Michael Phelps

The life of the multiple gold medal-winning swimmer is covered in simple text with plenty of color photographs in this addition to the Defining Moments: Super Athletes series. Much of the emphasis is on Phelps’ younger days as he struggled in school with ADHD but found swimming the perfect outlet for his energy. The story climaxes with his dramatic 2008 Olympic wins (of course, this came out too early to include the recent highly publicized marijuana controversy involving Phelps). Back matter includes a glossary, short bibliography of other age-appropriate books, and a Web site that links to two of the NBC Olympic sites. There’s not much here beyond the usual gee-whiz, ain’t-he-great material often found in youth books about athletes; still, this is good for younger kids looking for basic information on the Olympic star.