Last Call! Celebrate Soccer, Reading, & Enter Our Three Book Giveaways

The final whistle may have sounded on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but our Soccer Reading Celebration is still going strong—and readers have just a few more days to enter our three featured book giveaways!

This year’s World Cup brought together teams, players, and fans from around the globe, concluding on July 19 with Spain defeating Argentina 1–0 in the championship match. Throughout the tournament, we celebrated the world’s game through books, sharing stories that introduce young readers to soccer history, international champions, teamwork, perseverance, character, and faith.

Three Books—Nine Chances to Win!

Thanks to the generosity of our participating publishers, we are giving away three copies of each featured title. That means nine books and nine winners!

Readers may visit each giveaway page and enter for any—or all—of the three books. Be sure to complete the separate entry form for every title you would like a chance to win. And please support our featured authors and publishers by exploring and following on your preferred social media platforms.

Lionel Messi’s World Cup Triumph

Written by Chris Barish and illustrated by Nate Sweitzer
Published by Abrams Fanfare

Part of the new History’s Greatest Games series, this action-packed graphic nonfiction book takes readers back to the unforgettable 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France. Young soccer fans can relive the drama as Lionel Messi pursued the championship that had eluded him while Kylian Mbappé delivered a historic performance for France.

Enter the Lionel Messi’s World Cup Triumph giveaway: https://forms.gle/jEGNwvccUEhK4Kgw8

I Am Kylian: The True Story of an International Soccer Champion

By Kylian Mbappé and illustrated by Faro
Published by Random House Children’s Books/Rodale Kids

In this graphic memoir, Kylian Mbappé shares the story of how he grew from a determined child with a dream into an international soccer champion. His journey reminds young readers that success is built not only on talent, but also on learning, persistence, courage, and the willingness to keep trying.

Enter the I Am Kylian giveaway: https://forms.gle/ucFt1naanqfPMp8Q9

Bee Attitudes: A Devotional for Families with Young Readers

Written by Becky Lane
Published by Ambassador International

Bennett is a soccer-playing bee who worries that he may never be good enough. With encouragement from his grandfather and lessons inspired by the Beatitudes, Bennett begins learning about faith, character, perseverance, and recognizing his own worth. This family devotional offers meaningful opportunities to talk about the challenges children may experience both on and off the field.

Enter the Bee Attitudes giveaway: https://forms.gle/tMisT2V6vrGyXLNU6
 

"Which Soccer Book Is Right for You?"

🏆 Love sports history? → Lionel Messi's World Cup Triumph

⚽ Dream of playing professionally? → I Am Kylian

🐝 Want to grow in character and faith while enjoying soccer? → Bee-Attitudes

Sports help children build confidence, resilience, coordination, teamwork, and healthy habits while teaching them how to handle both success and disappointment. Sports books extend those benefits beyond the field by giving young readers inspiring role models, introducing them to athletes and cultures from around the world, and showing the persistence behind great achievements.

Fiction can help children explore friendship, pressure, competition, and belonging, while nonfiction strengthens knowledge, motivation, and curiosity. For active children, sports books can make reading feel more personal and exciting—and for reluctant readers, a familiar team, athlete, or favorite game can provide the perfect doorway into books.

Sports help children build confidence, resilience, coordination, teamwork, and healthy habits while learning how to respond to both victories and setbacks. Sports books carry those lessons beyond the field by introducing readers to inspiring athletes, international cultures, historic moments, and characters working through competition, pressure, friendship, and belonging.

For children who already love soccer, a favorite athlete or familiar sport can provide an exciting doorway into reading. For children who have never played, books can introduce the game while showing that qualities such as courage, persistence, kindness, and teamwork belong to everyone.

Explore More Soccer Books

Our complete Soccer Reading Celebration collection includes classics and new releases, fiction and nonfiction, and books for readers from picture-book age through young adult.

Readers can discover:

• Inspiring biographies and graphic memoirs
• Soccer history and memorable matches
• Picture books about teamwork and friendship
• Novels filled with competition and adventure
• Skill-building books and guides
• Stories about courage, character, and perseverance

Explore the complete Soccer Reading Celebration list:
InkADink Bookshop

Enter Before the Giveaways Close!

There are only a few more days to enter. The giveaways close July 31, 2026, so visit each entry page today for your chance to win one of these featured soccer books.

No purchase is necessary. Please see the individual entry forms for complete giveaway details and eligibility requirements.

Thank you to Abrams Fanfare, Random House Children’s Books/Rodale Kids, and Ambassador International for providing books for this reading celebration—and thank you to every reader, family, teacher, librarian, and soccer fan who joined us throughout the month.

The tournament may be over, but the stories, lessons, and love of the game can continue long after the final whistle.

Read. Play. Dream big.

And happy reading!

~ Kim

Video by Robert E. Carter, Childress Ink Executive Producer

Kim Childress

Founder, Childress Ink ~ Ink-a-Dink

Author ~ Editor ~ Reviewer ~ Speaker

With over thirty-five years of experience in publishing, Kim Childress is an award-winning editor, author, speaker, and reviewer. She has built a distinguished career while also raising a personal focus group—her four children—through diapers, doctors, broken bones, college, and plagues. Learn more about Kim and follow her adventures at ChildressInk.com and Ink-a-Dink.com. You can purchase her workshops at penconeditors.com, including: Editing Middle-grade and YA Fiction and Nonfiction, Creating Books of Excellence for Young Readers, How a Book is Made from Start to Finish, and Trends and Opportunities in Fiction and Nonfiction Picture Books.

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