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What was a little surprising in this list of sporty gals is the prevalence of soccer as the sport of choice.  I guess it is called “the most beautiful game” for a reason.  We would like to augment this list with further Australian titles so if there is a title that you know is missing, add it in comments!

Soccer-centric:

Grace Faltrain series by Cath Crowley (soccer)
Shutout by Brendan Halpin (soccer)
Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best by Maria Padian (soccer and dance)
Pretty Tough series by various authors (soccer)
Breakaway by Andrea Montalbano (soccer)

Everything else:

• Dairy Queen series by Catherine Murdock Gilbert (US football/basketball)
• Netball or Nothing by Bernadette Hellard (netball)
• Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe (dancing)
• Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati (dancing)
• Gracey by James Moloney (running)
• Surf Ache by Gerry Bobsien (surfing)
• Raw Blue by Kirsty Eager (surfing)
• Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally (US football)
• The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane (baseball)
• Whip It! by Shauna Cross (roller derby)
• The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner (cross country – younger)
• The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanan (running)
• Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes (basketball)
• Boost by Kathy Mackel (basketball)
• Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley (snowboarding)
• The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols (snowboarding)
• Total Horse Mad by Kathy Helidoniotis (horse riding – 9-14)
• Breathless by Jessica Warren (swimming)
• Open Court by Carol Clippinger (tennis)

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It happens every year--the back-to-school blur of scheduling.  It's like putting a puzzle together.  How can I fit all the pieces together?  And my other driver just left for college!  What if Papa Rooster is traveling with his job?

At least B16 is taking his road test in about 4 weeks.  That introduces a whole new set of variables--and costs!  (Car insurance on a teenage male?  Astronomical!!)  But at least we'll have more options for fitting it all together.

I guess scheduling is on my mind because I just got a new planner.  Here's my life.

Mondays:

B16 and 12 have one virtual classroom session each.  I will plan to go to yoga this morning.

We need to have everything ready to leave for B12's and C9's piano lessons, then B12's soccer practice--the minute B6 and C9 get off the bus.  I may end up having to pick them up at school on Mondays, and B12 will probably be late to soccer every week.  But it was the one, best chance at squeezing in piano lessons!  Don't know what C9 and I will do after we drop off B12; we'll either return home for an hour, or do errands until we pick him up.

Tuesdays:

Guitar lesson first thing.  Three virtual lectures for the boys.  Late afternoon, I teach my Drama 1 class; then, for the next three weeks, Papa Rooster, B16 and I are going to choir practice!  We were invited to join a choral arts group for one performance of this incredible gospel mass.

Meanwhile C9 has soccer practice.  If the other soccer family can't bring her home, she'll have to miss it.  At least her team has two scheduled practices a week.

Meanwhile, B16 also has soccer practice.  If Papa Rooster is out of town, I don't know how we'll get him either to practice or to choir rehearsal.  But PR probably will avoid scheduling travel on Tuesdays.  He won't want to miss a rehearsal--that first tenor part is challenging!--and it's a lot of music left to learn in just three more weeks.

Wednesdays:

Three virtual sessions for the Bantams, and then B16's voice lesson mid-afternoon.  Then two soccer practices, staggered, fortunately, so I can drop off one, then the other, pick up one, then the other.  I'll save my errands to kill time in between.

(Still thinking about adding AWANA to this night--it's such a great program--maybe after soccer is over, if we can still join late.)

Thursdays:

Three more online sessions, two more soccer practices.  One is for B16, who is helping a friend coach her son's team, so she provides his ride both ways.  Phew!  I will drive the carpool both ways to C9's practice, in return for them driving her on Tuesdays.  Maybe Papa R and I can do Date Night during her practice?  We'll have an hour and a half, if he's in town.

Fridays:

Nothing!!  How did that happen?  This will be the one weeknight, until soccer is over, that we could actually all sit down together for dinner AT dinnertime.  Better make meal prep a priority on Fridays.

And it looks like time to pull out the crockpot and soup recipes for the other nights; all those soccer practices are between 5 and 7:30.  With C9 and B6's bus arriving after 4 and their bedtime at 8:00, it's going to be tough to get in homework and piano practice, let alone dinner.  I am grateful for B20, who is always home, so at least he can supervise if I'm not there.  That's one silver lining of him not having a job yet.

Weekends:

Looks like we have four soccer games every Saturday for the next six weeks, with a few scattered games on Sunday afternoons as well.  The Saturday games begin as early as 9 and will usually end at 4:30.  So it's the whole day.

I confess I don't plan on watching every game!  Papa R and I will hav

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This summer has been packed with loads of great soccer games. The excitement generated from the Women’s World Cup in Germany, and our U.S. Women’s National Team making it to the finals, resulted in more people watching the Women’s Final on ESPN than for any other soccer broadcast in their history.

I know of so many parents who sat and the watched the games as a family. No doubt this interest will result in more children (especially girls) wanting to play soccer. I think this interest can also be used to get kids into reading. There are many excellent soccer books available for young readers. I’ve reviewed plenty on Book Dads and thought it might be a good idea to recap some of these books and share the reviews again with you.

Here’s a list of soccer books to add to your summer reading list:

PICTURE BOOKS:

* Big Kicks by Bob Kolar - Biggie Bear lives in a quiet corner of a busy little town. He collects stamps, plays jazz, and enjoys being by himself. One day, the town soccer team knocks on his door, and they need BIG help. But Biggie’s never played soccer before, and once they are out on the field, they realize that maybe there is more to soccer than just being big.

* Goal! by Mina Javaherbin - Goal! is the story of Ajani and his group of soccer-loving friends who live in South Africa. Ajani earned a brand-new federation-size soccer ball for being the best reader in his class. For Ajani and his friends, once chores and homework are done, it’s soccer time. However, the boys live in fear from the bullies in their unsafe neighborhood, and are worried about losing their new ball.

* That’s Not How You Play Soccer, Daddy by Sherry Shahan - Mikey takes his duties as captain of the Hot Diggity Diner soccer team very seriously. After a tough

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The Wild Soccer Bunch Book 2 Diego the Tornado by Joachim Masannek (Illustrations by Jan Birck)

Review by Chris Singer

About the author:

Joachim Masannek was born in 1960 and studied Philosophy and German in college. He also studied at the University of Film and Television and worked as a camera operator, set designer, screenwriter and director.

Masannek’s children’s book series, The Wild Soccer Bunch, has been published in more than 30 countries. As the screenwriter and director of the Wild Soccer Bunch movies, Joachim has managed to bring about 9 million viewers to the theatres. He was the coach of the real Wild Soccer team and the father of two of the players.

About the illustrator:

Jan Birck began his career as a freelance illustrator in an atelier in Munich, working for advertising agencies. During this time, he and his wife launched Dreamotion Media, a company that develops books, films and DVDs. Birck has earned his reputation as one of the world’s finest illustrators of children’s books, with drawings that have appeared in hundreds of publications. He presently lives in Munich with his wife and sons.

About the book:

Fabio, the son of a famous Brazilian soccer player, wants to join the Wild Soccer Bunch. But Fabio’s father has other plans. He makes his son play for the Furies, one of the best youth club teams in the country. The Wild Soccer Bunch is devastated, but Diego has a plan. He turns the Wild Soccer Bunch into a club team and challenges the Furies to a game! Can the Wild Soccer Bunch survive the game? Can their friendship endure the test?

My take on the book:

Book Dads reviewed

the first book in the Wild Soccer Bunch series last year and I was eager to check out the second book in this immensely popular series (10 million copies sold world wide).

As I mentioned in my first review, I don’t believe being a soccer fan is a requisite for enjoying

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Big Kicks by Bob Kolar

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Bob Kolar is the illustrator of the first AlphaOops book and the author-illustrator of BIG KICKS. He lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

About the book:

Biggie Bear lives in a quiet corner of a busy little town. He collects stamps, plays jazz, and enjoys being by himself. One day, the town soccer team knocks on his door, and they need BIG help. But Biggie’s never played soccer before, and once they are out on the field, they realize that maybe there is more to soccer than just being big.

My take on the book:

This is such a fun book. The illustrations are big, colorful and eye-catching to young eyes. My daughter loves the animals, and knows what soccer is from watching me kick the soccer ball in the yard.

There’s lots of great lessons about friendships, sports and differences in the story as well. Just because Biggie is big doesn’t mean he’s going to be talented at sports. Even though Biggie kind of stinks (okay, he really stinks) at soccer, he has many other talents and qualities that make him a good friend. At the end of the book, his teammates even find Biggie a way to be involved in the games and part of the team.

This has quickly become one of our favorites to read. Check out author Bob Kolar’s blog, for more of his titles and to check out some of the cool illustrations and projects he has going.

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It's been a new thing for this theater mom to enter the soccer world. It's c-c-c-colllllder, for one thing; it seems no matter how appropriately I think I am dressed when I leave home, by the time I've sat for 10 minutes at the soccer field, the wind has whipped its way through my clothing, finding all the cracks in my fragile armor.  Give me cushy indoor auditorium seating any day. There's

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I can't believe that I just figured this out. Papa Rooster takes some pretty amazing pictures--and lots of them--more than I can keep up with--and he's gotten pretty good at posting the best on Facebook for our friends and family.  And I only just realized that I can grab a photo from his Facebook album, stick it on my desktop, and upload it to my blog--all by myself!  Without needing him to

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Auditions for Schoolhouse Rock were last Friday night...and we weren't there.  It would have been Chicklet's first show too. Instead, we are playing soccer!  Bantam15 has been playing with the Christian school's JV team since before school started, and he's doing well for a kid who hasn't played in years.  He's had a couple of notable firsts:  He made the first JV goal of the season, and while

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The Wild Soccer Bunch is a wonderful children's book with some real time lessons for our kids. With so many kids and parents involved in soccer these days, I thought some of you might be interested in this book. It's The Wild Soccer Bunch, a brand new, fun and exciting kids' adventure book starring the only girl on a boys' soccer team.   It has been endorsed by the great Landon Donovan, star starof the LA Galaxy and US Soccer MVP in the World Cup. This book has already sold 9 million copies world-wide, and we want you to be apart of this best-selling phenomenon.

Kids around the world love The Wild Soccer Bunch!  The book motivates kids to get involved in team sports and supports values such as diversity, sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership and self-acceptance. The book exudes passionate storytelling and an equal passion for the game kids love:  soccer.  Kids who love The Wild Soccer Bunch will be inspired to play the game. You can find the book at  http://www.wildsoccerbunch.com/launch and I wanted to share it with all of you (since we all know a kid somehow).

With all the excitement of the World Cup, this timely book is part of a soccer-centric middle-grade series that’s been making waves abroad is arriving in the U.S. Here's what it's all about:  As winter turns to spring, Kevin the Star Striker and The Wild Bunch hurry out to hit their favorite soccer field but find that Mickey the bulldozer and his gang, the Unbeatables, have taken it over. To win it back, Kevin and his pals challenge the Unbeatables to the most important game of their short lives. Will the Wild Bunch vanquish the Unbeatables or are they destined to lose their field forever? Can they achieve the unachievable? http://www.wildsoccerbunch.com/launch

The kids are from wide ranging backgrounds and come together to take on their arch enemy.  Important life lessons are learned and strong friendships emerge as these determined kids face the impossible. Teamwork, respect and diversity are the hallmarks of this group of ragtag kids. This book, The Wild Soccer Bunch -  Kevin the Star Striker is the first in a series by Joachim Masannek, and follows the adventures of this young, coed soccer team with each book focusing on a different player.

Plus, when you purchase the book today, you'll receive dozens of free bonus gifts for yourself and the kids in your life. Click here to view your incredible gift package: http://www.wildsoccerbunch.com/launch.  Plus, every person who purchases a copy of the book on launch day 9/9 2010 will automatically go into the draw to Win 2 tickets to Hollywood, to the filming of The Wild Soccer Bunch Television Ad, featuring Landon Donovan himself!

Please forward this to all your friends and enjoy! http://www.wildsoccerbunch.com/launch



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time,
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We have Soccer Fever and we want to pass it around!

Are your kids’ huge soccer fans? Then send them over to Imagination-Café Magazine for a totally kickin’ contest.

From now until August 15, Imagination-café will be hosting the "Crazy for Soccer" contest with a soccer-rific giveaway kit from the Wild Soccer Bunch – an autographed replica soccer ball by Landon Donovan, (major league soccer player for the Los Angeles Galaxy), and a copy of The Wild Soccer Bunch middle grade novel.

Want to score big and join the fun?

Just bounce on over to Imagination-Café Magazine at; http://imagination-cafe.com/ and become a member of Klub Krumbs – it’s totally FREE. As an official member your kids are just a click away from the “Contests” area where they'll register to win.

That’s all!

Imagination-Café will do a random draw for the Landon Donovan Soccer Kit by midnight on August 15.

Good Luck!

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In honor of the 2010 World Cup final …

Pele, The King of Soccer/El rey del futbol from Monica Brown on Vimeo.

Pelé, el rey del fútbol en español from Monica Brown on Vimeo.

Add this book to your collection: Pele, King of Soccer/Pele, El rey del futbol by Monica Brown

©2010 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

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When I asked the Youth Advisory Board for thoughts on the World Cup, I suspected the volunteer would be someone outside the United States. Interestingly, however, it was our American teen in Switzerland Caroline Marques who came forward. Below she... Read the rest of this post

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No matter which team you go for, here is a team of books to whet the appetite of any young soccer enthusiast.

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In honor of the start of The World Cup and all the fans in my family who will be watching: This review originally appeared as a NonFiction Monday post in March 2008. Schwartz& Wade reminded me of this title in their FaceBook update today.


Young Pelé: soccer's first star by Lesa Cline-Ransome, paintings by James E. Ransome; Schwartz&Wade Books, 2007

James Ransome's illustrations shine in this picture book biography of Edson do Nascimento, who would be known to the world as Pelé. Using the greens, yellows and blues of the Brazilian flag Ransome paints luminous scenes of Edson's school, family and soccer life.

Edson struggled in school and his first soccer ball was "a sock stuffed with rags, rolled up and tied with string." His inability to focus in class resulted in reprimands and punishments but soccer was always foremost in his mind. His team, the Shoeless Ones, became a force in the city's soccer leagues. His nickname, Pelé, was bestowed at this young age.

The author describes the work ethic of the team; they sold peanuts and shined shoes to earn money for uniforms. The reader is reminded that talent also requires practice, drills, coaching and teamwork to suceed.

There is much here for the young soccer enthusiast to enjoy. Pelé traps, heads, dribbles and boots the ball across the pages. The creators of this biography, score, indeed.

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Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field on the occasion of the best-attended soccer match ever in our city.  U.S. vs Turkey.  The U.S. wins.  The crowd is a stampede.  The girl survives (and has fun).  The horses are down the street when she gets home.

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For some time now, American kids have been crazy about soccer! While the United States seems slow to embrace this sport which is loved worldwide, the first soccer team in this country was actually established back in the 1860s, and the U.S. Soccer Federation was formed in 1913 (joining the world governing body FIFA in that same year). While professional teams and matches still take a back seat to baseball, football, basketball, and even hockey, kids have embraced soccer as one of their favorite pastimes (of the 18 million Americans who play soccer, 78% of them are under the age of eighteen).

So it's only natural that we can use kids' obsession with this sport to get them interested in reading and world culture. Enter Nomad Press's innovative Soccer World Series, beginning with Soccer World: South Africa and Soccer World: Mexico.

The Soccer World Series follows former pro player Ethan Zohn as he visits different countries, learning about diverse cultures as well as the people who live there. A young player in each country introduces Ethan the nation's unique geography, natural wonders, history, customs, traditions, and sites. In context of these explorations are challenges for kids to act on the social and environmental problems of each country.

In addition to the clear and easily accessible text and colorful illustrations, the books in this series also contain key vocabulary, hands-on projects and activities (including recipes!), and a thorough glossary and index. Students can also visit the series' web site to find additional activities and resources, as well as the opportunity to share their own projects with Ethan.

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Lauren, Publicity Assistant

Laura Pappano, co-author with Eileen McDonagh of Playing With The Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal, is an award-winning journalist and writer-in-residence at Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College. She blogs at FairGameNews.com . In the original post below, Pappano discusses  Elizabeth Lambert’s hair-pulling and sportsmanship in women’s athletics.  Read Pappano’s previous OUPblog posts here.

Outrage over New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert’s dirty play – including her ponytail-yanking an opponent to the ground – is justified given this egregious act of poor sportsmanship.

But as the conversation and video have gone viral – from SportsCenter to NFL pre-game shows to David Letterman – the subtext has become less about comportment and more about the gendered expectations of female athletes.

Guys fighting in sports – whether ice hockey or baseball – is considered a “natural” by-product of intense play and, well, testosterone. They can’t help it. When women get heated in competition (ask any high school female athletes about trash talking and you’ll get an earful) there is a perception that they’re supposed to act…differently.

In a season of throw-backs, you can add this to the list: Just as our grandmothers insisted that girls don’t sweat, they “perspire,” there remains a narrow range of acceptable behavior for female athletes. Such rigidity is not new (in previous eras women basketball players were required to wear makeup in competition and submit to half-time beauty contests), but until Lambert we had thought the rules had evolved – at least a little.

The increasing skill level and intensity of women’s sports even at high school and college levels should not be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Problem is, of course, many have not been paying attention. Women’s sports remain poorly covered by the mainstream male sports media. News outlets hardly feel obligated to report on even major events (it took digging to get the result of the WNBA final). And chatter about Lambert on sports talk radio last week on the Boston station I listen to was preceded by the admission that “we have never talked about women’s college soccer on this program and we will probably never talk about women’s college soccer again, but…”

The fact remains that while female athletes have developed skills, hard-charging attitudes and leave-it-all-on-the-field seriousness about their play, we still view them as grown-up girls (in ponytails) who might be doing cartwheels in the backfield if they thought they wouldn’t get caught.

Some little girl-female athlete affinity is purposeful marketing. That’s the justification for Saturday afternoon college basketball games and cheap tickets. And, certainly, why shouldn’t women’s teams, from college basketball to professional soccer build a fan base from those who can relate to them as role models? Isn’t that the NFL’s goal fulfilled when millions of boys paste Ladanian Tomlinson Fatheads on bedroom walls and wear Peyton Manning jerseys to school?

Promoting athletes as role models, of course, is always tricky. But where men get a pass for bad behavior, women draw fire.

We forgive Michael Vick, and gasp when Serena Williams screams at a line judge’s late call at the U.S. Open.

We must get past the notion that female athletes are “nice” first and good second, and women’s games should be peddled as “family fare.” It is tiring to hear enlightened men describe themselves as “supporters” of women’s sports as if they are charitable donors. No one likes dirty play. But if Elizabeth Lambert just made people see that women’s sports are highly intense, competitive, and exciting, well, good for her.

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I enjoy drawing little people. Especially running about the place, little legs moving rapidly like wind up toys until they can't move any more. One of the stories I illustrated recently in School Magazine was about a year four schoolboy called Barry who coached a Soccer (Football in the rest of the world) team of kindergarten kids. This illustration is for the cover of one of the magazines. You can imagine how hard it would be training a bunch of small people who for the best part know nothing about organised sport, are barely bigger than the ball and have weeny little attention spans. There's hardly anything funnier than watching a group of small children in a park chasing one ball around all bunched up together like a school of fish.

BTW, if the uniforms look like pyjamas it's because they are (at least I hope they look like pyjamas.) One of the mothers made them for the team out of pyjama material. They have little rockets on them. Cute!

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Our friends at Harris Interactive (a Ypulse Research sponsor) just sent out their latest Trends & Tudes Newsletter featuring research on youth and sports. As I've blogged here before, I pretty much gave up on structured physical activity in 9th... Read the rest of this post

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Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a book that I have always meant to read. In fact, I was supposed to read it this summer since I had the arc of Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls in my hot little hands. Well, it didn't happen, so I took a leap of faith and jumped right in to the second installment.

Emmy's life is back to normal, and she is trying to distance herself from the rodents. Afterall, who is going to want to hang out with a girl who talks to rats? She knows that it is thanks to the rats that she is back home and away from her awful Nanny Miss Barmy who was only interested in making off with her parent's money. But, Emmy wants to do regular 10-year-old things...things like sleep-overs, parties, going to the park, and make new friends. So when Emmy and best friend Joe are invited to a reception in Rat City, she isn't as happy as she could be.

First of all, she has to get bitten by a rat to shrink down to fit in Rat City. And there is the nasty business of old Miss Barmy being a rat herself now. Unlike Emmy, however, she cannot change her form back to human. What if Emmy runs into Miss Barmy? What will happen?

Now, Emmy isn't the only girl who Miss Barmy took care of. There was Priscilla, Ana, Berit, Lisa, Lee and little Merry. In Miss Barmy's care, they disappeared and their parents mysteriously died. But where are the girls? Closer than you may think.

Before Emmy knows it, she is smack dab in the middle of a mystery and a rescue mission. Lynne Jonell has done the difficult deed of making a second book comfortable to dive into. While I feel like I probably do not know Emmy as well as I would if I had read the first installment, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Readers will feel Emmy's growing pains, and the scenery of Rat City is painted in rich detail. From friendship to nail-biting rescue missions, to a hilarious gopher named Gus, adventure loving kids will not only eat this title up, but will most likely take a second look the next time they see a squirrel in the park!

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Leopoldstadt, Vienna

Coordinates: 48 13 N 16 22 E

Area: 7.5 sq mi (19.3 sq km)

Having seriously played the sport for ten years in my youth, part of this time with a close friend from Belgium, I reached adulthood as a rarefied type of American: a soccer fan. By which I mean that I still haven’t figured out what all of those baseball statistics mean. But I am looking forward to June 29th when two teams will meet in Ernst Happel Stadium to decide the 2008 European Football Championship. Located in Leopoldstadt, one of 23 districts in Vienna, the stadium sits on an island created by the Danube Canal and the river of the same name. Historically this part of Austria’s capital contained a large Jewish population (Freud lived here), and because of this, gained the nickname “Matzoh Island.” A number of tourist attractions occupy the island today, including Wurstelprater, an amusement park, as well as the Republic of Kugelmugel, a micronation founded in 1984.

---

Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.

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*Sigh* How long have I been waiting for this?

The Penderwicks are back! It's a couple of months since their summer vacation upstate, and the girls and their dad are back on Gardam Street. We flash back to the time that Mrs. Penderwick was still alive, and gave her sister a blue envelope. Rosalind was the only one to hear what was in that envelope, and she conveniently forgot all about it. Everything comes flooding back after Aunt Claire presents said envelope to Mr. Penderwick on a visit. The girls knew that something was up because Aunt Claire comes with gifts...and a plan for a blind date for her brother.

Who is ready for Mr. Penderwick to start dating again, even if it is the late Mrs. Penderwick's idea? Certainly not Rosalind. And certainly not Mr. Penderwick. Enter an emergency MOPS meeting, resulting in the save Daddy plan.

Ensuing are disasterous dates, swapped homework, Aztec plays, the demise of Mick Hart, and a little Tommy love!

I am an unabashed fan of The Penderwicks, and I am delighted with the second installment. The relative innocence of the plot is refreshing, and the storytelling is such a pleasure to experience. Each girl is a personality, and the additions of the characters of Iantha and Ben are welcome. I simply cannot wait to read these books to my daughters.

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Young Pelé: soccer's first star by Lesa Cline-Ransome, paintings by James E. Ransome; Schwartz & Wade Books, 2007

James Ransome's illustrations shine in this picture book biography of Edson do Nascimento, who would be known to the world as Pelé. Using the greens, yellows and blues of the Brazilian flag Ransome paints glowing scenes of Edson's school, family and soccer life.

Edson struggled in school and his first soccer ball was "a sock stuffed with rags, rolled up and tied with string." His inability to focus in class resulted in reprimands and punishments but soccer was always foremost in his mind. His team, the Shoeless Ones, became a force in the city's soccer leagues. His nickname, Pelé, was bestowed at this young age.

The author describes the work ethic of the team; they sold peanuts and shined shoes to earn money for uniforms. The reader is reminded that talent also requires practice, drills, coaching and teamwork to suceed.

There is much here for the young soccer enthusiast to enjoy. Pelé traps, heads, dribbles and boots the ball across the pages. The creators of this biography score, indeed.

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