Sean Wants to be Messi

Sean Wants to be Messi by Tanya Preminger; illustrations by Elettra Cudignotto   36 pages

I have to admit, that when I first saw this title, I had no idea what “Messi” was supposed to be. Turns out that Messi is a start soccer player (think Beckam), and eight-year-old Sean is obsessed with becoming like him.

The book opens with what could be a scene from my childhood, math issues. Adter second grade, I just didn’t get it. I can remember the frustrations my parents and I felt as I tried and tried to understand word problems (Let’s face it, nobody really cares when the two trains pass each other!).

This is a great little story on how one set of parents use soccer to help their child excel. One thing did bother me, though, was that Sean called his parents “Mommy” and “Daddy.” Without any younger sibling that the readers could see, this seemed to make Sean too childish. Therefore,  “Sean Want to be Messi,” which receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.