Editorial Review

Kids who enjoy paging through Sports Illustrated for Kids will be delighted with The Child’s World Encyclopedia of the NFL. It’s full of color photos; significant names, terms, and events; and plenty of popular football figures. The authors are all experienced sportswriters and editors. Information is arranged alphabetically in four volumes, starting with Aikman, Troy and continuing through Zone blitz. Most articles are short, but those for important individuals can be as long as a page, and entries for teams are presented on two-page spreads and include fact boxes. Photographs are used liberally throughout. Phrases such as route runner are not always explained, and some readers may find the symbols used to denote whether the subject of an entry is a player, coach, term, team, etc., distracting. Many entries are timely, among them Brady, Tom; Edwards, Herm; Invesco Field at Mile High; Superbowl XIII; and Vick, Michael (although the dogfighting controversy is too recent to be covered), and readers will appreciate definitions for the ‘Hail Mary’ pass and Coffin corner. A thorough index and several appendixes of records and champions are found at the end of each volume. Although this is similar in appearance to the Lincoln Library of Sports Champions (8th ed., 2007), which is intended for grades 6-12, no one over middle-school age will reach for a book where The Child’s World is part of the title. Elementary and middle-school students will like finding this in the library, but it’s pretty pricey for just over 400 pages. A nice addition to school and public libraries where affordable.