Score a touchdown with reading “rookies” in this sports history of the 49ers’ Super Bowl wins and losses. Approachable, elementary text and engaging photos explain the team’s records and memorable championships, including its five Super Bowl titles. Vibrant, color-blocked layouts spotlight sensational players of different eras, such as Joe Montana and Jimmy Garoppolo. An “About the Team” page reviews important facts for young football fans. Includes a table of contents, labeled images, glossary, and index.
Part of the Super Bowl Champions (2023) series
The illustrated “Super Bowl Champions” series provides elementary-aged readers with an introduction to some of the most successful and storied professional football teams ever to play in the National Football League (NFL). Each volume in this series provides readers with background information about the history of a championship team, some of the franchise’s greatest players, and how they were able to capture perhaps the most coveted championship trophy in the pantheon of North American professional sports. This volume in the series focuses on the San Francisco 49ers. The team was founded in 1944 as part of the All-American Football Conference, a league that remained a rival of the NFL until merging with the more well-known league in 1950. At that time, the 49ers, along with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts, transferred into the NFL. While the 49ers were not a highly successful team in the first decade of their membership in the NFL, by the 1960s they were an accomplished team. Led by quarterback John Brodie, the 49ers nearly made it to several Super Bowls, losing in heartbreaking playoff games. In 1979, the 49ers hired Bill Walsh to be their head coach. That same year, the team drafted quarterback Joe Montana thereby establishing the core of what would become one of the greatest football dynasties in NFL history. Over the next nine seasons, the 49ers led by Walsh and Montana would win four Super Bowls. After the 1994 season, and quarterbacked by Steve Young, the 49ers added a fifth Super Bowl victory. While the 49ers did return to the Super Bowl following the 2019 season, they have not added another league championship to their team record. However, having had star players like Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, George Kittle, Hugh McElhenny, and Joe Perry don the 49ers’ jersey has made them one of the most successful and entertaining franchises in NFL history. The story of this famous team is nicely introduced and beautifully illustrated via color photographs in this compact team history. Youngsters interested in sports, and football in particular, will enjoy this book.
–Children's Literature, 10/09/2022