School Library Journal - Series Made Simple

Series Review: Gr 2-5–This series features many new Olympic sports and rules that have been added since the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. Gymnastics details the history of the sport and describes the differences between artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. Swimming and Diving describes the transition from synchronized to artistic swimming, and Combat Sports highlights the inclusion of karate. The overviews are somewhat simplistic and do not unpack the sometimes complicated rules of each sport. Nonetheless, they are welcome updates. Basketball, Combat Sports, and Swimming and Diving invite readers to watch the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but the games have been postponed due to the pandemic. VERDICT Purchase those that don’t have the date stamp of 2020.