Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

MNHQ

July children's book club choice: Skills from Brazil - apply for a free copy

27 replies

NataliaMumsnet · 01/07/2014 16:42

From the school pitch to the beaches of Rio, Jamie Johnson is going to learn there's more to being a great footballer than he ever imagined.

The ideal book for all football-mad kids, Skills from Brazil is a prequel to the hugely popular Jamie Johnson series, but can also be read as a standalone story. If you’d like a copy to share with your DCs, you can apply now. Please come back to let us know your thoughts on the book or post a review.

July children's book club choice: Skills from Brazil - apply for a free copy
OP posts:
MNHQ
NataliaMumsnet · 08/07/2014 13:21

This giveaway is now closed and the winners will be notified soon. Please return to this thread to share your thoughts on the book and you can leave a review here.

OP posts:
susanterblanche · 11/07/2014 12:01

Thanks, we received our copy today, sure my daughter will love it as she has been watching lots of the World Cup :-)

aristocat · 11/07/2014 13:02

Thank you so much, will report back soon :)

gingercat12 · 11/07/2014 21:22

Wow! That was amazingly quick. Ours landed on the doormat today. Thanks a lot. DS is very excited. We'll start it as soon as we finish our current reading . Can't wait Grin We love series books, so I have high hopes. DS thinks he could give some good tips to Neymar, anyway [giggle]. He is only 6.

Andrews55 · 12/07/2014 10:19

Thanks for my copy which arrived yesterday. We'll start it as soon as possible.

Paularayner · 12/07/2014 14:12

Thanks for our free copy of,Skills from Brazil,love this author,he is fantastic with his readers,will get Oliver,my son to do a review for here.
Thank you

princessgray · 13/07/2014 16:44

Skills from Brazil is a great read for any football loving youngsters. It doesn't matter if you haven't read any other Jamie Johnson stories, it works really well as an individual read. The relationship between the boys was well written about and the school football match was exciting. Great stuff!

Adikia · 13/07/2014 19:04

Thanks for my copy, I gave it to DS yesterday and he's been sat reading ever since (which is fantastic as he's injured his foot and I thought i was going to have to tape him to the chair to rest it).

DS promises me a proper review later on but so far 'it's awesome!'

aristocat · 13/07/2014 23:19

Well DS has read it all! He loved it, and will write a review asap. I have already ordered the other books for him :)

glenka · 14/07/2014 20:42

Thank you for the free copy of this book. I gave this to my nephew, he said it was a great book, well written story and would now want to read all the other books by this author.

cavylover · 15/07/2014 17:33

Topical book, well researched with intricate diagrams relating to football and other black and white drawings. Main character, a football-mad boy will appeal to children with his constant escapades and likeability and his ability to stand up for himself and his friends. The book stresses the importance of friends and family and I will be passing this on to my nephew who seems interested in reading the other books in the series together with this one. Thank you.

Stujobohm · 17/07/2014 14:07

Thank you for the book
My nephew has throughly enjoyed reading this... He is football mad
He said it's his favourite book ever!
Thanks again x

aristocat · 20/07/2014 13:49

Thank you so much for this wondeful book. I admit that I do not read as many books as perhaps I should but this was a page-turner and I could not wait to see how the story unfolded.

I have already got the other books in this series and they are all excellent.

England needs Jamie in their team!

(Matt 12)

Goonergirl1 · 21/07/2014 21:36

DS is thoroughly enjoying the story, but then again anything with a football theme is bound to be a winner. This is a well told story, with short chapters and likeable characters. I am sure we will end up buying others in the series.

Paularayner · 22/07/2014 11:43

Skills From Brazil Book Review

Skills From Brazil is an amazing and inspiring story of passion for the beautiful game. In anticipation to the 2014 world cup coming up, I had to pick this book up; and I’m so glad I did.

It tells the story of the aspiring young footballer named Jamie Johnson who has the opportunity to play in the football capital of the world: Brazil.
When a kid from Brazil moves into Wheatland’s school, Jamie is determined to find out the secret to the style and skill to Brazilian football. However, this kid isn’t normal. When he is first introduced to Rafael Da Cruz, he doesn’t seem as Jamie thought he would: He is always writing in a little notebook, he doesn’t talk to anyone and most importantly, he doesn’t even play football! But Rafael has an amazing story that neither Jamie nor the reader would expect.

This book follows Jamie on his adventures in Brazil meeting a legendary football coach, a professional extraordinary Brazilian footballer and the natives of Brazil who will surprise him about how life is really like for them. With the help of Mike (his grandfather), Bernard (Rafael’s father), and O Mestre (The Master) he will try to achieve his goal of beating the teachers in the Teachers vs Pupils match and finally getting revenge against his dreadful teacher Mr Pratley. The book feels like you are Jamie Johnson and discovering the wonders of Brazil for yourself, you can feel the tension between Johnson and Pratley and you can feel the unique connection between Rafael and Jamie.

Recently, I fell out of love with books and didn’t read many for a long time, I found out about this one and now it has rekindled my passion for books. For any young kids looking to peruse a career in the glorious sport, this book is a must. Anyone who needs a page-turning book which will provide hours of entertainment has only one choice: Skills From Brazil. As soon as you pick the book up, you will be entranced within it, not being able to put it down for even a second. A truly especial book from a inspirational author.

By Oliver Rayner, Aged 13.

gingercat12 · 22/07/2014 12:30

My 6-year-old DS loves this book, and has been urging me to buy the rest of the series ever since he laid eyes on the back page. In fact, I wanted his Daddy to read it to him, but DS could not wait for them to finish Horrid Henry and we had to start reading there and ten.

Obviously the football aspect of the book is very interesting, and he has been explaining "cushioning the ball" and "3-3-2-2" to all our football-playing family members. His class was learning about Brazil during the World Cup, so he is very excited to "add more to his fact file" (his words).

However in his age, the complexity of friendships and school dramas are even more fascinating. The book gave us the opportunity to discuss secrets, privacy, loyalty, sensitivity and accepting large gifts from strangers (money worries) with him. And many other things.

Thank you very much for sending us this book. It has been on a road trip with us for the past few days, as DS did not want to miss a single day's reading Grin.

We heartily recommend this book to other families.

katb1973 · 22/07/2014 14:28

What an appropriate book for the time; Thanks Mumsnet. My 7 year old who isn't a keen footballer really surprised me by enjoying the book. He said it gave him an insight into how to get better at football as well as reading about very interesting characters and a good storyline. What more can you ask for from a book?

penguinpaperback · 23/07/2014 10:57

Football playing DGS really enjoyed this book, read over a couple of days. It's the first book he has read by this author and I will now search out more. I had a quick skim through the book beforehand and can see it's appeal.

purplemonstermum · 28/07/2014 17:20

thank you for our copy. My 9 year old son normally hates reading but this book seems to have captured his interest...i will get him to write review when he is finished.

mum2eci · 28/07/2014 18:02

My DS loved this book. He read it within a few days and said he would definitely recommend it to others to read :-)
Is this where I post book reviews? not done a one before so not sure. Thank you

Happydaysmum · 29/07/2014 21:10

my son was delighted to get a copy of this book thank you very much. Although he found it an easy read (age 12) it was enjoyable and appealed to him as he was watching the world cup matches avidly too! the perfect companion book for the summer of football!

Rajie · 30/07/2014 01:10

My Son who is 7 years old enjoyed the book thoroughly. The subject matter has been well researched and the diagrams relating to football make the reading much more interesting. As my son is football-mad, it really appealed to him. It is such a moving story and the message of being able to stand up for oneself is very important, especially to youngsters these days. The story also stresses the importance of friends and family and the close knit bond they share. Thank you very much for sending this book to me.

nushcar · 10/08/2014 08:33

A great idea for a series. I used to be a private tutor and sometimes found it harder to engage boys to read and that a non-fiction element relating to their interests: sport, space, computer games, Egypt can often be a good introduction. This book is well written and easy to read and covers travel, relationships, the importance of the right attitude in order to be successful. Worth a try!

mugglelady · 11/08/2014 12:25

My daughter loved this book, found it a really enjoyable read. I'll be looking into other books by this author

Andrews55 · 13/08/2014 15:33

Thank you for our copy of this book. Dan Freedman is onto a winner here. It is an exciting read for those readers who are moving on to read more independently, and would appeal to boys and girls. Another good point is that the chapters are short, so children who fall into the 'reluctant reader' category will be able to read the novel in short sessions.
Far from being solely about football, it deals with other common issues such as friendship, single parent families, bullying, and teachers - a very comical Mr Pratley.
We have bought 'Kick Off' today. I feel we will have the whole set soon!