The Sports Stars series has an unusual and creative conceit: it recasts ten classical northern hemisphere constellations as well-known figures in U.S. professional sports (pro football, men's basketball, and women's soccer). The constellations are the same for all 3 books: Ursa Major, Cygnus, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Gemini, Lyra, Leo, Hercules, and Libra. Star groupings are overlaid with an illustration of the player that fits the shape of the constellation no better or worse than the classical ones do, and the brightest star in the constellation is called out by its traditional name (in both Arabic and Latin). On the facing page there are some biographical facts and a list of sports accomplishments for each player.

These books aren't for every kid, clearly. But for a kid who's obsessed with the NFL or NBA or USWNT, it'd be a fun way to get them looking up. The fact that the players are paired with traditional constellations will get them to recognize patterns in the sky that make sense to other people (I will say that the pairing of Peyton Manning in the NFL book with Cassiopeia made me giggle.) One of these books could be used in a classroom to spur kids to describe the constellations with their own theme.

By the way, the NBA book is recent enough to acknowledge Kobe Bryant's tragic death. ( )

The Sports Stars series has an unusual and creative conceit: it recasts ten classical northern hemisphere constellations as well-known figures in U.S. professional sports (pro football, men's basketball, and women's soccer). The constellations are the same for all 3 books: Ursa Major, Cygnus, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Gemini, Lyra, Leo, Hercules, and Libra. Star groupings are overlaid with an illustration of the player that fits the shape of the constellation no better or worse than the classical ones do, and the brightest star in the constellation is called out by its traditional name (in both Arabic and Latin). On the facing page there are some biographical facts and a list of sports accomplishments for each player.

These books aren't for every kid, clearly. But for a kid who's obsessed with the NFL or NBA or USWNT, it'd be a fun way to get them looking up. The fact that the players are paired with traditional constellations will get them to recognize patterns in the sky that make sense to other people (I will say that the pairing of Peyton Manning in the NFL book with Cassiopeia made me giggle.) One of these books could be used in a classroom to spur kids to describe the constellations with their own theme.

By the way, the NBA book is recent enough to acknowledge Kobe Bryant's tragic death. ( )

The Sports Stars series has an unusual and creative conceit: it recasts ten classical northern hemisphere constellations as well-known figures in U.S. professional sports (pro football, men's basketball, and women's soccer). The constellations are the same for all 3 books: Ursa Major, Cygnus, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Gemini, Lyra, Leo, Hercules, and Libra. Star groupings are overlaid with an illustration of the player that fits the shape of the constellation no better or worse than the classical ones do, and the brightest star in the constellation is called out by its traditional name (in both Arabic and Latin). On the facing page there are some biographical facts and a list of sports accomplishments for each player.

These books aren't for every kid, clearly. But for a kid who's obsessed with the NFL or NBA or USWNT, it'd be a fun way to get them looking up. The fact that the players are paired with traditional constellations will get them to recognize patterns in the sky that make sense to other people (I will say that the pairing of Peyton Manning in the NFL book with Cassiopeia made me giggle.) One of these books could be used in a classroom to spur kids to describe the constellations with their own theme.

By the way, the NBA book is recent enough to acknowledge Kobe Bryant's tragic death. ( )