Tiny Timmy on tour! by Tim Cahill and Julian Gray

Ill. by Heath McKenzie. Tiny Timmy series, book 5. Scholastic, 2017. ISBN 9781743816509
(Age: 7-9) Recommended. Themes: Soccer, Team Sports, School stories. Tiny Timmy and his soccer team performed extremely well at the Gala Day and now they have the opportunity to play against some of the best country school teams. Coach Roach calls a lunchtime team meeting and shares the good news with the players. They are off on a five-day bus trip to play the Big Country Beasts, the Pine Hill Possums and the Wave Beach Wanderers. Timmy is both excited and nervous as this is the first time he has spent so long away from his family.
The five days away from home are filled with fun, laughter, food and plenty of soccer. While Timmy and his mates focus on eating healthy foods, team clowns Studs and Hacker overindulge at the motel buffets resulting in a loss of stamina during the games. The first game against the Big Country Beasts is too much for the Lions, they struggle with the much bigger players. Back at the motel, Tiny Timmy can't fall asleep due to Stud's snoring and the boys' late night video game playing. The Pine Hill Possums prove to be a sneaky team up to all sorts of tricks and dirty tactics but Studs saves the day with a lucky goal. Their final game is fast-paced, filled with super teamwork, great goals and a surprising outcome. After a fun celebration at the beach, the team board the bus and head home tired, but happy.
This easy to read chapter book features text with different sizes of font, words in bold and in graduated sizes, animated words and bigger spacing. Heath McKenzie's line drawings are humourous snapshots of Timmy's life, his family, friends and the soccer games. This series is great for high interest, lower reading age students as well.
Rhyllis Bignell