I discovered this series through my nine-year-old. I pick up books for him to look at, ones that I hope will catch his eye. We are now reading the Charlie Bone series and the Alex Rider series, and I thought –- given the number of pictures throughout the Wiley And Grampa #4: Super Soccer Freak Show — that he’d find it an easy read.
Sitting at the doctor's, waiting, we quietly read our books. But only for a short while. Then he started giggling, and finally cracked up and howled in glee. Before I knew it, he was insisting on reading the book to me. That hasn’t happened before.
So I folded my book and I listened. He read for an hour before he finished it, pointing out the wordplay and the comic visual images. (Merle the cat was his favorite.) I have to admit that I was cracking up too. Guys have a tendency to never outgrow that juvenile funny bone, much to the dismay of their moms and wives.
The book is told in the first person. Wiley relates the tale of the school team’s journey to Carpathia Elementary School for a soccer game. (The books are set in Texas, where the author illustrator Kirk Scroggs is from. I’ve been to Texas on several occasions, but I’ve never seen Carpathia County. From the pictures, I know that it looks a lot like Transylvania!)
While at the soccer game, Grampa gets into a fight with the other team’s mascot. As it turns out, that’s something he does every time, and he has restraining orders from other games. Part of the humor of these books is seeing how far Grampa will go to get into trouble, despite Wiley and Gramma’s best efforts to keep him from it. But something goes horribly wrong this time.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
And I think you've just answered the "what to buy the godson for his birthday" question. Thanks!