Soccer World Cup Books Books Books

The Soccer (Football) World Cup is a perfect opportunity to showcase some terrific junior chapter books and series with your library visitors/students. I had thought about doing this post and then I saw the same idea (with all the current books) posted by The Kids Bookshop (Melbourne). So, I will begin with a few from this terrific shop (please support your independent booksellers). Here is the link to all their sport titles:

Here are some other soccer (football) books and series I spied in a library recently (note some are not new and are out of print but that is the wonderful thing about a library - you can still find and read older books):

There are six books in this series

There are four books in this series

The other book in this series is Cup Run

Losers

There are three books in this series

There are more than 12 books in this series

There are four books in this series

Myra in the Middle

Bank Street Books - The Best of 2025

Best books published in 2025 - AND yes there are some Australian titles - congratulations.

In evaluating books for their literary merit, the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee (CBC) recognizes the importance of diversity in children’s literature and acknowledges and celebrates the voices and cultures of all of our readers. Diversity encompasses the varied and unique identities, experiences, perspectives, and cultural communities of a book’s main and supporting characters, whose attributes include (but are not limited to):

• race  

• ethnicity 

• gender 

• abilities 

• sexuality

• class

• religion

• family structure

• local and global challenges

All children benefit from seeing themselves reflected in what they read, and from seeing characters with different identities, depicted accurately and without stereotypes, in texts and/or illustrations. The CBC values representations of characters who are change agents and advocates for social justice, inclusivity, and equity.

TIPS FOR READING WITH CHILDREN

• Show how much you enjoy reading along with your child.

• Discuss your reading together.

• If your child is willing, don’t stop reading aloud to them, even when they can read independently.

• Encourage your child to choose books to read aloud to someone else.

• Help your child to select books from a wide range of subjects, formats, and genres.

• Encourage your child to read, and reread, whatever they enjoy, even if it appears to be too easy or too hard.

• Find time for your child to visit and browse in libraries and bookstores.

• Let your child see you enjoying your own reading

You can see the whole list here. Or from a link here. 

AUSTRALIAN titles (I didn't look through the YA list):

Emmie Builds Something New written and illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

A plucky mouse tinkers with wondrous mechanical inventions to scare off a newly arrived house cat. 

Bright, energetic drawings bursting with detail. 

Drop Bear by Phil Bunting

A koala’s tendency to apparently fall out of trees starts being wrongly attributed to bad intentions. What 

will stop the rumor mill? Humorous gouache, digital collage, and duct tape illustrations.

Found You! by Jane Godwin, illustrated by Sylvia Morris Note title change 'The Best Hiding Place'

Soft, tender illustrations depict a boy’s worry when the other children take too long to locate him during hideand-seek—and his relief at finally being found.

Afloat Kirli Saunders illustrated by Freya Blackwood

An Elder and a child gather people from many cultures together as they explore weaving in a changing world. A metaphorical tale of unity. Haunting mixed-media illustrations.

One Day a Mayfly by Shirley Marr, illustrated by Michael Speechley Note title change

A mayfly nymph emerges as an adult with only 24 hours to live and spends that time in discovery, wonder, and joy. Inviting pencil, ink, and gouache illustrations.

Dawn by Marc Martin

See the world come alive as the sun rises and animals, insects, and flowers greet the day. Spare text and 

elaborate watercolor, pencil, and digital illustrations.

Chickenpox by Remy Lai

When Abby, 12, and her younger siblings get the chickenpox at the same time, mayhem ensues. Clear, 

colorful illustrations. Based on the author’s childhood experience.

Evie and Rhino by Nerida McMullin

Evie bonds with shipwrecked Rhino, but he belongs to the Royal Melbourne Zoological Society. Can she keep him? Detailed grayscale illustrations.

Into the Bewilderness: A Graphic Novel written and illustrated by Gus Gordon

Luis the bear and Pablo the mole leave their cabin in the woods for an adventure in the Big City. Things 

don’t go exactly as planned. Soft clear artwork.

The Unlikely Heroes Club by Kate Foster

During spring break, Oli must attend daily socialization classes for autistic kids. Rescuing a stray dog provides unexpected opportunities for collaboration and friendship.

I also spied Every Monday Mabel; Island Storm illustrated by Sydney Smith; Pop goes the Nursery Rhyme by Betsy Bird; Odder; Orris and Timble; Bear and Bird; Don't trust fish; His fairytale Life by Jane Yolen; The House on the Canal; Lost Evangeline; The Forest of a Thousand eyes; Tyger; and The Endless sea.

On the 12-14 list I have read The Burning Season; All the Blues in the Sky; Busted; The Trouble with Heroes; Impossible Creatures (Book one and Two); Candle Island; Max in the Land of lies; and The Experiment. Pop a title in my search bar to read more.  

The High Street by Alice Melvin

Sally's in the High Street and this is what she needs ...

a yellow rose,

a garden hose,

a bunch of grapes,

some roller skates,

a cockatoo,

a tin kazoo,

a Persian rug,

a stripy jug,

a cherry tart,

a candy heart.

As you turn each page we see Sally enter each shop to make her purchases. Number one is a sweet shop; number two is a bakery; the china shop is number three; and there are antiques in number four. You can probably guess where she finds cockatoo, roller skates, grapes, and a hose but how will she find a yellow rose?

Each shop has a short rhyming text description and a fold out so readers can head inside each store. 

This shows the way the pages in this book fold open

There is something so deliciously old-fashioned about The High Street. ... From sweetshop to hardware shop, from antiques shop to greengrocer’s, for many children, looking inside these shops via the medium of this book will be a real discovery ... The High Street manages to convey the sense of wonder that a child would feel when entering these shops. The clever use of flaps allows to have first a view of the shop closed and as Sally enters, the young reader can open the flap and find himself stepping inside the shop too ... Library Mice

In 2007 you could even buy a little flat pack to go with The High Street:

From the author web page: A little girl called Sally travels down the titular High Street with a very eclectic shopping list. As she visits each shop the reader can open up the throw-out pages to reveal the life behind the shop front. I have always loved doll’s houses, and I think this book grew out of fond memories of opening up a tiny house to peep at the hidden world inside. I wanted to fill the book with details of the life both in and above the shops: the bustling café above the bakery; the band practicing in the music shop and the pigeon loft in the pet-shop roof. Now translated into nine different languages it's lovely to know that this book has been enjoyed around the world.

On social media I saw a post with a list of books that could be perfect for budding architects and this book The High Street caught my eye. Luckily for me I found it in a library this week. 

The post listed six titles - here are the other five: Georgian House Picture Book (Usborne); The House with the Little Red Door (Thames and Hudson); At Home in a Book (Penguin); Our House by Trudie Trewin (Scholastic); and Need a House call Ms Mouse.

Here are some other books I'd add to this list.:

A House that once was

If I built a house

The Hidden House

Boy oh boy I do wish I had discovered this book The High Street when it was published in 2011. I would most certainly have added it to my school library and possibly even gifted it to a friend or two AND I would have loved to put this book into the hands of a Kindergarten teacher to read alongside the Squeak Street series by Emily Rodda. This book would also be a fabulous read aloud to a preschool group. AND I now discover Alice Melvin is the illustrator of this book which I own and love:

Mouse's Wood

You could also pair The High Street with other stories about shopping lists with repeated refrains such as Shoes from Grandpa (Mem Fox); and Don't forget the bacon (Pat Hutchins).