Soccer: Skills

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4Librarians should be insulted that anyone would consider us so stupid as to purchase six separate books of a mere 23 pages each to get complete information on beginning soccer. Even though the sentence structure and vocabulary is well suited for beginning readers, many unnecessary sidebars pad the writing. ("A coach is often a father or mother," or "Having laws, or rules, makes a soccer game fair, safe and fun.") Photos are clear and colorful but many are pointless, such as the one captioned "Many players use gym bags" or the full-page picture of dirty socks and shoes with the caption "Soccer shoes take a lot of abuse." Skip these books and invest in extra copies of Lori Coleman's Fundamental Soccer, or its adaptation by Julie Jensen, Beginning Soccer (both Lerner, 1995).Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA