Tiny Timmy makes the grade by Tim Cahill and Julian Gray

Ill. by Heath McKenzie. Tiny Timmy bk 2. Scholastic Australia, 2016. ISBN 9781760273644
(Age: 7+) Recommended. Themes: Soccer, Sports, Teamwork. Tim Cahill, Socceroos superstar has co-authored a series of sport-based junior novels filled with likeable characters, tips and fun facts that are easy to read. His goal is to foster a love of reading amongst young sports fans.
Follow your dreams is the underpinning theme for Tiny Timmy makes the grade. With hard work, dedication, plenty of backyard and after school practices, young Timmy is chosen for the Rep Team. His special skill is combining a turbo-powered jump with a header to shoot straight into the net. Even when Studs and Hacker, two bullies, taunt him, call him names and play pranks on him, Timmy is not fazed.
When Timmy spends time week after week on the bench, Coach Roach offers Timmy some wise advice - to be the best Super Sub he can be, researching soccer skills online; playing fun family matches sometimes even Rugby games with his cousins and brothers.
The simple to read narrative engages the reader's interest by incorporating different sizes of font, words in bold, graduated sizes, animated words and bigger spacing. Heath McKenzie's line drawings are snapshots of the trials and triumphs of Timmy, his family and his team. There are humourous scenes throughout - backyard disasters - when his brother Kyah's science experiment explodes and great soccer moments. This series is great for high-interest, lower reading age students as well.
Rhyllis Bignell