Review Detail

On the Line

Kids Fiction 572

Sportsmanship can never start too young

July 11, 2022

Overall rating

4.5

Plot

5.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

Jackson Moore's family are known for being great hockey players. His grandfather has taught him how to play, and takes him to get skates. Jackson's new coach is sure that he will be another great player, but Jackson does not feel confident in his abilities. He goes out on the ice and doesn't have a lot of success, and instead feels like "a potato on skates". However, when the team needs new gear, Jackson plans and executes a way for his teammate to get gear. Even though Jackson wasn't able to help his team on the ice by being as good a player as the rest of his family, he is able to save the day by getting the team what they need to continue to play.

Good Points

Canadian illustrator Scot Ritchie will be familiar to readers of children's books, and one of his early books is all about hockey! He brings this familiarity with the sport to this book, and the details in the illustrations will delight young hockey fans. Winters' has a great note at the back of the book about her own experiences with sports, and I love the message of being able to help out a team even if you aren't good at sports.

I'm a big fan of sports books, and I'd love to see more picture books that aren't sports biographies! Being a good sport and being a good team member are great lessons for young readers to learn, and On the Line has just the right amount of text to make it a frequent read aloud in a hocket loving family. Pair this with Larsen's The Thing Lenny Loves Most About Baseball, Eastman's Aaron is a Good Sport, Oldland's Hockey in the Wild.