Football Superstars: Mané Rules

Mané Rules is number 18 in a series introducing the world’s best footballers, from Paul Pogba to Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar to Harry Kane. As you’d expect, it gives you all the stats, how many goals scored, for whom and when; the cups won; the penalties scored and saved. It’s much more than a football fact book though. For one thing, it also gives you a very good sense of Sadio Mané himself, describing his early life in the tiny village of Bambali in Senegal and the things that shaped him: the sudden death of his father, when he was just seven; the talent that earned him the nickname ‘ballon buwa’ or ‘ball wizard’; watching Senegal reach the quarter finals of the World Cup in 2002, the number one thing he says that inspired him to become a professional footballer. The information is presented in a lively mix of text and black and white illustrations, all very readable, but it’s the tone that really marks the series out.  These, you feel, are books by fans, for fans. Author and illustrator make appearances throughout, commenting on the action and cracking football jokes. They convey a real sense of joy in Mané’s special talent and the skills that help him score so many amazing goals, but make readers understand too what it must have meant for him to play for Senegal, and why he still goes home to Bambali so often, paying for a new school to be built. In their hands, football really is a beautiful game and it’s worth checking out the whole series.