Saved!!!

by Lydia Williams, Lucinda Gifford (Illustrations)

"I grew up in outback Australia—and my friends were the desert animals. I was always competing against them. I tried to do athletics, but the emu was way too fast, I tried to do basketball, but the kangaroo jumped too high and outscored everyone, so I decided to have a go at soccer. The koala was in goals but never could save anything, so I volunteer to be goalkeeper. And it turns out I was great at it!" A funny and triumphant picture book by soccer goalkeeper Lydia Williams.

Genres: Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2019

Reviews

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming story about a girl finding out which sport is the one for her. I was given this story for my son who has just started soccer lessons. I can't count how many times he's asked me to re-read this book. Asides from the lovely writing and illustration, I think this book needs to be read in schools because it fosters the importance of young girls playing sports. When we first re-read this story, my son kept on calling the main character a boy, and correcting me when I told him Lydia was a girl. He often mistakes main characters in tv shows and books as male regardless of their gender. I think it's just how young kids identify with story. However, this led to an important discussion about roles of boys and girls (which believe me, is indoctrinated at such an early age through toys, clothing, marketing and books). This is a book that will stay on his bookshelf for years to come I hope.

[AD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous book by the Matilda's soccer team goalkeeper about passion, friendship, and finding your strengths. Lydia lives in outback Australia, and her animal friends keep her in good company. They love playing sport together, and each animal has one sport they are especially good at. But what is Lydia's special talent, and is there any point playing if she can't find one? Resilience is currently a popular theme at the moment, and this book provides a great example with colourful, entertaining illustrations.

[Carl H Spitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I could share over and over again with children. The story is simple and powerful. The illustrations are child friendly and the animals are not cluttered on the page. I live in the Seattle, WA, USA area and have been privileged to watch the author, Lydia Williams, play goalkeeper here in this area for years. The children here may not recognize very many of the animals, but a good storyteller will not find that a problem. I highly recommend this book to one and all.

[Emkoshka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lydia Williams is the current goalkeeper of the Matildas, the Australian women's national soccer team, and a woman of Aboriginal descent. She writes in a foreword how she spent a lot of her childhood moving around the outback, with often only bush animals for company, and this has clearly informed this somewhat autobiographical picture book, featuring a spunky young girl playing sports with her kangaroo, emu, koala, dingo, goanna and bilby friends. Cute!

[Earthing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations. Beautiful. Great story about sport and choosing what's right for you. 💕💞💕

[Sim ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

we stan Lydia - took me 12430 years to realise this was written by a Matilda too