Robert Crowther's Pop-Up Olympics: Amazing Facts and Record Breakers

Just in time for the summer games in Atlanta, Crowther (Robert Crowther's Incredible Animal Alphabet) rustles up an impressive number of Olympics-related facts and figures, set amid all manner of 3D and paper-engineered athletes. Push up the tab to ""light"" the torch, and the games-and game trivia-begin. It turns out 1932 was a memorable year in Olympics history: an extra lap was run by mistake in the 3000-meter race, thus creating the 3450-meter steeplechase; when Babe Didrickson leapt headfirst over the high jump that year, it was deemed illegal-until 1968, when Dick Fosbury did so with his back to the bar, setting a record and coining the term ""Fosbury flop."" There are lists: of Olympic dives; of every Olympic games location since the first modern games in 1896. There are figures: of long-jump records; of weightlifters' diets (the 1972 super-heavyweight champion Vassily Alexeyev had 26 fried eggs and a steak for breakfast every day). There are movable parts: synchronized swimmers kick high; a platform diver somersaults; a judo fighter flips; a basketball player slam-dunks. On the last page, a paper pocket holds a wearable, beribboned paper gold medal, so readers can ""imagine what it would be like to be an Olympic star!"" Crowther's delivery bespeaks genuine enthusiasm, and he aims high, squeezing in as much trivia and activity as will fit on a page. Ages 8-13. (Apr.)