The books in The Big Game series discuss a variety of popular sports by way of their associated championship games. Featuring colorful photographs and historic moments, the books will capture sports fans’ attention with engaging details and a fitting feeling of excitement. In NBA Finals, readers will get a feel for the structure of the finals (playoff games, Eastern and Western Conference teams) and learn about the history of teams and players that have been a part of the finals, such as Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Tennis Grand Slam introduces the four tournaments that comprise the Grand Slam (the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open) in addition to covering dramatic moments on the court and tennis stars (primarily women). Triple Crown covers the history of horse racing, in particular the three races that make up the Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes), and features the famous few horses—Secretariat, Citation, and American Pharoah among them— that have snagged this rare honor. Baseball’s Fall Classic is covered in World Series, which provides a history of the Yankees and an overview of championship teams and star players. Fast facts, fascinating stats, trivia, and an activity prompt make these high-interest books fun to read individually or share together with friends.

Athletes put in lifetimes of work to make it to the big games described in this thorough series. While readers will be familiar with the championship games, they will learn the origins as well as the stories of legendary games and players in the NBA Finals, Super Bowl, and World Series. FIFA World Cup and Tennis Grand Slam provide balanced coverage of male-identifying and female-identifying athletes. The unique standout of the series is Triple Crown, as few children follow horse racing. Throughout the narratives, vocabulary terms are highlighted in a different color. Though sometimes they are left to be defined in the glossary, at other times they are defined immediately after first use. Photos of past stars, like Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals, always include small ­additional descriptions of their accomplishments. While the writing is uninspired, the content is comprehensive, making it a suitable resource for researchers. VERDICT Cherry-pick this series.