Is your child infatuated with basketball? Do they constantly chat about their favorite players and memorable games? Basketball Stars: Stories and Skills from the NBA's and WNBA's Best Players is the ideal present for young basketball players and fans—a treasure trove of some of the best and most inspiring stories in professional basketball history, written specifically for young readers.

This book is laid out easily for my third grader to read. It includes some biographical information about each of the 10 players, plus the signature skill. For kids that are really interested in basketball and what makes the great players great this addition is fantastic. The skills include a step-by-step explanation and diagrams. They add a lot to the book.

Thank you Chris Navalta and NetGalley for an ARC. This is my honest opinion.

The ten amazing WNBA and NBA players featured in this book have a lot to teach us! Not only are their stories inspiring and varied, their special basketball moves are amazing too. This book brings us an amazing array instructions for specialty moves. This is an illustrated tutorial on ten crucial plays in the game. But these players were not always at the top of their game. Each player has met hardship head on and won. If you love basketball and want to improve your moves, get this book! Practice does indeed lead to perfection.

As a kids basketball book, this does a good job of not only teaching about top players, but also teaching kids how to do their best moves. I liked it that the book made sure to show readers that each player had to deal with difficult things to reach their stardom. For instance, A’ja Wilson is dyslexic, and Michael Jordon was cut from his school’s varsity team in sophomore year.

Players featured:

WNBA
-Caitlin Clark
-A’ja Wilson
-Lisa Leslie

NBA
-Steph Curry
-Jeremy Lin
-Giannis Antetokounmpo
-Kobe Bryant
-Muggsy Bogues
-LeBron James
-Michael Jordan

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Basketball Stars is honestly a pretty uniquely formatted book. With an intro from a basketball superfan author, the facts laid out throughout are sure to be scoured over by young sports fans. Player’s sections are formatted such that we learn: their birthdate, position, hometown, team history, top achievements, signature skill, followed by a text block with further information about them. Each section breaks down the player’s signature skill with phases including illustrations and text. Certainly not the most VISUALLY stunning read, but incredible for those wanting a break down of stats.