I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a cute little book that helps teach children the importance of empathy and compassion, helping them consider problem solving for themselves in the future. I liked how Ezekiel and Joel both had different problems in regards to their playing American football but they worked together and found that the same tactic can help them both.

I'm not sure if this is in the final edition, but the description basically spoilers the entire book, which definitely made this less enjoyable.

Okay, I love the sporty fonts that they have chosen for certain emphasis words. I really like how they've placed an emphasis on communication, which is something that is so important to teach young kids, and while I don't understand all the sports terminology, I'll sure young football players will really love it!

‘Catch the Ball’ by Bryan Smith aims to teach young children about teamwork and perseverance through a simple, straightforward story. While it has its strengths, the book's execution may leave something to be desired for both children and parents.

Plot: ★★★☆☆

The plot is basic and straightforward, focusing on a child learning to catch a ball. While it's a simple concept suitable for young readers, it lacks depth and excitement.

Character: ★★★☆☆

The characters feel almost condescending. They are not particularly relatable or engaging, and the way they are presented might not respect the intelligence of young readers.

Illustrations: ★★★★☆

The illustrations are cute and colourful. They add a visual appeal to the book and help in conveying the story to young readers.

Engagement: ★★☆☆☆

The book is not the most engaging read. It feels almost condescending to children, underestimating their ability to grasp more complex ideas. The repetitive nature of the story might not hold their interest for long.

Readability: ★★★★☆

The readability is quite good. The language is simple and clear, making it accessible for young readers who are just starting to read on their own.

Enjoyment: ★★☆☆☆

The enjoyment factor is low. The story might not captivate children, and the condescending tone can be off-putting.


‘Catch the Ball’ by Bryan Smith has a simple, straightforward plot and cute illustrations, but it may fall short in terms of engagement and enjoyment. The characters and tone might not respect the intelligence of young readers, making it less appealing. While it serves its purpose of teaching basic concepts, there are other books that might do so in a more engaging and respectful manner.

I loved reading this book to my son. He loves story time and it was so much fun to read him this story and see him get all excited. Highly recommend.

This story teaches kids to stand up for themselves by vocalizing when someone's words or actions have hurt their feelings or caused them anxiety. It is also a great reminder to adults that sometimes our expectations of children can be overwhelming to them, and we need to do better with our words throughout the day.

A story with a great message about two kids - one a star athlete, one not - who help each other learn about how comments from teammates and coaches can make you dread the game or love it, and how to deal with mistakes and grow from it. The writing is rather straightforward and on-the-nose, spelling things out for readers. The illustrations support the story well. A good read for young ones, with a great message.

Great for a social skills collection! Sports and recess are a hard time for students. This book takes you through the steps of how to be a good teammate. It allows students to examine the words that they choose to cheer for others. It also talks about being a team member and what that looks like. It will definitely be going on my social skill shelf.

This book was amazing! Although I couldn't relate to the football aspect, I could relate to the overall message. And this message is so, so beneficial for kids to learn about and be able to apply to their own lives. EZ and Joel set such good examples for the kids reading this book. It no doubt teaches readers to be confident and stand up for themselves, which is something you don't see executed well in books very often. The whole plot flowed so well and everything felt smooth and connected. Finally, the illustrations were spectacular. I felt that the expressions on each character's face were accurately represented, without looking weird or vague. Additionally, there wasn't so much going on in the images that you got overwhelmed. In less words, the writing and illustrations perfectly worked together to make a great book.
Bravo!

Two friends realise they have the same issue when playing sports. One always get picked first. the other is always picked last. This book shows children how to be more positive rather than negative when people get things wrong when playing a sport. This book also tells people what to do if something someone says to you is impacting you negatively then you should calmly talk to the person about how it makes you feel. At the end of the story there is a page for parents and teachers about how to encourage people and make them feel less negative.

Thank you i enjoyed this book.

Great little book for children which deals with anxiety and how to handle it. We learn about what makes the children in the story feel stressed and they work out how to fix it so they feel better. It highlights the importance of being supportive of one another and what a difference it can make.

My 6 year old enjoyed this book, the pictures held his interest. My only qualm is I prefer books to be written in English and not ‘slang’ or ‘social media’ terms. The author used the term ‘ghosting’ which I don’t really want my children to learn at this age. I feel much more comfortable when authors stick to traditional language.

Thank you to NetGalley along with the publisher for the eARC! A cute story about playing football. The text was a bit wordy at times so this would be a good book for older readers who are still interested in picture books. Sport fans would enjoy this book and relate to the characters.

Cute book about stress and how kids can handle it. I thought it was weird that the one boy used the word ghosting but I guess that’s the terminology these days.

The illustrations are very bright and eye catching. The meaning behind the book is very inspiring. It is a bit wordy for younger children so I would lean more towards school aged children.

What an amazing book!
I was a little nervous going into this because I'm not a big sports fan and I always hated gym class because I'm terrible at it. But this book is exactly about that, Joel was so relatable wich I didn't expect but it's always a good thing.
It's just a great story about kids learning to communicate their feelings and find solutions for themselves, while also teaching them the importance of being a good teammate (and friend!) and handling pressure.
Overall I would recommend it to everyone, regardless of age. I think it will make you feel better when you finish reading it. If I had children I would surely buy it.

*Thanks to NetGalley uk, the publishers and the author for the ARC*

Catch The Ball is a brilliant story that follows a friendship between Ezekiel and Joel. It has a sports theme with football and portrayals the importance of communication. There’s so much character growth and learning.

This was a fun read with great illustrations, perfect for those young readers wanting to learn the importance of communication and confidence.

🏈 🏆 🏈 🏆 🏈 🏆 🏈 🏆 🏈 🏆 🏈 🏆

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with access to read this book!

Catch The Ball, written by Bryan Smith and illustrated by Lisa M. Griffin is a story of friends EZ and Joel. The boys are friends at school and EZ, short for Ezekiel, loves to play football. He is always picked first to be on the team when he plays at school, but Joel is not. One day they are playing together when Joel misses a pass. But both boys are able to use this as an experience to learn and grow, and to be able to focus on advocating for themselves and being team players.

I enjoyed this book, and think it will be a good read for younger-mid elementary aged students. I loved that there were some tips for parents and educators in the back of the book. Thank you to NetGalley, and to the author, illustrator, and publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Catch the Ball! is a sports themed book centered around building communication skills and confidence in kids. It's about Ezekiel and his best friend Joel. Ezekiel is great at football, and Joel is good at baseball, but not as good at football. Ezekiel hurts Joel's feelings during a game by using words that weren't encouraging. Joel is able to share those feelings and then Ezekiel realizes he feels the same way when his coach says similar things.

I think the text of the book was fine. It definitely shares a good message, but feels wordy at times. The illustrations are colorful, but just not quite my style.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boys Town Press Publishing for the eARC.

The messages, lessons and characters in this book are all lovely and well thought.
The visual style is not my favourite but this is secondary and children who struggle with self-esteem and value will find this book engaging and useful.

**will be published on 7/1/24
From the Publisher:
Ezekiel is such a sure-handed receiver, he’s always chosen first when teams are picked for football. He’s even earned the nickname EZ, short for endzone, because he catches so many touchdown passes. His good buddy, Joel, however, always gets picked last. For a reason.

The football was thrown in a tight spiral, soaring straight to Joel. Caching it would mean victory. As Joel reached out, the ball bounced off his fingertips and hung in the air. Joel stretched his arms out further, but the ball slipped through his hands and hit the ground with a thud. Joel was deflated. EZ was annoyed and, out of frustration, yelled, “Catch the ball!”

It was that moment of disappointment and disbelief that would eventually lead the boys to realize they have the same problem – neither is having any fun. Joel can’t keep his head in the game or concentrate because he’s too worried about messing up and getting yelled at by teammates. EZ hates the pressure that comes from everyone expecting him to always be at the top of his game. Even his league coach repeatedly tells him to “catch the ball,” which has taken all the fun out of playing his favorite sport.

For very different reasons, Joel and EZ struggle with peer pressure, self-doubt, and stress. But instead of turning to grownups for answers and help, they turn to each other for a solution. Can they work together to come up with a successful plan that will allow them to reclaim the confidence and sense of fun they’ve lost?

This is the first title in author Bryan Smith’s new Kids Can Do It Too! series, written for students in grades 1-6, and includes a special page for parents and educators on how to encourage children to develop independent problem-solving and decision-making skills.


My Thoughts:


I have not seen such a long synopsis from a publisher, but I kept most if it because there must be a reason why they want the publisher description to be so long. This is not my usual book kind of book, but my grandson came over after school while his parents went to an event, so Puna (me, and what they call me instead of grandma) was in charge of homework for my kindergartener. One of the things on his list was to read a book. He did not have one, so I went to NetGalley to find something that would catch his eye. He chose this one for a few reasons. One, is that as a kindergartener, he recognized some of the frequently used words in the title: Catch, the, and Ball. He also loves to play. Recess is his favorite time of the day.



This book, as you can see from above, is about two boys, EZ or Ezekiel, and his friend Joel. EZ hurts Joel's feelings, even if he does not know that he did it. Still, EZ wants to know why Joel is not talking to him and when Joel says that he did not appreciate being yelled at, EZ very maturely says sorry.



EZ is especially sorry, because when his coach yells "Catch the Ball!" it also stresses him out, but he did the same thing to Joel. The two boys are emotionally very mature, but my grandson quickly figured out that Joel was not mad about dropping the ball. He was mad about getting yelled at.



EZ is even able to talk to his coach and the coach changed his tactics, all because EZ had a dream solution.



When I asked my grandson what he took away from the book it was that play is for fun. Everyone should be included and no one should be yelled at for making a mistake because play is for fun. He also enjoyed the humor: "Un-b-leave-uh-bull!" The way that was illustrated just made him laugh and laugh.



Teaching Suggestions:


Thematic Currents:

Mental health
Belonging
Friendship
Problem solving
Self-advocacy
Activity:
Reading Buddies - if you have a middle school reading buddy program at your school where your middle schoolers have an elementary partner classroom, this is a good boy book with good dialogue that grabs the attention of younger readers. The middle school students can practice pausing, asking questions, and using the pictures to "read" or even predict. The reading age is 5-11 so K-5.

Dialogue mentor text - this book does not have a lot of dialogue, but the dialogue that is here is well thought out. When should dialogue be put in? How can dialogue sound natural for the time and age of the character? (the author uses terms like dude, ghosting and lame on one page).

Publication Information:
Author: Bryan Smith
Illustrator: Lisa M. Griffin
Publisher: Boys Town Press Publishing (August 12, 2024)
Paperback: 31 pages

This book outlines such a simple concept, and yet, I think we can all be guilty of forgetting the effect language can have on any given situation. EZ and Joel are friends. Each have their own talent just like every one else has at least one thing they excel at above all else. However, the book focuses on one boy's strength, which is his friend's weakness.

Over the course of the book, the story highlights how certain actions make people feel. It demonstrates the power of having the confidence to speak up, and to look at things through someone else's eyes. What seems like a trivial problem, and what appeared to be a short command caused stress, tension, humiliation, and other negative thoughts. The book reveals how changing a command to encouragement, and by listening to what a friend tells you they need and complying creates positive outlooks and foster better relationships. The illustratration are great for young story listeners, but the story itself suits children in the KS2 stage of development, i.e. 7-11 year olds, so there is a slight disconnect there. Otherwise, an impactful read that brings enjoyment and a great life lesson bundled up in a small, short package.