The Floating Field

#TheFloatingField #NetGalley
Do you enjoy watching the impossible happen and dreams come true? Read this book and that is exactly what you will get. Inspired by the 1986 World Cup a determined group of boys living in a town built on stilts in Thailand decide to build themselves a floating field so that they can play soccer everyday. Without it they are only able to play twice a month when the tide is low enough. Their passion for playing drives them to spend their after school time finding whatever scraps they can and building a field large enough to play soccer everyday. Despite the challenges that a moving field presents these boys train hard and develop skills.. But their dreams don't end there. They decide to enter a tournament against teams that have the advantage of a regular field.. How do they do? Read The Floating Field by Scott Riley and find out.
This is a book that should be in every public and school library. Let's celebrate the good in this world.

This a great book. The illustrations and the story are all well done. The story of some young boys overcoming obstacles to play the sport they love. I live in the Midwest and around here kids don't know about tides so I thought it did a nice job of explaining what a tide is. The end where they showed the real floating field and told a little more about the team just added to it. I am for sure adding this to my library.

With thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for an early copy in return for an honest review.

An inspiring book picture book about the Panyee Football Club. I can see a wide range of students appreciating the story of the boys and their floating field.

In regards to the illustrations, I particularly appreciated the pictures that offered a birds-eye-view of the scene. It was a perspective I don't see as often in picture books.

The Floating Field is a fantastic picture book about the Panyee Football Club and how enthusiastic soccer players devised a way to play football on the island through a "floating football field". Author Scott Riley did an excellent job of writing an informative piece without it coming off as too textbook, I know that kids are going to enjoy this story! The illustrations also are absolutely beautiful! Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien did an excellent job and chose vibrant colors that highlight the joyfulness of the story.

This will likely be enjoyable for athletes and boys but I would encourage teachers to select this as a classroom read-aloud or as a good pick for all students looking for an inspirational tale that tells a story that isn't well known.

Thank you NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group - Millbrook Press for the copy!

This is a book for everyone. Not just sport fans!

This inspiring true story by debut author Scott Riley takes readers to the island of Koh Panyee in Thailand where they will find themselves cheering Prasit and his friends as they figure out how to build their own soccer field. With ingenuity, perseverance, and determination this team comes up a unique solution that will surprise and delight readers.

Gorgeous illustrations by Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien bring the characters and setting to life and the back matter includes photographs and other factual information, including Prasit's perspective.

This is a book that will appeal to a wide range of readers and is highly recommended.

What a sweet story about adapting and thriving in unusual circumstances! Plenty of interesting backmatter material as well, including a small index/dictionary of Thai words and phrases one would hear on the soccer field.

This book was phenomenal. I will be purchasing this for my classroom. It shows how the underdog can make a difference and be successful. I loved how the boys identified problems multiple times and then problem solved. It was a heartwarming book and would be a great way to tie in multiculturalism.

I absolutely love this book! This will link in so many ways at school. Design and technology and global learning amongst others. The story is great and I love the real life photos at the end to prove to the children this is a true story. Very eye opening and a story that I believe will interest reluctant but sporty readers.

I love this book! It's so great to see a nonfiction book about a group of kids solving a problem within their own community. An added benefit: this problem has to do with playing football (soccer), something most kids in the world can relate to. Even though this is a picture book, and the illustrations are geared towards younger ages, the story will still appeal to older kids, making it a good choice for ELL students. I can't wait to get this book into the hands of kids.

This is an inspiring true story about problem-solving and agency. A group of Thai boys who loved soccer lived on an island where they could only play soccer on a sandbar when the tide was out. They worked out a solution,, building their own soccer field fixed to floating barrels and makeshift buoys. This was a joyous, gratifying solution. The author’s note and photographs provide valuable additional information.

Perfect for young sports fans, this true story is the soccer equivalent to "The Salt in Our Shoes"!

Learn how Prasit and his friends' love of soccer led them to make their own field on a tiny island, then go on to compete on the mainland! This story does a beautiful job of weaving together action shots of the boys practicing, domestic moments as the island community supported their dreams, and gorgeous imagery of the island itself. A must-have reminder that dreams can be achieved with ingenuity and encouragement.

I especially love the endnotes which include narratives from the author and from Prasit himself, a vocabulary guide of Thai soccer terms, and more information about the islands of Thailand.

Cute story, inspiring message, and the illustrations are gorgeous! The book reminded me of the picture books I used to read growing up, and I feel like this would be a good book to add to your child’s collection. I also love how this was based on actual events, and that the author included a note at the end sharing the inspiration behind the book!

As a teacher, lover of books, and avid world traveler, there are so many reasons that I loved this book! The picture book lover in me was giddy while reading this book - I love picture books based on true stories, and this was a great story! The teacher in me was excited to discover this story that I know my students would be interested to hear about, which had many words that would be new vocabulary words for my students to learn, and would be an overall great teaching tool for me to use in the classroom. And the world traveler in me loved reading about the setting of Thailand, a place that I've never been but would love to one day visit. I enjoyed the pictures in this book, and appreciated the use of multiple camera perspectives in the story - including the overhead shots. It gave some interesting dimension to the story. This was a fabulous story that I know I'll be purchasing to add to my classroom picture book collection!

I loved this book! It outlines the Panyee football (soccer) team as they build a floating field in their Vietnamese community and persevere to find a way to practice and play soccer whenever they want. This is a great message of ingenuity, perseverance, and practice. It was also just really entertaining to read and learn about. Students will love this!