J is for Jump Shot: A Basketball Alphabet

Sleeping Bear Alphabets

by Mike Ulmer

From the first jump ball and its humble beginnings at a YMCA with a couple of peach baskets, to the final buzzer and the glam of an NBA slam, basketball bounces onto your bookshelves with J is For Jump Shot. As with the other Sleeping Bear sports titles (7 titles and over 400,000 in print) it is the perfect introduction to the game. Whether reluctant or voracious, readers will be entertained as they learn the rules, fundamentals, famous players and plays. Young fans and old will find nothing but net with Mark Braught's dynamic illustrations as their many questions are answered -- What was the role of Dr. James Naismith in developing the game? Why do referees sometimes place their palm on their head? And who scored more points than any other NBA player? Mike Ulmer has written several books for Sleeping Bear Press including H is for An Equestrian Alphabet. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario. Mark Braught illustrated last fall's Sleeping Bear Sport title T is for A Football Alphabet. He lives outside Atlanta, Georgia.

Genres: Picture Books, Sports, Nonfiction, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mike Ulmer is an author and owner of Catapult Bookwriting. He authored 19 books including M is for Maple, the best selling alphabet book in Canadian publishing history.

Reviews

[Nichole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure who this book is for... typicaly alphabet books are for our younger readers, but this one has long, detailed paragraphs about basketball to accompany the typically alphabet text. Maybe it's meant to be a "you read, I read"?

[Darin Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

An alphabet book with basketball terms? Sign me up for the great read! While it may not be your traditional alphabet book, the author does a good job of giving us a general description of the term on one page, then a more detail description on the other. I really enjoyed reading this book, because the coach in me loves to see basketball broken down into it's smallest elements, then put back together!

[BlackhamBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this, especially the idea behind it, but it seems almost two books in one. On the one hand, there's the very simple "poem" for each letter of the alphabet, and then there is a more in-depth paragraph told in a more informative, no nonsense style. I feel like readers (different levels) would enjoy one or the other, but not both.

We're a big basketball family, but my boys are now grown, so I didn't have anyone to actually test it out on other than myself!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather in-depth alphabet book that will be sure to spark interest with children who enjoy basketball. One could read the book several times as there is a lot of text beyond the simple rhymes to teach the letters of the alphabet.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn't flow as well as the soccer or golf one.