Girl Sports: Swish! by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson

As fast-moving as a video clip from News at Eleven's sports segment, Bill Martin, Jr.'s Swish! drops us right down into the last thrill-packed moments of the playoff game with the score at Blue Jays, 44, Cardinals 42, as a winning trip to the Women's Hall of Fame Museum hangs in the balance.

Michael Chesworth's illustrations of the game play are equally videographic, with the perspective zooming from a wide angle view of the whole court to a shot from behind the basket as Kim misses her layup and then to a shoelace shot from the floor as Marie drives downcourt to get off a jump shot from the post. Chesworth's final two-page spread shows all players in a hold-your-breath moment as Cindi's game-winning three pointer hangs in the air above the basket. B-ball doesn't get any better than this!

Bill Martin, known far and wide for his classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, holds his own in breathless short-phrased rhymes in a picture book which conveys the essence of basketball action, whether it's played by lanky middle-school girls or hulking NFL superstars.