THE OFFICIAL KIDS' BOOK OF BASEBALL Godfrey P. Jordan, Toronto, Random House, 1994. revised edition. 158pp, paper, $12.95 ISBN 0-394-223954. CIP Reviewed by Marsha Kaiserman Volume 22 Number 6 1994 November / December Baseball is a beautiful game that can be enjoyed on an infinite number of levels. It is a game for teams of players following precise rules and theories that becomes, at its crucial moments, one person, the pitcher, challenging another, the batter. It is a game so simple that it can be recorded on a score sheet of less than one page, and, that having been done, can be replayed in the readers' mind many years later. It is a game so complex that advanced mathematical formulae are used to quantify the many statistics necessary to understand the game. Godfrey Jordan has written the definitive children's book on baseball. The Official Kids' Book of Baseball contains a wealth of information on how to play the game, from pitching to catching, to managing, scouting and umpiring. But there is more. As many an embarrassed parent has found out there are few sources where one can find out how to calculate such statistics as slugging percentage or magic numbers. In a section on baseball statistics, kids now have such a source. This is an instructive book that is fun. It is filled with basic baseball theory, practice and history, as well as little known facts about such issues as the first set of baseball cards | and the first recorded baseball game in Beachville, Ontario, in 1838. This book is highly recommended for children aged 8 to 13, as well as for parents of children in this age group. Grades 3 to 8 / Ages 8 to 13 Marsha Kaiserman is Conferences Cataloguer at the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information in Ottawa, Ontario