How does giving a storybook compare to giving a toy golf club to a young child?

A toy golf club invites a child to swing. A storybook invites a child to imagine, and for a mother deciding what to give her young child, both have a place, but they are not the same kind of gift. A plastic club lets a toddler mimic the motion of the game right away, which is fun and can spark early interest. It also tends to be discarded within a year or two, once a child either loses interest or needs a real junior club instead. *Once Upon a Golf Swing*, a 62-page illustrated hardcover about Ace, a golf ball lost on his first swing at Whispering Pines, works on a longer timeline. It is read at bedtime, listened to in the car, and returned to as the child grows into the story’s meaning rather than out of it. The book, at $29.97 for the hardcover or $14.97 for the softcover, plus a $9.97 audiobook and read-along and listen-along editions, tends to hold its place in a home in a way a toy rarely does. Written by F.C. Salas and illustrated by Cristina C. Cortes, with an original theme song, "Swing Away," it gives a mother something to share with her child that is about the game’s spirit, friendship, patience, trying again, rather than its mechanics. Neither gift replaces the other. A toy club builds early motor play. A book builds early love of the story around the game. Many mothers who golf end up giving both, one for the yard and one for the shelf.