________________ CM . . . . Volume XIV Number 5 . . . . October 26, 2007

cover

Scholastic Canada Book of Hockey Lists.  

Paul Romanuk. Illustrated by Bill Dickson.
Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2007.
154 pp., pbk., $9.99.
ISBN 978-0-439-93562-3.

Subject Heading:
Hockey-Miscellanea-Juvenile literature.

Grades 4 and up / Ages 9 and up.

Review by Tanya Boudreau.

*** /4

excerpt:

Great Goals Paul Henderson Canada vs. USSR, September 28, 1972

The eighth, and deciding, game of the Team Canada vs. U.S.S.R. Summit Series. The score was tied 5-5 with less than a minute to play. Phil Esposito dug the puck loose behind the net and passed it out in front of Paul Henderson. Henderson scored with 34 seconds remaining, and Canada won the game 6-5. It is widely regarded as the greatest moment in Canadian sports history.

Are you curious about hockey? Do you wonder who had the most goals in a season; who had the most career goals; who had the most points in a season? Do you need to know more about Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux? Do you want to know the oldest arenas in the NHL? The answers to these questions, and many more like it, can be found in Paul Romanuk’s entertaining hockey lists.

     Scholastic Canada Book of Hockey Lists contains over 110 hockey related lists. Chapters include Milestones, Did You Know?, History, People, Around the World, and Fun Stuff. Using his own notes and research as well as information gathering from The Hockey Hall of Fame, NHL.com, the International Ice Hockey Federation, hockeydb.com, Total Hockey, and CHL.com, Paul Romanuk has written a book that can be enjoyed by avid hockey fans as well as everyday trivia buffs.

     Hockey Lists is a well organized book. The information is presented in a logical way. The book starts with lists of milestone statistics, such as fewest home wins in a season and most shutouts in a season, and ends with fun trivia lists such as toughest players in the NHL and hockey names that don’t quite cut it. Following the last chapter is a seven page alphabetical index.

     Each of the six chapters starts with a two to three line summary and a large black and white illustration. Accompanying the lists in each chapter are drawings of hockey related items. Hockey skates, towers of hockey pucks, various hockey sticks, and many hockey players can be seen at the bottom of several pages. These small cartoon-like drawings bring a carefree, cheerful quality to the book.

     I learned about hockey all throughout this book, but I found the photographs and the “By the Numbers” sections particularly engaging. I liked seeing photographs of the 1927 Stanley Cup, and the old Maple Leaf Gardens building, and it was nice to see photographs of many of the well known hockey players in their earlier years.

     The “By the Numbers” section appears at the bottom of many pages. In this area, the author matches numbers and hockey facts. For example, “48: The number of players with the last name “Smith” who have played at least one game in the NHL,” and “1961: The year the Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto.”

     Author Paul Romanuk knows sports. He worked in Canada covering sports for television and radio for many years. A hockey fan since the age of 14, he has been involved with professional and amateur sports for most of his career. Paul is also a writer. His writing can be found in over 20 children’s books, and in a variety of websites and magazines.

     Scholastic Canada Book of Hockey Lists is a book that has lasting appeal. The history it contains and the fun questions it answers will ensure it’s picked up and shared over and over again.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian at the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
Hosted by the University of Manitoba.
 

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