Messi’s Magic: How Lionel Messi Became the G.O.A.T

PreS-Gr 3–Global soccer superstar Lionel Messi’s life gets the picture-book treatment with special attention paid to his childhood. With a push from devoted Grandma Celia, Leo joins a soccer club with much older players at the tender age of four. School-age Messi was shy and the smallest in his class, but soccer allowed him to shine. Young fans will enjoy tidbits like Messi’s soccer coach encouraging him with cookies for each goal he scored. Colorful illustrations capture Messi’s facial expressions, and the joy soccer gives him, while accompanying bold and larger text sizes for soccer descriptors like “Block,” “Shoot,” and “Score” encourage the youngest fans to read along. The obstacles young Messi must overcome to become the champion of today are sensitively portrayed including the death of beloved Grandma Celia and a growth hormone deficiency for which his middle-class family can’t afford treatment. After years of hard work during his trial with the Barcelona football club as a teenager, he makes the first team and is shown with his signature move of dedicating his goals to his grandma Celia with two fingers pointed up to the sky. Back matter includes a timeline of his life, a description of his many achievements, and “Messi Facts.”