Mia loves playing soccer. That is, until she has trouble scoring a goal when her team is about to lose. Before she can lose, she quits. Fed up with her attitude, Mia's brothers and sisters will not let her play with them anymore. Will Mia learn that beinga team player is more important than winning or losing the game? This wonderful and motivating story from America's soccer champion shows kids that: Winners Never Quit! Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Even superstar athletes don't come out on top every time. That's the name of the game in this slight picture book about soccer phenomenon Hamm's early lessons in being a good sport. Young Mia loves the cheers she receives when she routinely scores soccer goals in the local games with her siblings and friends. But when things don't go her way and the ball doesn't go into the net Mia announces "I quit!" Her poor attitude gets her left out of the action, as nobody likes to play with a whiner and a quitter. "If you can't learn to lose, you can't play," warns Mia's older sister Lovdy. Fortunately, the heroine has an epiphany ("She didn't hate losing as much as she loved soccer") and before long Mia's back, sporting her shin guards. Hamm's (Go for the Goal) message, sure to reach a wide audience of young soccer fans, is important, even if the delivery is a bit on the trite side. Thompson's (A New Room for William) loose-edged pencil-and-watercolor compositions, in both vignettes and full-page scenes, capture the zippy energy of the kids on the field. A brief author's note, scrapbook-style spread and frame-ready autographed photo bring this attractive package to a close. Ages 4-7. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

PreS-Gr 2 Mia's favorite sport is soccer but she hates losing. In fact, she dislikes it so much that she quits in the middle of a game. Upset about her attitude, her siblings do not let her participate the next day. Mia learns quickly that there will be times when she will score a goal and those when she will not, but playing the game is the most fun of all. Bright, energetic cartoons depict the child's ups and downs. Attractive endpapers contain colorful sketches of the girl progressing from birth (showing a soccer ball given as a baby gift) through stretching activities, trials of not scoring, and the final celebration of the sport. The text represents the mixed feelings of all athletes learning the game. Parents or coaches wanting a story about the joy of playing soccer without emphasizing winning or losing will find an appropriate read-aloud here. Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

K-Gr. 2. The world's top goal scorer and three-time Olympian offers a soccer tale, putatively autobiographical, about a little girl whose tendency to stomp off the field when frustrated prompts her teammates to teach her a lesson. The text perfectly reflects a competitive child's rage when things don't go as desired ( Mia didn't want better luck next time. She wanted better luck now ), as do Thompson's expressive portraits of furious little Mia, all furrowed eyebrows and clenched fists. Hamm's somewhat vague author's note, in which she recalls that while playing soccer with my family, I learned . . . how to lose gracefully, won't totally satisfy kids' inevitable curiosity about whether or not this incident actually happened. Even so, young soccer enthusiasts will still be relieved to see a larger-than-life heroine reacting to frustration in a familiar way as they learn the lesson about good sportsmanship. A concluding, double-page spread features facts and photos charting Hamm's rise to fame, and a removable glossy photo comes tucked inside the back cover. JenniferMattson. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.