Football fever!

It’s the soccer season once again! We are not exactly soccer fans at home, but what’s the harm in joining in all the sporting entertainment that FIFA 2014 offers…isn’t it?? In fact, everyone from sports bars, retailers, clubs to Google  seems to have caught the football fever!  So much so that a popular daily soap on the television channel Star plus had one of its child protagonists scoring the winning goal in a football tournament played to an eager audience comprising of the said character’s “large” extended family ……the suspense stretching to almost a week! (which of course had our entire family watching with bated breath!!) So how can we at Onestoryaday be left behind?? I couldn't believe my luck when I chanced upon the perfect book at the British Library for Abhay to read by himself (which almost never happens as the book I want is never available). My excitement was short-lived though as it turns out that the library too had jumped into the bandwagon, and I got a call requesting me to turn in the said book a little earlier than my due date as it  is required for a special program in the library on.....no prizes for guessing.... soccer!!!! I guess....no one can escape from being FIFAfied!!! :-)

 

I was hoping to feature this book a little later  in the football season, but I had to concede to the library's request and had Abhay read this at the initial play-offs. "Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend" by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross, an early chapter book in presented in an Early Reader format. as the football fever heats up...Though I am not a great fan of the popular young reader fiction such as Horrid Henry or Geronimo Stilton, you however cant deny their universal appeal and easily relatable subjects amongst the primary school kids. As Henry daydreams in class, about scoring the winning goal for his football team his teacher Miss Battle Axe shocks the entire class by her announcement related to football. It turns out that their local team Aston Ahtletic had made it to the finals of the FA cup and was set for a face-off with Manchester United and so every primary school was given two free tickets to the match. Thanks to Miss Battle-Axe’s good luck during the teachers’ lucky draw, the lucky winner would be chosen from Henry’s class and Miss Battle Axe decided to hold a football match with the player of the match winning the tickets. So Horrid-Henry, Aerobic-Al, Beefy-Bert, Jazzy-Jim and the favourite Moody- Margret (who has the distinction of being the first best, second best and third best foot ball player in class) battle it out on the field, tripping and tackling each other for the prized tickets. Finally as “the hand of God” comes to Henry’s rescue, Henry is so certain to win the tickets that he is already planning on picking his guest for the other ticket….but does Miss Battle Axe award him the tickets?? Have your young reader read on and find out what really happens in the football field!  Go on stay up late….to catch the Hot-foot Henry’s football match ….packed with fun, action, and don’t-try-this-in school football strategies! Enjoy the soccer season everyone! :-)