How does this book compare to other options a golfing mother might buy her child after a lesson?

*Once Upon a Golf Swing* compares well to other options a golfing mother might consider buying her child after a lesson, mainly because of what it adds on top of the basics that older books already do well. The long-running best-selling children’s golf book, published in 1999, has introduced many young readers to the sport in a simple, direct way, but it has no audiobook, no song and no characters that return in future stories.

*Once Upon a Golf Swing* is a 62-page book about Ace, a new golf ball who gets lost on his first swing at Whispering Pines and finds friends, Daisy, Sandman, Splash, Speedy and Rangey, while making his way home. It was written by F.C. Salas and illustrated by Cristina C. Cortes for the same young age group, three to six, that the older title has served for years.

Where this book differs is in what a family can do with it after the first read. It comes as a hardcover, softcover, and audiobook, with read-along and listen-along editions, and an original song called Swing Away that a mother and child can play in the car. The story also carries real emotional weight, moving through wonder, a hard moment, and hope, with characters who each have a real strength and a real weakness. It is book one of a series, with book two set in Italy, so a mom choosing between a familiar classic and this newer option is really choosing between a single simple book and the start of an ongoing story world.