Eniola Aluko Presents Jamie Johnson: The Kick Off Bringing Books to Life

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This great book is called The Kick Off.

It's all about a boy called Jamie Johnson.

Jamie Johnson is completely nuts about football.

He loves it, and I know how he feels.

When you play for England and Team GB like me,

you find yourself thinking about football every minute of the day.

Just can't help it!

Jamie dreams of the big time, too,

but first of all he needs to make it into his school football team.

Reading this book,

I can tell that Jamie's got lots of natural ability.

He's got a good left foot.

But to make it to the top, it's not enough to just be good.

He needs total dedication.

And that's tough when he still needs to go to parties,

go out with his friends and pass his exams.

Jamie's granddad used to be a pro himself.

He gave Jamie this scrapbook that he once used,

packed full of tips and exercises to improve every aspect of your game.

Jamie spends the whole summer practising everything in it,

and soon he starts playing out of his skin.

Books and football? Great combination.

Jamie's had some good matches, like this one,

when his school team, Kingfield, met St Anthony's.

Score so far, 1-1 draw, until Jamie comes alive on the pitch.

Here's someone else who loves football to tell you how he gets on.

Jamie looked at the keeper and drew his foot back for a venomous strike.

Then, at the very last minute,

just as his boot was about to strike through the ball,

he checked and stopped dead.

The goalkeeper had gone for it, though.

He bought the dummy and dived.

For a second, Jamie felt like the only player on the pitch.

There he was, all alone in front of an empty goal

with the ball at his feet

and the goalkeeper left sprawled on the ground.

There was nothing left to do but pass it into the net.

It was 2-1 to Kingfield, thanks to the best goal Jamie had ever scored.

Becoming a great footballer isn't easy.

Some of the kids don't think Jamie can do it.

But he's determined to prove them wrong. He wants to be the best.

What do you think? Can he do it?

The only way to find out is to get stuck in and start reading.

I think reading books is a great thing to do,

so grab a book and get reading.