Sportopedia: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Sport
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
From Volleyball to UFC, Darts to Formula 1 and Gymnastics to Table Tennis, there's something for everyone in this luxuriously large nonfiction compendium of all things sporty.
Split into nine useful sections - ball sports, combat sports, water sports, motor sports, and so on - each sport is outlined in fascinating variety, from kit to rules and pitch diagrams to interesting facts about the game. For instance, did you know that the Titanic had a squash court on board? Or that ballet tutus are forbidden in rhythmic gymnastics?
The book's beautiful, bright, child-friendly design features plenty of diverse representation; the design is clear and accessible but with plenty going on to interest casual readers or sports fanatics. Reading this will most likely introduce children to sports they've never heard of before as well as the familiar ones, including Kabaddi and Sumo Wrestling. There's also a section on the Paralympic Games as well as the Olympic Games.
It's great to see sport featured in the large, beautiful non-fiction hardback genre as it's such a huge part of many children's lives and tends to be rather under-represented in books for young readers.
