Football School Star Players is part of the bestselling Football School series, which teaches you about the world through football, packed with superstar stories, fun facts and laugh-out-loud illustrations. Perfect for readers 7+ and recommended by the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, the Premier League and parents and teachers.Get young fans dreaming big with this incredible collection of inspirational lives from the world of football.What made Pele the greatest player of all time? How did Harry Kane overcome the odds to win the Golden Boot? What is the secret behind Lionel Messi's outstanding success? And why is Megan Rapinoe so fearless in her beliefs? This collection of fifty biographies brings together the incredible true stories of the game's greatest legends who changed the world of football. Empowering and inspirational, this is the perfect book to get young fans dreaming big both on and off the pitch. “We love this book series!” Match of the Day Weekly “Intelligent, inspiring, funny” Head of Education, Premier League Collect the series! Football School Season 1–4 Star Players Epic Heroes Football School Terrific Teams 20 Fantastic Football Stories The Amazing Quiz Book The Incredible Joke Book The Ultimate Puzzle Book The Greatest Ever Quiz Book – out in 2022!
"I was born in Oxford and grew up in Edinburgh and Southampton. After studying mathematics and philosophy at university I joined the Evening Argus in Brighton as a trainee reporter. I joined the Guardian in 1994 as a reporter and in 1998 moved to Rio de Janeiro, where I spent five years as the paper’s South America correspondent. Since 2003 I have lived in London, as a freelance writer and broadcaster.
[...]
In 2003 I presented a five-part series on Brazil for the BBC, called Inside Out Brazil. My short films about the Amazon have been broadcast on the BBC, More 4 and Al Jazeera International."
This is a great stand-alone addition to the already brilliant ‘Football School’ series. While the other books in the series focus on a range of different subjects, with chapters arranged like a school timetable, this book is different and is filled with information on 50 of the best football players of all time. The book is filled with black and white funny illustrations throughout which really liven up the information and make it feel all the more fun.
The 50 players are listed in alphabetical order and each player’s chapter starts with stats about them before explaining more about why they are a star player. There is a really big range of different football players in this book, it covers players from the past as well as the present and features a lot of female players as well as some disabled too. I didn’t even know there was an official disabled football being played and how brilliant the players were so this was especially interesting and encouranging to read. All the footballers included have different stories about why they are a star and there’s a brilliant variety from stars who campaigned for the environment to ones who fought racial prejudice and those who died young but changed the course of history and even medicine. It’s a really big range of different facts and they are all explained in an easy to understand way, with no more than four pages per player (so no boring big blocks of text!).
The illustrations that appear throughout the book really do add fun to what you are reading. I’ve always enjoyed the funny images in the Football School series and there are a lot of fun ilustrations on every page which are black, white and grey in colour and sometimes the illustrations contain little additional facts within them about the star players too. At the back of the book is a quiz which has a question about every star player that you have just read about. There are also additional charts and images behind the quiz which help you to see just how many players come from which countries, which ones have won certain awards the most, etc. It’s a great addition to take a look at these stats and helps to remind you just how many brilliant star players there are in the world of football.
I really enjoyed reading this and learned a lot. I was actually really fascinated by all the different things the different players listed have achieved, and I’m not even a football fan, so I can imagine that this would be even more exciting and interesting to read for those who are. I definitely think both children and even some adults would enjoy reading this, especially if you are a big football fan. It’s a brilliant addition to the rest of the series of books which I’d also recommend. -Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.
Football School, Star Players is an inspiring, fun and uplifting quick read.
Footballers from a variety of backgrounds, religions, races are shown in a top trumps style fact page and small chunks of narrative for key players.
This book can be read by eager football fans and those who know little. A brilliant addition to any school library. The book also includes a quiz at the back.