Kick Off: Madlenka, Soccer Star by Peter Sis

THE WHOLE WORLD WANTS TO PLAY SOCCER.

And so does Madlenka.

Madlenka dreams of stardom, and when she sets forth down her city street with her brand-new ball, even the tall mailbox tries to joins in the game with her. And when his stubby steel legs can't keep up with the matchless Madlenka, the wandering neighborhood cats come together, magically donning little uniforms to try to stop her goal, but she is too quick for them as well.

At last Madlenka comes upon her friend Cleopatra, and the real game is on!

ARE YOU READY? PASS THE BALL!

Caldecott artist Peter Sis (for The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain (Caldecott Honor Book)) and Tibet Through the Red Box (Caldecott Honor Book) takes his character out and about with her new ball for a pickup game that could happen anywhere around the globe. Sis, whose stylized drawings have earned him many honors, including the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award for The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin (New York Times Best Illustrated Books (Awards), again utilizes his characteristic square-within-a-square design to good effect in his latest, Madlenka Soccer Star, (Francis Foster Books, 2010), as Madlenka's small city block expands to include the whole world of soccer.

Whether it's called footie, futbol, ibhola, futubolo, or fodbold, or kwallon, this ball never stops rolling.