Adventures in SportsLand - The Soccer Bully (Adventures in SportsLand: The Bully)

Reviewed by Leslie Granier and Nicholas Lopez (age 5) for Reader Views (12/07) "The Soccer Bully" is about a soccer game between the TMates, whose coach stresses having fun and practicing hard, and the Hoo-Doos, who will do anything to win, including cheating and bullying the other team. A subplot involves Striker and his attitude that girls are not good enough athletes to play soccer. When asked what he liked about the book, Nicholas said, "It was funny when the cheater put another soccer ball in his really big pocket." He also liked the pictures because the soccer balls had shoes and gloves but they did not have arms or legs. He stated he was "glad the mean soccer balls lost" and that "sometimes girls can play soccer good." This book comes with a CD that is to be used in a computer. It narrates the story, but it also has songs and coloring pages to print out. This book teaches several important lessons, including: playing fair, having fun, and not stooping to the bullies' level of behavior. It also shows that everyone can play together. The illustrations in the book are fun and colorful. The book will appeal to children between the ages of five and ten, but the CD is aimed more at the younger kids (ages 5 to 7). There are seven other books in this series and if they are anything like "The Soccer Bully," they are worth reading since this one was a fun and valuable teaching tool.