Title/Author:
“S is for the Stanley Cup: A Hockey
Championship Alphabet” by Mike Ulmer, illustrated by Chris Lyons
Tags:
Ice Hockey, championship, children’s book
Publish date:
August 15, 2017
Length:
32 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
The Stanley Cup is one
of the best known and much loved championship trophies in sports. It has a colorful history and many
interesting tales outside of the hockey rink.
In this book written for children ages 6 to 9, Mike Ulmer tells this
history and some other related hockey poems in poems that start with each
letter alphabetically. To go with each
poem, a short story consisting of one or two paragraphs will further explain
the word used to start the poem and its importance to hockey.
While most of the
letters are devoted to the Stanley Cup, there are poems and stories about
players, funny events with the trophy such as baptizing babies and even a
parade of Zambonis. The latter is the last page of the book and describes the
1997 Zamboni parade in St. Paul, Minnesota to celebrate being awarded a
franchise before a new arena was built.
While the stories and
poems make for fun reading by themselves, the illustrations by Chris Lyons are
the best features of this book. The
drawings of famous players such as Jacques Plante, Wayne Gretzky and Mark
Messier are especially impressive as Lyons is able to capture their facial
features in good detail so that adults who are reading along with the child
will be able to easily recognize these players.
If a child is
interested in hockey, then this book is one that he or she should read. The
child will learn a lot about the game and smile at some of the funny stories
and have that learning enhanced by the wonderful illustration.
I wish to thank Sleeping
Bear Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
Hardcover
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