Book Review: ‘For The Love Of The Cubs’

When I received my review copy of “For The Love Of The Cubs,” written by Frederick Klein, I thought it looked very familiar.

Then I found it — the same title, written in 2003. I had purchased it for my son, then eight years old, just when he was a beginning reader.

The book is just that, a reading primer for kids that age. But it’s also a book for “all ages,” as it says on the cover.

The 2003 edition had A-to-Z entries for Cubs-related things ranging from Ernie Banks to Harry Caray to Mark Grace to Wrigley Field.

The 2017 update has many of the same entries, but has updated some of the letters with entries for Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Hendricks (among others from the current team) as well as “A is for Architects,” honoring Theo Epstein and Tom Ricketts for building the World Series championship team.

In the original book, the letter “Y” stood for the “Year Nineteen forty-five. The last Cub pennant came before you were alive.”

That one’s been updated to read: “‘Y’ is for the Year Two thousand sixteen. When the Cubs broke the drought and realized the Dream.”

This is a delightful book for young readers, or for a parent or grandparent to read to a young Cubs fan. The illustrations by Mark Anderson — the cover illustration at the top of this review is just one example of the dozens inside — are cleverly done and thoughtful.

I showed my son the new book, and he said he well remembered reading the original edition. If you have that 2003 book, this new one is worth it, another commemoration of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship.