Tag Matt Oldfield

Johnny Ball Professional Football Genius / Rudy and the Skate Stars

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Johnny Ball Professional Football Genius
Matt Oldfield, illustrated by Tim Wesson
Walker Books


In his role as manager, nine year old Johnny Ball has recently led the Tissbury Tigers to glory at the world’s top youth tournament. He’s basking in the glory when he is approached by soccer agent, Darren Dealz telling him that the Tissbury Thundercats want an assistant manager for their Under-12s academy team and that somebody should be our young narrator.


Johnny lands the job with the proviso that he remembers that manager, Jaz ,is the one in charge – the decision maker – and he mustn’t overstep the mark. A challenge if ever there was one, particularly as his best friend Tabia is joining the squad.


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It’s a steep learning curve for Johnny, who as ever, is bursting with ideas; there’s a serious falling out with his bestie and unwelcome interference from Darren Deals but the assistant manager never loses sight of his main goal – that Tissbury Thundercats team take the Prime League title.


Champions or not? Johnny Ball fans will relish this amusing story with its liberal sprinkling of suitably dramatic drawings by Tim Wesson. Assuredly it’s a winner in this reviewer’s book.

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Rudy and the Skate Stars
Paul Westmoreland, illustrated by George Ermos
Oxford Children’s Books


Excitement is high when werewolf Rudy and his friends, Femi (a mummy) and Edie (a ghost) discover that the Skate Stars competition is coming to their hometown, Cobble Cross and the legendary Jessie Howler is to be the judge. With the event just a week away the three pals know they must practise hard to stand any chance of a medal and Rudy is up super early next morning to start working on his moves. He’s only just got started when a group of wolf boys turn up looking smart and performing impressively. One of their number, Wolfgang. introduces the crew as the Night Owls and starts chatting to Rudi. He also asks Rudy to show some of his moves.


The following day Wolfgang suggests that Rudy enters the competition with them instead of Femi and Edie, saying that he’s much more likely to win if he does. The little werewolf can hardly believe his luck: it’s always been his dream to stand on top of the podium with a gold medal around his neck but switching teams means that he must agree to follow Wolfgang’s lead. However he decides to join the Night Owls team; but on the day of the competition, having had a chat with Jessie Fowler, Rudy feels conflicted: should he go for winning and risk losing his friends?

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He tells Wolfgang he’s changed his mind and prefers to skate with The Power Pack.
What happens thereafter shows Rudy that winning the gold medal isn’t what really matters most.


This fourth story of Rudy and his pals is certain to please his followers among those just flying solo as readers and they’ll likely find additional fans among young skateboarders new to the series. As always George Ermos’s super-cool illustrations help break up the text and ramp up the action.










Johnny Ball International Football Genius / The Naughtiest Unicorn and the Firework Festival

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Johnny Ball International Football Genius
Matt Oldfield, illustrated by Tim Wesson
Walker Books

In this third title in the hugely funny Johnny Ball series, the nine year old football manager has perhaps his biggest challenge yet: to take the Tissbury Tigers all the way to becoming winners of the WORLDIES (aka the World Youth Championships). Just imagine the headlines in the local paper. There’s a big problem though, Johhny’s elder brother, the mega-talented striker Daniel has been injured – a broken tibia – and has been instructed to rest for two months. 

However, with their victory in the play-off match, the Tigers are on their way to Capdevila in Spain. Next comes organising their coaching team and after that, the players. With four needed to make the squad complete, it’s time for a team trial. Job done, and with packing also complete, the journey begins.

Arrival means that Johnny’s brain must go into overdrive as the matches get under way. With three results in the group table, the Tigers reach the semi-finals and after a day of rest, must play the Lions. 

What happens thereafter, I will leave readers to find out and just assure them that so doing is definitely worth it.

Full of hilarious moments and some nail-biting ones, this story, with Tim Wesson’s rib-tickling black and white illustrations, will most certainly be a winner with young soccer enthusiasts.

The Naughtiest Unicorn and the Firework Festival
Pip Bird, illustrated by David O’Connell
Farshore

Having missed the Diwali extravaganza, Mira is really excited about the forthcoming firework festival at Unicorn School, especially as she’ll be watching with her unicorn Dave. Once there though, Mira finds out something upsetting: there are to be no fireworks. Surely that can’t be right?

Step forward DI Mira Desai to try and solve this mystery. It doesn’t help matters that Dave has already managed to get himself covered in sticky caramel after immersing himself in the toffee apple mixture in the cauldron; but the investigation must go ahead no matter what. That means Mira and Dave must track down the ‘Lightning Bugs’ that live in the Fearsome Forest. Said creatures love to put on magical light shows with their glowing bums and the key to getting the bugs to perform is to make them laugh. Off go Red Class plus unicorns into the forest … 

But what will make those bugs laugh? It’s certainly not going to be straightforward.

With a considerable number of rear end emanations from Dave, this latest episode starring Mira and Dave will provide plenty of fizzing fun and frolics for fans of the series whenever they read it.

Play Like Your Football Heroes

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Play Like Your Football Heroes
Seth Burkett and Matt Oldfield, illustrated by Tom Jennings
Walker Books

Former pro football player Seth Burkett co-authors this book with friend and writer Matt Oldfield. It’s broken down first into four parts with tips on how to: Train Smart, Think Smart, Live Smart and Play Smart, and then into chapters each featuring five or six star players. It’s great to see both men and women included, one of the latter being American icon and political activist Megan Rapinoe, winner of two World Cup winner’s medals as well as both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot trophies. But what makes her even more inspirational to this reviewer is her peace message: “We have to love more, hate less, listen more, talk less.’

Self belief is key if you’re to become a successful soccer player, or indeed succeed at pretty much anything: Kevin De Bruyne is a shining example of a player who believes in his ability, in his case to ‘pull off another amazing assist’. He started having to find the courage to step outside his comfort zone (a requisite if you’re to develop self confidence) age fourteen when he left his Drongen home and family to join the Genk academy 100 miles away. Just one of the incidences of his awesome self-belief.

Incredibly skilful ball dribbler, Messi, didn’t gain that outstanding ability in a vacuum; rather he needed to work on a whole lot of inter-linked skills to become the amazing ball master that he is. Training, training and more training in different conditions: constant, variable and random. Don’t worry if this sounds a bit technical; explanations are given in the very first chapter, featuring of course, Lionel Messi.

Another star who believed in himself, no matter what is Harry Kane who scored that crucial goal in the final minutes of the first group game against Tunisia in the 2018 World Cup. A real smart hero assuredly..

When it comes to playing smart, somebody who personifies the five ‘P’s – ‘proper preparation prevents poor performance’ is French midfielder N’Golo Kanté, he of outstanding stamina.

However, no matter where you open the book you’ll likely find something that will speak to you: and sometimes challenge you.

With both authors’ passion for the game shining through all that they’ve written in this inspiring, interactive book, as well as some 80 black and white illustrations by Tom Jennings, there’s lots in here for readers from around seven, be they enthusiastic watchers/team supporters of the game, or a young player and would be football star, .

Rashford Rules / Van Dijk Rules / Be Your Own Football Hero: Ronaldo

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Rashford Rules
Van Dijk Rules
Simon Mugford and Dan Green
Welbeck Publishing

These two highly illustrated biographies are the first in a series of Football Superstarsand both author Simon and illustrator Dan are soccer fans themselves, supporting Ipswich Town.

Marcus Rashford has recently hit the headlines again with his superb campaigning for free school meals over the half-term holidays which received tremendous community support and certainly put the government to shame. The opening pages of the book acknowledge his national hero status both as an awesome goal scorer and as a charity campaigner. Readers are then told what makes him the brilliant player that he is, and can also discover some statistical information.
Divided into short chapters, there’s information on his Manchester childhood, early achievements, his debuts including a comment by Rashford’s hero Ronaldo. Then come his path to national England player 

and the final chapter focuses on his activist charity work during the Coronavirus lockdown. All this and he’s still only in his early 20s.
The book ends with a quiz and some key soccer words as does the companion book Van Dijk Rules. 

This follows a similar pattern, giving facts about achievements, his early life in the city of Breda in the Netherlands as a child who always had a football at his feet, and how he progressed from over-grown, sometimes troubled teenager with a part-time job washing dishes in a local restaurant, through his successes with Celtic 

and Liverpool, and as captain of the Dutch team. Both this and the previous title are enormously engaging for young soccer enthusiasts especially. Dan Green’s black and white illustrations capture the essence of the individuals and add additional detail and humour to Simon Mugford’s accessible writing.

Be Your Own Football Hero: Ronaldo
Matt and Tom Oldfield
Studio Press

The Oldfield brothers invite youngsters to don football boots and participate in a decision-making activity as they select one or other of the options presented at intervals throughout the book. There are many choices to be made in the world of a soccer professional such as Cristiano Ronaldo, some of which take the reader along the path taken by the real Ronaldo, others are would-be alternative realities – what might have beens.
Readers are taken back to Ronaldo’s childhood when as son of encouraging, soccer-enthusiast, hard-up parents. the football mad boy has his chance to go and play with his cousin at a Andorinha training session. It turns out to be something of a disappointment so what is your response when your dad asks if you enjoyed it? Time for that first decision …
And so it continues.

I’m not a football fan, but to readers from around six or seven, I can perfectly understand the allure of these books, written by the authors of the Ultimate Football Heroes biography series.