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Synopsis

Friendly Matches by Allan Ahlberg

Friendly Matches is poetry for children at its best, combining wit and wisdom with occasionally heartbreaking humour tinged with sadness. And the real joy of this fine collection by Allan Ahlberg is that boys will simply love it (no matter if they are 7 or 67).

This neat little book is packed with 29 poems about the ups and downs of football, following the boys who want to play for England, to the kids who don't get picked for the teams in the playground, through to school football matches and games in the park: dreamers galore, waiting to score that all important goal for England.

 

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Reviews

An appealing collection of football poems covering many aspects of the game, written in a wide variety of verse forms.
Football-mad youngsters will love this witty and nostalgic collection of football poems by Allan Ahlberg, author of the bestselling collections Please Mrs Butler and Heard it in the Playground. Ahlberg has the knack of getting inside the minds of his young readers, empathizing with their thoughts, feelings and dreams. David Beckham wannabees will undoubtedly be inspired by 'Surely This Boy Must Play for England', and identify with the embarrassment of over-enthusiastic parents in 'Dad on the Line', while the havoc caused by a lost ball in 'Polite Children
is bound to raise a chuckle. There
's even a poem for Dad - '1966, or Were You There, Daddy?' - which is sure to have 50-somethings getting a little misty-eyed! Ahlberg has used a variety of verse forms, such as sonnets, rhyming couplets and narrative poems which, coupled with his chatty style and use of the modern idiom, will hopefully encourage youngsters to develop an appreciation of poetry. The book is enhanced by Fritz Wegner's humorous, cartoon-style illustrations. Ages 5-13 (Kirkus UK)'

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About The Author

As a child
Allan was born in Croydon, but grew up in Oldbury in the Black Country. He says that if he hadn't grown up to be a writer, he would have loved to have been a soccer player.

As an adult
Allan always dreamed of being a writer, but tried his hand at many other jobs before he achieved his ambition. He was a postman, grave-digger, plumber's mate and teacher - it was teaching that gave him such sharp insights into the minds of children, and enabled him to write his perfectly observed poetry about primary school life

As an artist
Allan has collaborated with many illustrators, including Andre Amstutz, Gillian Tyler and Katharine McEwen, as well as his late wife, Janet Ahlberg (nee Hall) and his daughter Jessica Ahlberg. He has won numerous awards for his books including, the Kurt Maschler Award in 1986, The Children's Book Award in 1987, the Blue Peter Book Award 2001, and The Children's Book Award: Books for Young Children award 2002.

You can see Allan reading from Peepo! in this video:

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