A Is for Amazing Moments: A Sports Alphabet is a beautiful picture book full of historical events that have occurred in the world of sports. For each letter of the alphabet there is a four-line poem that gives a glimpse into an event or person in American sports history, with each historical event explained more in depth with a couple of paragraphs in a sidebar. The illustrations are gorgeous and realistic oil paintings.

I read this book to my sons, ages 9, 8, 6, 5, and 3. While the short poems and the artwork held everyone's attention, the longer explanations only interested the older boys. We had some interesting conversations about a few of the athletes (such as why it was so important that Jesse Owens won four gold medals) and some fun conversations about a few of the events (such as the Immaculate Reception). And we all enjoyed reliving Michael Phelps accomplishments, who we cheered for fanatically in our living room just a few months ago. The letter U pays tribute to Jason McElwain, the ultimate Underdog (this is the young man with autism who scored 20 points for his team during the last few minutes of the last game of his senior year). This book includes athletes and events from all across the sporting spectrum: baseball, football, tennis, soccer, cycling, and even the X-games (to name a few), and it is a wonderful book for the sporting enthusiast in your life.

Product review by Courtney Larson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May 2009