Great narrative non-fiction about Fútbol, Brazil and Diversity ...

A Soccer (or Football) Sleepover in Brazil by Forty Winks is a iPad only app designed in an interactive storybook format featuring a world cup soccer championship.  The app features the following reading methods: read to me without highlights, read to me with highlights and read by myself.  The app also provides “fun facts” as glossary words which pop up on the bottom of the screen after the pages are in the “read to me” mode.   The app is designed for children from late preschool (age 4) through early elementary school (age 8).  Themes in the book included: friendship, sports, social issues as well as integration with national and international learning standards.

I liked how the book featured two characters Clive and Noah and then featured Fernão who talked about the fact that soccer is called football  in different countries.  This helps to introduce the concept that different cultures have different words for things.  My son’s favorite part of the story was helping Clive and Noah pack their sleepover bag and heading to the “secret” midnight soccer game.  The illustrations in the book are bright really draw the reader into the story.  We also liked the Community Cup and how that the soccer or football game brought people from different places together despite perceived differences and celebrated different cultures and diversity in a child friendly way.  My first grader  found the text of the book engaging and since he loves to play soccer enjoyed learning that soccer although it has different names is played with the same rules all over the world.  He also liked working with me to solve the riddle to find the midnight game.

In terms of enhancements in the read to me mode, I would like the option to have the page re-read without having to page back and forward again.  It might also be nice to explain the concept of World Cup Soccer in the story since the timing of the release ties nicely with the underlying themes.  Having a copy all the glossary words on one page at  the end of the story will reinforce key concepts from throughout the book.  I’d like to see the fact sheet about soccer versus football included in the story at the end as well for easy reference for children without having to go to an external website.  It might also be nice to incorporate a female character into future editions if they do decide to have a Global Sleepover World Cup story.

The app has no advertising, in-app purchases and is easy for a child to read either by them-self or with a parent.   When read using the narration it takes just over thirty minutes just for the story, so it may be hard for children with shorter attention spans to listen to the entire thing in one sitting.   The app does contain external links to the internet on the last page but they are protected by a parental gate which requires the solving of a math problem.   The book also includes a teacher’s guide which is great for hitting on key concepts of the story and can be downloaded via PDF from the internet as well as a fact sheet about soccer versus football.  The story meets  National Common Core Standards (U.S.) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Standards as well.

Overall, I think this a fun story which teaches key concepts of diversity, understanding and culture with a topic that young children especially those that love sports will identify with.

This app has been thoroughly evaluated by our staff. Please click on the 'star ratings' tab above, to see how it fared in all nine of our rating categories. See synopsis tab for more details about the storyline.

This review was originally published by TheiMums.com on June 19, 2014. The iMums – Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace – are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to educating parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children.

Founded in August 2011, the four iMums have 11 kids among them ranging in age from 1 to 17 and bring a global perspective to their app reviews. The original iMum Amanda being from Australia, Alison is in America, Grace is from Singapore and Mary is from the UK but is currently living in America.

Alison, the American iMum is from Illinois. She lives there with her son and husband. In their spare time, they enjoy playing outside, enjoying nature and of course testing apps and fantastic products on their devices. NOTE: A fee was received to expedite this review to the top of our waiting list but this payment has not influenced the objectivity of the review and all opinions have been offered honestly.

All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.