LET'S PLAY SOCCER

A child’s first introduction to soccer in a board-book format, shaped like a soccer ball.

Each page of simple text presenting basic terminology is accompanied by photographs of multiethnic children engaged in playing soccer along with a close-up of a referee and a diagram of the 11 team positions on the field. The photographs are well-designed, visually conveying the meaning of the text (for “two teams,” two young players, one wearing a red jersey and one in blue, are pictured; the page explaining that hands are not used in the sport shows a close-up of players’ shoes). Action shots picture the free kick/penalty kick and corner kick. Diagrams of the field and player positions as well as some of the rules will be obscure for the audience: “Sometimes a player wins a FREE KICK or a PENALTY KICK. / Sometimes a player takes a CORNER KICK.” Children held in the laps of enthusiastic, knowledgeable adults will fare best, and those who are lucky enough to play in leagues for the very young will be able to integrate the information.

Colorful, informative introduction to soccer.