Max Explains Everything: Soccer Expert - Hardcover

Stacy McAnulty is the author of many children's books, including Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, Beautiful, Excellent Ed (an Ezra Jack Keats Honor Book), and 101 Reasons Why I'm Not Taking a Bath. She also writes chapter books and middle-grade novels. She lives in North Carolina with three kids, three dogs, and one husband. You can visit her at stacymcanulty.com or on Twitter @stacymcanulty.

Deborah Hocking is the illustrator of The Great Henry Hopendower and the nonfiction picture book Build, Beaver, Build! Life at the Longest Beaver Dam. She lives in Portland, Oregon, in a hundred-year-old cottage that she fixed up with her husband, Jay. Learn more at deborahhockingillustration.com.

PreS-Gr 2–The "do as I say, not as I do" guidance of Max returns in this continuation of the series. Breaking the fourth wall, the titular character gives listeners the lowdown on soccer. He is, after all, an expert—he's been playing for almost three weeks! It won't take kids long to realize that Max isn't heeding his own advice. While the rest of his team prepares for the game, Max does somersaults, admires a butterfly, and empties his pockets of seashells, crayons, and other ephemera. Frequent recommendations to just "Kick the ball, Max" are roundly ignored. After all, someone has to pull up dandelions and four-leaf clovers so they don't distract the players, and that someone might as well be Max. While Max poses for pictures, watches clouds, and enjoys some well-deserved bench time, the rest of his team is playing hard. Tension mounts as everyone—perhaps listeners included—encourages Max to kick the ball, resulting in a twist ending that is absolutely Max's modus operandi. The playful, whimsical artwork perfectly complements the book's sweetly irreverent tone, while the mix of full-spread and framed panels gives this a charming comic-book flair. VERDICT Sports fans and lovers of a good silly picture book will have much to cheer for here. An endearing addition to most collections.—Abby Bussen, Muskego Public Library, WI