Blog Tour: The Playbook by Kwame Alexander

 Remember I told you I was going to be part of a blog tour?   Well, today is my day to talk to you about this interesting book.  The Playbook: 52 rules to aim, shoot and score in this game called life. It has been written by Kwame Alexander.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, and recipient of the 2015 Newbery Medal for his novel, The Crossover.   He as founded two organizations, Book-in-a-Day and LEAP for Ghana.   He is a literacy advocate and regularly travels to promote literacy.  He has served as Bank Street College of Education’s first writer-in-residence.  You can learn more about Kwame here.

If you are interested here is a link to interview and a reading from his previous book, Booked.

52 Rules.   Broken into four quarters: Grit, Motivation, Passion (halftime), Focus and Teamwork.   Each section is broken into training and words of encouragement from a variety of athletes that span all sports: basketball, Olympians and more.  Even quotes from Nobel Prize winners and poets. 

Rule 30 "There is not single formula for winning but you must have a game plan".
Rule 16 "You may not be a starter but always be star in your mind ready to shine at any time"
Rule 42 "Be unselfish, share the ball, work together, win together".

Filled with stories from his life and the lives of  athletes, this book is bound to appeal to the athletes among us, from children up to adults,though it is geared to youth aged 10-12.  There is much wisdom to be gained in the reading of this book, all from a sports mindset. 

I have to admit, I loved the graphics in this book.   Being a non-sports minded person sometimes I got a bit lost in the jargon, but I enjoyed the set up of this book, how it was divided into quarters, covered half time and was simply filled with encouragement for the young athlete to be a person of character as they play the game, whatever game that might be.  To see the character encouraged in the larger realm of life as well.

I can so easily see this book becoming the basis of teaching in a sports camp, or used by a coach with his team.  
 

The Playbook: 52 Rules to aim, shoot, and score in this game called life.
Author: Kwame Alexander
Illustrator: Thai Neave
Pages: 176
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Ages: 10-12 years old.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Here is Kwame at a Time for Kids interview.

Here is Kwame at an awards banquet, for the 2015 Newberry Award. He is so excited in this video.  It's just fun to see.   It's for a different book, but matters not.  Shows he has some fun and style in writing.

Other people participating in the blog tour can be found here:
The Book Wars.
Lost in Great Book.
Cherry Blossoms and Maple Syrup.
Fab Book Reviews.