Howard Hates Sports

Howard is the youngest member of a large family who loves sports. However, unlike his athletic siblings, Howard hates sports and finds attending his family’s sporting games annoying and boring. Instead of watching the games, he explores the world underneath the bleachers and meets many friends along the way, such as Macho Nacho, Lefty the Shoe, and Rock Hard Soft Pretzel. There, Howard and his friends play a very silly game, and he learns that maybe sports aren’t such a bad thing after all. 

Many readers will find Howard to be a very relatable character. He feels pressured to love sports because of his family, yet he chooses to pursue his own interests. He finds joy through his imagination, using discarded objects to create a game. Although Howard does isolate himself from his family during sporting events, he enjoys playing a game that vaguely resembles the sport of baseball: “If Howard hits one of the balls to the Sticky Spot of No Return, he wins. If he misses the ball all three times, Macho Nacho is the Bleacher League Champion!”

Howard’s adventure under the bleachers teaches readers that differences aren’t a bad thing; in fact, people can discover similarities through their differences. Although Howard hates sports, he still loves his siblings and appreciates their athletic skills and strengths. He doesn’t let his differences impact his view of himself either, as he finds excitement in his own games, which ironically appear much like the sports games he dislikes. Howard Hates Sports acknowledges that while we have many differences, we all share similarities as well. 

Each page of Howard Hates Sports has fun illustrations that add to the book’s quirky charm. Readers will fall in love with the colorful depictions of everyday objects. The book’s simple art style enhances the story’s silly take on the game of baseball. In addition, Howard Hates Sports contains large, easy-to-read text that includes many words bolded and filled in with color. The special font highlights critical moments in the plot. Each page has one to seven sentences; however, beginning readers may need an adult’s help reading the complex sentences. Howard Hates Sports would be fun to read aloud because it includes dialogue, alliteration, and rhyming text. 

Howard Hates Sports is a perfect book for those new to sports. The personification of many ordinary objects, like nacho chips, hotdogs, and shoes, aid the book’s sports theme and serve as lovable side characters; for example, “His old pal, Lefty the Shoe, who lost his partner, Righty, some time ago, holds out a frayed lace to shake Howard’s hand.” These characters enhance the story by offering a splash of humor to keep readers engaged. With its relatable protagonist, silly characters, and engaging illustrations, readers will discover that despite our differences, we can all find similarities between us. Readers who enjoy humorous stories should also add Don’t Throw it to Mo! by David A. Adler to their reading list.

Sexual Content

• None

Violence

• None

Drugs and Alcohol

• None

Language

• None

Supernatural

• None

Spiritual Content

• None