You're a Good Sport, Miss Malarkey Book

You're a Good Sport, Miss Malarkey by Judy Fincher and Kevin O'Malley follows a young elementary school's soccer team in their quest of a season. Having to deal with opposing coaching viewpoints, parents involvement and just playing the game, I thought this book was a fun read and the pictures were one of my favorite aspects. Each page is very descriptive, whether its describing situations or individuals, it is fun to pick out who you think is who based on the content. I like how this book showed a wide range of coaching and parenting styles, making it relatable to students. Most younger students this would be read to are just beginning organized sports and I think this is a fun way to think about what has been going on within those.

Using this book in a classroom environment could have a few different purposes. Talking about the importance of respect and sportsmanship on the field, but also to the parents and coaches involved. The way you act in sporting events relates to the way you are perceived in other environments, and that is important to be taught to students from the youngest ages. This book would be read to students between kindergarten to second grade, I would say. Those ages are the most likely to comprehend the book and also find it interesting and get engaged in the evaluation of the illustrations. The book ends with Miss Malarkey saying that the importance of sports is all about having fun, and at a young age students need to be reminded that they need to do things they enjoy and not succumb to pressures from differing parties. Another positive relating to the illustrations are that there are multiple on each page. It allows students eyes to wander and see a picture for almost every aspect of the books content.