Hockey Patterns

by Mark Weakland

Even when the rink is empty, patterns abound in the thrilling world of hockey. Produced in partnership with Sports Illustrated KIDS.

Genres: Nonfiction

20 pages, Board Book

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

While earning a degree in the sciences, author/educator/musician Mark Weakland played drums and percussion with scores of Pittsburgh-based bands. He then went on to earn multiple teacher certifications and a master’s degree in education.

Mark expresses his creative side through music and writing. He is the author of eighteen non-fiction children’s books. Upcoming books, written as collaborations between Warner Brothers, Sports Illustrated Kids, and Capstone Press, include a set of Scooby-Doo (and mathematics) books, a set of Wile E. Coyote (and physics) books, and a set of hockey (shapes and patterns) books.

Other kid projects include an award-winning audio book, a poetry collection, and Jack Attack, his first YA novel. Mark’s books have received outstanding reviews from Booklist and Library Media Connection and won multiple awards, such as the 2012 Green Award for Sustainable Children’s Literature and the 2011 Eureka Nonfiction Children’s Book Award.

His academic book for teachers and administrators, Super Core! Supercharging Your Basal Reading Program with More Reading, Writing, and Word Work, will be published by the International Reading Association in January of 2014.

As a musician and songwriter, Mark has written and recorded music for both kids and grown-ups. His songs have won Parents' Choice and Children's Web awards and finished as finalists in The John Lennon Songwriting and USA Songwriting contests. Performing on drums, guitar, and vocals, Mark still records and plays with various artists and bands in Western Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Samantha Kemper]

Hockey Patterns is a thick paged picture book that teaches kids about patterns through the patterns found in ice hockey. Kids learn how to predict what will appear next in patterns such as blue green blue green and stick, puck, puck, stick, puck, puck. This is a book is intended for very young audience. While this book might seem like nothing more than a hockey baby book, the book actually does an excellent job at encouraging diversity at a young age within the hockey community, which in the US is currently dominated by white males. There are three pages with players and one of them is of the US womens olympic team. While the number of womens hockey players has been growing exponentionally by the year, the number of male hockey players in the US far exceeds the number of women because hockey is often seen as a sport for boys and not for girls. Since there are girls in this book, little girls might be more likely to identify with this book and take an interest in hockey. Additionally, the player on the first page is African American which can help encourage African American little boys see themselves as hockey players. Therefore, I thought this book does an excellent job at helping to diversify the US hockey community, which is currently very white and male.

[Amy]

I like that pictures included WHL and women’s hockey. Interesting hockey book.

[Ashley]

A great book that shows patterns in the real world. Clear enough to be an introduction to patterns, added hockey bonus. Kids who love hockey will take to this lesson in patterns. No story, straight-up pattern identification so pre-readers can look at it on their own after one go-around.