Willy the Wizard

Willy loved soccer but he didn't have any boots to play in and when he tried to play with everyone no one would pass him the ball. One night when he was walking home he saw a mysterious man playing with a soccer ball. Willy watched him for a little bit and then the man gave Willy an old pair of boots. The next day when Willy went to play soccer he wore the boots and he played great. So then he thought the boots were magic and they were the reason he was good. One morning Willy woke up late for his game and in the rush to get there forgot his boots. He was devestated, but someone found him some to play in and when he got on the field he was still great and scored the winning goal.
I like the message Browne was trying to get across in this show more story. It showed that Willy just needed to be confident and believe in himself. All the characters in this story were animals since Browne always incorporates animals somehow. show less

This is another Anthony Browne book that I ended up loving. I think the message of this story is to believe in yourself because most people have everything they need to be successful. People oftentimes fail before they even start because they are not confident in themselves. This is a good book to help develop children's self-esteem and would hopefully push them to try things they normally wouldn't. I'm definitely adding this to my future classroom collection because the message is great and the illustrations are some of my favorite.

How many people think that they are lucky? Willy the Wizard thinks he is one of those people because he has been blessed with boots from a stranger. He felt that the boots brought him the ability to play soccer very well. He thought the boots were magic because he just played fantastically! On the day of the big game, Willy was running late. Naturally, he forgot his boots! Willy was sure he was going to play horribly because he did not have his original boots the stranger had given him. Until he actually started to play. Willy realized that the boots he had were not what made him good at soccer; it was himself. He never once considered that maybe he was just a great soccer player. This book reflects upon confidence. Children should have show more confidence in themselves because they are capable of so much. It is their actions that count because they are physically doing something; therefore, their actions cannot just be acquired from an object that they feel is magical or lucky. Willy never even considered that he had the capability to be good enough to play soccer, he just automatically assumed the boots gave him "powers" to be great at it. Things happen for a reason. Maybe Willy seeing that stranger that actually gave him the boots was what he needed to get him to actually tryout and play for the soccer team. show less

How many times have you seen the story "Underdog makes it onto sports team, scores winning point"? This is a particularly engaging version, despite including magic boots (which of course are not present when needed and Willy scores anyway). Willy is not only the only chimpanzee on a team full of gorillas, he also has OCD problems. Some adults are worried about those magic boots, which are unresolved; are they imaginary? I don't know, but my daughter and I enjoy the book, which has Anthony Browne's usual rich pictures.

I thought this book was really cute. It was about a monkey named Willy who wanted nothing more than to play soccer. He was given some mysterious boots by a stranger one day and was magically able to play soccer really well. He ended up winning the game for everyone at the end. I thought the story was good, but I did not really get how the whole obsessive compulsive thing tied in to it. Anyways, I enjoyed it!

Browne brings a modern setting and an artist's sensibility to this fable with the classic theme about a magical artifact that, along with plenty of hard work (practice drills), turns the loser into a champion. I wish I'd read the Willy books in order - this one is somewhere in the middle of the series I think.

This book is a cute little story to follow for sports lovers, and the gorilla being the protagonist of the story makes it more interesting. It's a fun read for students who are interested in sports.