The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field (2023) by Scott Riley Illustrated by Nguyen Quang & Kim Lien

This is a true story of Prasit Hemmin and his soccer-loving friends who spent their 1980’s childhood desperate to actually PLAY soccer. Prasit lived on the Thai island, Koh Paynee. They didn’t have any fields for playing soccer. At first, they relied on the moon’s pull on the tides to play soccer. During the full and new moons, the tides were strong enough to create a sandbar big enough to play soccer on. When the tides rolled back in, their soccer playing ceased. Then, the boy had an idea that was like a strike of lightning. They decided to create a floating field with scraps and refuse from the island. And it worked! With their new floating field, they practiced soccer regularly and even went to a tournament on mainland Thailand and won third place! 

Heart: My favorite part in this book is when the previously skeptical adults pool their resources and buy the boys some proper soccer uniforms and cleats so they can attend their first soccer tournament. 

Head: This book was selected by the Association of Illinois School Library Educators for the 2024 Bluestem Award. This award is focused on books for grades 3-5. Initially, when I grabbed this at the library, I thought it might be too dense or lengthy for my pre-K and 1st grader, but they loved this story! So, don’t be concerned about reading this to a younger audience. Who doesn’t love a story about soccer? Who doesn’t love a story about kids creating their own destiny and literally building their dream field? This is a great lesson in engineering and ingenuity. And talk about GRIT! I am so impressed with these kids!