Sport | Football
Mr Football to woo teenage soccer fans
- By Sharmila Dhal, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 July 1, 2010
Dubai: With the 2010 Fifa World Cup now reaching the final stages, young soccer fans in the UAE have taken to an unlikely read: a new release called Mr Football.
Authored by Abu Dhabi-based linguistic expert Janet Olearski, the 84-page Mr Football with an audio CD — earlier it was used for reading and discussion in schools in Europe — is now being locally stocked by Al Mutanabbi bookshop for the benefit of youngsters in the UAE. Part of the English as Foreign Language (EFL) series by publisher Helbling Languages, Mr Football is targeted at those aged 13 to 14 although Olearski said she is receiving rave reviews from younger children as well.
She said the book had activities woven into it at the beginning and the end with a few prompts thrown in to help children comprehend and reflect on the finer nuances of the story that revolves round a 15-year-old who wants to become a professional footballer like his father.
Worth reading
When three students from protagonist Gary's school get the opportunity to win a place at the Crossbridge Football Academy, Gary thinks he will be one of them. But things aren't always as simple as they seem. And that's what makes Mr Football worth the read.
Olearski, who has written around 35 such educational books so far, said she is already working on her next release, an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, due to come out this September.
In Abu Dhabi since 2002, she said she wrote these books during the evenings or over the weekend as she worked as the learning enhancement coordinator at the Petroleum Institute during the day. She was in Oman earlier writing textbooks for the English Language Curriculum Department in the Ministry of Education.
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