View source for The Story of the World Cup by Richard Brassey

{{infobox2
|title=The Story of the World Cup
|sort=Story of the World Cup, The
|author=Richard Brassey
|reviewer=Sam Tyler
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|rating=4
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781444009460
|pages=24
|publisher=Orion Childrens
|date=April 2014
|aznuk=144400946X
|aznus=144400946X
|cover=144400946X
|website=http://www.richardbrassey.com/
|video=
|summary=In 2014 World Cup Fever is once more back in the air, but what do you get the football mad child who knows more about the league than this great tournament?  The answer could very well be Richard Brassey’s ''The Story of the World Cup'', a mix of serious and fun facts about arguably football's biggest prize. 
}}
Look at the calendar and you will see that it is a year ending in an even number, what does this mean?  To a host of football fans it means a summer free from boredom as an International Tournament will fill the void that the Premier League has left.  For non-football fans it's more excuses for people to watch a pigskin be knocked around.  Be you young or old, football can get in your blood and you want to know more.  For the younger fan, there are worse places to start their obsession than the World Cup and getting to know more about the esteemed tournament in Richard Brassey’s 'The Story of the World Cup'.

''The Story of the World Cup'' is a whistle-stop look at some of the wacky and wonderful things that make it one of the biggest sporting events of every four years.  The book is full of great colours; as you would expect for a book leading up to a World Cup held in Brazil – the carnival country.  The sense of joy and wonder fills every page in Brassey’s somewhat scattergun approach to history.  It can be said that the illustrations are a little naïve at times, but they are in keeping with the light and fun style of writing that Brassey brings to the book.

With only 24 pages on offer it is clear that Brassey was never going to be able to write an in-depth history of the World Cup, not even to a level that would appeal to a 6-9 year old.  Instead, this is more of a fact attack that mixes some of the serious history e.g. most wins, highest scorer, with more outlandish titbits e.g. daftest hair!  The scale of the book is also surprisingly small, dwarfed by most paperbacks of this type.  This means further restrictions on space, but also means that it will fit into a bag far more easily than a big version of [[The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson|The Grufallo]]. 

This is a book for the football mad child, who perhaps hasn't got the longest attention span.  There are other histories of the World Cup that have more pages and more photos, but to the child that likes to dip in and have some fun, ‘Story of the World Cup’ is more appropriate.  It would make an ideal summertime gift before the competition begins to introduce a child more used to the weekly tensions of the league and unsure what a summer tournament entails.  I for one would prefer to entertain and educate with this rather slight non-fiction book than have to spend hundreds of pounds on filling their latest Panini sticker album.

For more sporty fun, try [[A Horrid Factbook: Horrid Henry's Sports by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross]] and [[ Who Invented The Stepover? (And Other Crucial Football Conundrums) by Paul Simpson and Uli Hesse]]

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