Gives poetry a kick in the pants and definitely reaches its end GOOOOOOOOAL!
The king of sports poetry returns to tackle the world’s most popular game.
Hot on the heels of his Soccer Queens (2023), Smith pays tribute to the best male soccer players from around the world. Some subjects get their own poems, while others (like a quartet of goalkeepers) are placed together. Meanwhile, vibrant photography shows athletes leaping, kicking, diving, running, and generally in the thick of the sport they play so well. While always reflecting the energy of their subjects, some poetic prompts work better than others, as when a Harry Kane chant fails to scan properly. More successful are the acrostics and call-and-response poems, as well as the less familiar ghazal, sijo, and Sapphic stanzas (each meriting its own description in the backmatter). In “Player Notes,” Smith offers additional information about the subjects and explains why each form was chosen, though he eschews other details, like the team each person plays for. Fans will also certainly have their own opinions; Lionel Messi is “arguably the greatest footballer of all time,” while Cristiano Ronaldo is merely a player most people know “by one name.”
Gives poetry a kick in the pants and definitely reaches its end GOOOOOOOOAL! (photo credits) (Poetry. 6-9)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781536234879
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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