of a baseball ticket in the 1930s being a little more than a dollar. Another describes the amazing typical breakfast for swimmer Michael Phelps. An audio CD that includes many of the moments as they were broadcast live is part of the package. A "Listen to the Moment" icon appears in the text to cue readers. Another positive is that definitions of various terms (e.g., horse racing's Triple Crown) are in the text instead of in a separate glossary. Of course, there are a few minor details that aren't so great, too. Only two women: Nadia Comaneci (her perfect 10 performance in the 1976 Olympics) and Billy Jean King (her highly publicized match against Bobby Riggs in 1973) and one women's team (1999 U.S. Women's World Cup Soccer) are highlighted. Arthur Ashe's profile (his 1975 Wimbledon Championship) omits the cause of his early death and his fight against AIDS discrimination. Nonetheless, this is an excellent choice for anyone who is into sports.—Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

There is always room to quibble about the choice of selections in any compilation of great sports events, and in this one, it could be argued that there is a bias toward male athletes. Of the 24 great moments highlighted, only 3 involve women. The pages feature a good mix of sports, however, with baseball, football, and basketball covered along with horse racing and boxing, and in some cases, the chapters move beyond moments to cover entire fascinating careers. Berman, a sportscaster, recounts each event in an appropriate gee-whiz tone, which is carried over to his narration on an accompanying CD that gives play-by-play audio highlights of many of the events covered in the book. One puzzler: Berman describes Wayne Gretzky’s hometown of Brantford, Ontario (population over 90,000) as a “tiny town.“ Still, readers and browsers will enjoy paging through this compendium’s stories and action-filled photos. Grades 6-9. --Todd Morning

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky; HAR/COM edition (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402220995
• ISBN-13: 978-1402220999
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Girl Scouts & Girl Guides

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for parent/child bonding! November 17, 2009

By David Johnston

Format:Hardcover

My son LOVES this book and I am loving the interaction it has brought us as well. My six year old son looks through the book, picks out the next sport he wants to read about, and then we learn about the characters (we are reading about boxing tonight and basketball after that!). He's so into it, he actually brushes his teeth early so we can have time to read the book together!

Thus far, we've read the US Women's soccer, Miracle on Ice, Secretariat, and David Tyree's catch. Each time, we've listened to the CD audio clip and then gone on to the computer and watched various videos/highlights of each event.

Early highlights:

- My son now has ingrained in his head that the Preakness will always run around his birthday and is held in the city where a friend of his just moved to and he now wants to go to it! Tremendous.

- My son now understands that when a team is supposed to lose, but wins, it is called an UPSET. Priceless.

I highly recommend this book to any parent who enjoys bonding with their child (while educating him/her about some of the greatest sports moments, figures, and teams of all time.

Lastly, I am also purchasing a bunch to give to clients as holiday presents - nothing better than to give a gift that will keep on giving - and hopefully they'll think of me occassionally!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, Makes a great gift! September 16, 2010

By Daniel S. Higgins Jr.

Format:Hardcover

This book is accessible to both pre-teens without being patronizing at all. Its really a reference that can be enjoyed many times between parents and their children. Any child into sports will certainly enjoy this book, and it is also worth checking out "The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time" by Len Berman which was also released recently and is very similar in style.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Apparently, a hit! May 3, 2011

By fergie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I sent this to my young sports obsessed nephew as part of his birthday present. From what I have been told, he didn't want to put it down when he got it. I have not seen the book because I had it shipped directly to him, but apparently it is well written and interesting enough to keep a seven year old boy reading!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great For The Budding Sports Generalist February 27, 2011

By Zachary Koenig

Format:Hardcover

This neat little book serves two primary purposes:

First, it will allow the budding sports enthusiast to read about some of the greatest feats in all of the sporting world. Baseball, football, tennis, hockey, basketball, Olympics, and more are covered in the volume. The information is far too general to appeal to the more seasoned sports fan, but for the beginner it is perfect.

Also, in order to grab those young imaginations even further, a CD is included that allows you to listen to some of the events actually taking place. About 10 of the events described in the book are on the CD in their original broadcast form, which brings the excitement to life just that much more.

Basically, if your young sports fan is already watching Sportscenter and reading history books, skip this effort because it is too simple/general. However, if the youngster is just beginning to tune into the magic of sports, you can't go wrong with "The Greatest Moments In Sports"!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! January 30, 2010

By Alan D. Hale

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Exellent book and CD. Although it is supposed to be for teenagers, it was just as good for adults as well!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book for young sports fans December 14, 2009

By LJJ

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son saw this book in SI kids and wanted it for his birthday. It is great! The cd is great too,,,,,just to listen to those wonder moments, especially the US hockey miracle. My son even read the entire book! and listened to the cd. Great for young and old alike!From the Babe- to Hank-.Arthur Ashe-Michael Phelps-Billie Jean King- Nadia-Jackie-Roger Bannister-Jordan-the 69 Mets-Gretzky-Jesse Owens-Ali-Wilt Chamberlain- it's all here. My son could learn about famous moments from the past too!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read February 19, 2010

By The Pampered Lamb

Format:Hardcover

Wow! I love the way this book is written. It's not pretentious and while sport fans will flock to it, this is great for sport historians, people wanting to get into sports and of course...kids!

The pictures chosen were perfect, the stories were just told as stories, and not in an elitist "you should know this to call yourself a sport fan" way. While there were a lot of stats given, for sports newbies, they were presented in an easy to understand manner. For those that like to collect stats, all the info is neatly presented.

My son loved/s this book. It's fun, colorful, and full of imagery. Most importantly, this book isn't written for boys. It's written for kids (although to be honest, I enjoyed it just as much). There are so many sports covered in the book, that your child is sure to find one that he will become obsessed with and make you read to them over and over.

The CD that is included with this book is also great. After you read the stories, you can pop in the CD and listen to the first hand accounts of what you just read. That alone is worth it. Having a sports themed party? This is the perfect goody-bag book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Gift Idea January 7, 2010

By Bert Beattie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this for my son and he loves it. At 8 years old he has other interests besides sports right now but he wants to get into the same stuff as dad. This was a great way for us to talk sports together!