Sean Tulien works as a children's book editor in Minnesota. In his free time, Sean likes to read, eat sushi, exercise outdoors, listen to loud music, play with his quirky bunny, Habibi, and his curious hamster, Buddy, and spend time with his brilliant wife, Nicolle. When he's not doing all that stuff, Sean loves to writes books like this one. Jesus Aburto has worked in the comic book industry for more than eleven years. In that time, he has illustrated popular characters such as Wolverine, Iron Man, Blade, and the Punisher. Recently, Jesus started his own illustration studio called Graphikslava. He lives in Monterrey, Mexico, with his kids Ilka, Mila, Aleph, and his beloved wife. Jesus enjoys spending his spare time with family and friends. Andres Esparza has been a graphic designer, colorist, and illustrator for many different companies and agencies. Andres now works as a full-time artist for Graphikslava studio in Monterrey, Mexico. In his spare time, Andres loves to play basketball, hang out with family and friends, and listen to good music. Fares Maese is a graphic designer and illustrator. He has worked as a colorist for Marvel Comics, and as a concept artist for the card and role-playing games Pathfinder and Warhammer. Fares loves spending time playing video games with his Graphikslava comrades, and he's an awesome drum player.
Ok, let me start out by announcing that I am NOT a sports fan. I'm
not into sports...not a sports person whatsoever. You may have
guessed this by the fact that I run a network of nerdy websites. I
mean, I review books....what'd you seriously expect, right? Here is
the thing with these releases from Capstone Kids [Stone Arch
Books]....they rock, plain and simple. Why? Read on.... I gave this
stack of books from Capstone and Sports Illustrated Kids to my own
children and they went nuts! They too aren't into sports, but these
aren't books for jocks. These are extreme sports and the focus is
really on the characters and story. The sports hobbies are really
just a backdrop. They're fun and interesting and not at all geared
just towards jocky kids. We wanted to feature this series and bring
them to your attention, whether you're a librarian, teacher or a
parent, these titles should be in your possession! They can be
purchased in hardback library binding or softcover. http:
//booklegiondotcom.blogspot.com/2010/02/sports-illustrated-kids-book-series.html--
"Book Legion"
Sports Illustrated Kids, in conjunction with Stone Arch Books,
created a series of sports related fictional comic stories for
elementary and middle school kids. The comics are designed to teach
lessons on teamwork, sharing, anger control, bullying, fair play,
disability inclusion, gender inclusion, and other lessons through a
sports framework. Both mainstream and alternative sports are
included: - Snowboarding - Baseball - Football - Basketball -
Paintball - Hockey - Skateboarding - Soccer Many of the stories
feature an overenthusiastic or even out-of-control parent or coach
who pushes a kid to be overly aggressive and win at all costs.
After a quick talk with a sage advisor they change their ways and
even apologize to the player. Okay, so it's an ending with a
pretty-bow. I'm typically more of a fan of authentic stories rather
than teachable moment morality tales or after-school specials, but
I understand the place that morality tales play in the classroom
especially with younger kids. Considering the discussion of
bullying within schools and society recently, perhaps we need more
direct instruction on how to treat other people and behave within
society. I think these would be well played on the elementary or
early middle school level, but I suspect seventh and eighth graders
might wholly reject the titles with their eye rolling, sighing and
general sardonic teenagerness. That doesn't mean they don't need
the lessons or should not have the lessons, but you might encounter
resistance. The elementary level is where this series will do its
good. Classroom teachers and even physical education teachers could
use this series to help instruct kids on the complicated issues of
bullying, ball hogging, aggression, and extreme sports pressures.
Even on the elementary level we see students pushed very hard by
parents or coaches to accel, win and often hurt or punish the other
team. Learning to deal with those pressures at an early level can
help with character development on and off the field. ART REVIEW SI
Kids comics are designed like a TV sports show with stats, bios,
and after-game interviews. The whole package is designed to engage
reluctant readers in a TV-style experience. Once hooked, it can
teach them honorable sports conduct. In a further attempt to gain
entrance into modern minds, SI Kids comics use colorized manga with
simple panel layouts, which is popular among youth. AGE
RECOMMENDATION Chris' Rating: Ages 7 and older Publisher's Reading
Level: Grades 2-3 Publisher's Interest Level: Grades 3-8 Lexile
levels, ATOS, and Guided Reading levels are available on all the
titles in the series. BE AWARE There are bullies and
ultra-aggressive parents, but they always learn their lessons in
the end. OTHER INFORMATION Publisher: Stone Arch Books Genre:
Sports Format: Reinforced Library Binding Pages: 56 Color: Full
color Google Previews are also available for some of the titles.
CHRIS' RECOMMENDATION: Recommended-- "The Graphic Classroom Blog"
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