Books That Heal Kids: sportsmanship

Showing posts with label sportsmanship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sportsmanship. Show all posts

Book Review: Lucia Lacorte Poor Sport

Author: Christianne Jones
Illustrator: Marisa Morea

From the Book Jacket: Lucia Lacorte LOVES games, but she HATES to lose. When she loses, she stomps and screams and cries in dramatic fashion. And when she wins, it's even worse! Lucia Lacorte is a very POOR SPORT. Can anyone convince her that being a good sport is what puts the FUN in fun and games?

Why It's On My Bookshelf: This is a good story about someone who wants to win at all costs. But sadly, the cost is losing friends because no one wants to be around someone who is bragging about winning all the time. Lucia gets a taste of her own medicine when her grandpa teaches her a lesson about sportsmanship by being a poor sport when they play a game. Next year I want to really focus on sportsmanship with the kids in our school. This is a great update to my bookshelf and I will be using it as part of my rotation to teach sportsmanship skills. 

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Book Review: The Day Dad Joined My Soccer Team


By: Maureen Fergus and Mike Lowery

From the Book Jacket: When Coach asks for a parent volunteer to help with the team, Dad is excited. He runs to the bench, pulls on a jersey and...completely forgets his manners. Dad complains about having to play defense (BORING) and thinks playing soccer is all about WINNING. He kicks practice balls everywhere and throws a HAIRY FIT when things don't go his way. Dad is NOT a team player! 

In this hilarious role reversal, a young boy's patience is tested as he desperately tries to teach his dad how to behave on the field. 

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Once in awhile I have teachers ask me to come in and help teach and reinforce good sportsmanship when things seem to be escalating on the playground. I was so happy to see this new title. I don't have a lot of picture books on sportsmanship and this one is a winner! It's engaging and really helps show the difference between a poor sport and a team player. If you have a kiddo who is stomping off during a game or throwing a big fit over not winning - this one is sure to help you!

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Book Review: Better Than You

Author: Trudy Ludwig
Illustrated by Adam Gustavson
Interest Level: Ages 6 and Up

From the Book Jacket: Tyler's neighbor Jake brags about everything. Tyler can't show Jake a basketball move, a school assignment, or a new toy without Jake saying he can do better - and it leaves Tyler feeling like he shouldn't even try. With help from his uncle Kevin, Tyler begins to understand that Jake's bragging has nothing to do with Tyler's own abilities. Jake's story gives kids insight into what lies beneath the urge to brag and shows them how adopting a "better than you" attitude can break friendships rather than build them.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Author Trudy Ludwig continues to help the kids in my school with yet another awesome book. Does she read my mind or something? I'm always complaining there are not enough good ones out there on sportsmanship and bragging. These behaviors can be big problems for children and cause many an unhappy face in the classroom or on the playground. Lets not forget the headache they cause the adults too!

You are gonna love the metaphor of a pufferfish Trudy uses to give insight as to what's behind these bragging attitudes. "But when a kid acts like a pufferfish, he takes up so much space that he can also push away friends." Light bulbs were flashing all through my audience as I read that page. This was so helpful to me as a teaching tool. I made an outline of a pufferfish on the board so we could get some brainstorming/discussion rolling.

I love the ending of her story. Trudy doesn't sugarcoat it with a "and then we made up and were bff's." Tyler decides in the end to go his own way with a new friend - one that doesn't have issues. One of the students yelled out, "Yes! He chose a friendly fish. Like a dolphin!" Ha ha. Kids need to be reminded they don't have to stick around and be beat up emotionally by bad behavior. When I look around our playground I see kids in that sidekick position. But I got to make an impact on them with this great new story. Maybe they will start making some new friendship choices. It seems likely........

Keep em' coming Trudy.     

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Trudy Ludwig Has a New Book Out

  
Better Than You
Author: Trudy Ludwig
Illustrated by Adam Gustavson
Publisher: Tricycle Press
Interest Level: Ages 6 and Up

From the Book Jacket: Tyler's neighbor Jake brags about everything. Tyler can't show Jake a basketball move, a school assignment, or a new toy without Jake saying he can do better - and it leaves Tyler feeling like he shouldn't even try. With help from his uncle Kevin, Tyler begins to understand that Jake's bragging has nothing to do with Tyler's own abilities.

Jake's story gives kids insight into what lies beneath the urge to brag and shows them how adopting a "better than you" attitude can break friendships rather than build them. This sensitive story will prove a welcome resource for any parent, teacher, or counselor.

My official review is coming on this one soon....but it already gets an A+.........
I was excited to receive Better Than You in the mail today by one of my favorite authors - Trudy Ludwig. I believe some of my comments after reading it were....."awesome" "love it" "right on Trudy!" I'm excited about it. It's really gonna change kids - for the better of course! So I'm going to do another review on this book after I read it to the kiddos at school. But I'm letting you know about this new one now because you're going to want to order it and get it in your Trudy Ludwig collection of books. And if you don't have a collection - get ALL of her books. They're great!

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Book Review: Ninja Cowboy Bear

The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear
Author: David Bruins
Illustrator: Hilary Leung
Interest Level: Ages 4-8

A Note from the Publisher:

The Way of the Ninja
Author: David Bruins
Illustrator: Hilary Leung
Interest Level: Ages 4-8

A Note From the Publisher:



Why They Are On My Bookshelf: These both were a hit. Especially with the boys when they heard their favorite word in the world....NINJA! I also got lots of giggles when I read the title. Ahhh...perfect opportunity to talk about how all three characters are SO different yet are total buddies. The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear is all about navigating through the hard parts of friendship. Ninja, Cowboy, and Bear get themselves into an argument over bragging rights about who is the best. I think we all know how that will turn out. Lots of arguing and hurt feelings! All three go their separate ways to do some thinking and calming down. Really appreciated the teaching moment those pages provided to students. When we are upset, it's okay to walk away for awhile until you can come back with the intention to heal the problem. And that they do!

Author David Bruins other book, The Way of the Ninja, has another great teachable moment in it. What the kids and I got out of it is if you are going to have the "it's my way or the highway" attitude with your friends...don't be surprised to find yourself alone. Which can be boring and lonely! I did a lot of role playing centered around this. Discussion: What can we do when other kids don't want to play the game we have chosen? What can you do if kids are playing a game you don't want to play? Friendship takes compromise. Also, I actually have a ninja puppet I used for our role playing! Yes, cool points for the school counselor.

Check out the Ninja, Cowboy, Bear website to download the Ninja Cowboy Bear paper dolls to create your own role plays with kids. LOVE IT! Plus, they have all other kinds of cool stuff to check out. Love me a book website!

These are seriously rad.
By the way, these both have a lot of great vocabulary words for kids to learn like merrymaking, buffoonery, hilarity, agility, precision......very cool.

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Book Review: Sam Is Not a Loser

Author: Thierry Robberecht
Illustrator: Philippe Goossens
Interest Level: Ages 5-8

About This Book: Sam loves to play games—but he doesn’t like to lose. So when his soccer team is playing against a team of bigger kids, Sam decides not to play. But if he doesn’t even play, how can he ever win?

But I won't play if I'm not going to win.
I was so angry I knocked over the game and ran to my room.

Given the popularity of children’s sports, especially soccer, this is a timely topic. It’s handled here with the gentle humor, fresh feel, and relatable characters that this author/illustrator team has become known for, and the adorable art and bright colors are right on target for the very young audience.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: The title, Sam Is Not a Loser, made me think this book might be about name calling or bullying. But it is all about sportsmanship. Three cheers! Hip Hip Hooray! I cheer because my shelf only holds a few picture books on sportsmanship. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of good ones out there. So here's why I dig this one - Sam does not like to lose, ever! Know any kids like that? Adults? Oh, I do! Plenty of them. Just come out to any recess and you will see a handful of kids participating in all kinds of unsportsmanlike behavior. Kids feel like they are failures when they lose, forgetting that it's the effort that counts - and that they tried. When kids play games or sports there are so many teachable moments from fairness, cooperation, to hardwork. Sam is Not a Loser is another tool to teach kids how to lose with grace and win with humility. This is a sportsmanship book that belongs on your shelf.

PS. Remember, good sports starts with us (the adults)!

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Book Review: Winners Never Quit

Author: Mia Hamm
Illustrated by Carol Thompson

Interest Level: K-3


About This Book: Mia's favorite sport is soccer but she hates losing. In fact, she dislikes it so much that she quits in the middle of a game. Upset about her attitude, her siblings do not let her participate the next day. Mia learns quickly that there will be times when she will score a goal and those when she will not, but playing the game is the most fun of all. Can Mia learn that being a team player is more important than whether you win or lose? The text represents the mixed feelings of all athletes learning the game. Parents or coaches wanting a story about the joy of playing soccer without emphasizing winning or losing will find an appropriate read-aloud here. Review from School Library Journal

Why It's On My Bookshelf: I'm amazed at the number of kids who don't even know what the word 'sportsmanship' means. Just another reason to add this one to your shelf. Whatever happened to - 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.' Sportsmanship can be a HUGE troublesome issue at my school. I have often seen competitiveness get the best of students.....yelling at each other, stomping away from a game, just generally becoming super disrespectful and caring more about winning than one another's feelings. We've taken this issue on at our school by posting the rules, modeling respect, and even drafting a Sports Constitution that all classes sign. Is this an issue at your school? Is your child struggling with sportsmanship? Winners Never Quit is a great example of poor vs. good sportsmanship. Children are highly engaged as I am reading and it opens up the conversation of how they can alter their behavior.  

PS. Way to go Mia Hamm! Thank you for using your celebratory in the right way. There are also pictures of Mia as a little girl playing soccer in the back of the book. Way cool.


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