{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"How Soccer Changes Lives: Chris Navalta Shares Inspiring Player Journeys","description":"In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes Chris Navalta, author of Inspiring Stories of Soccer Greats, a powerful middle grade book timed perfectly for the World Cup. Chris, a lifelong sports fan and former sportswriter, shares how soccer\u2019s global reach and beautiful simplicity\u2014just a ball and some space\u2014make it the perfect backdrop for stories of perseverance, inequality, and hope. Chris explains that his goal wasn\u2019t just to spotlight stars like Lionel Messi, Alex Morgan, Christian Pulisic, and Vini Jr., but to reveal the real human struggles behind their success. Listeners hear about Messi\u2019s growth hormone deficiency and how FC Barcelona\u2019s support changed his life, Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala\u2019s fight against family expectations, and even David Clark, a blind striker who became England\u2019s greatest goal scorer and helped shape blind soccer worldwide. Chris and Jed talk about soccer as a unifying force capable of stopping wars, inspiring underdogs like Leicester City\u2019s miracle Premier League win, and offering kids everywhere a dream to chase. They also explore how families can use the book to spark conversations about resilience, opportunity, and asking, \u201cCan I play this game too?\u201d\u2014no matter a child\u2019s circumstances. In the final segment, Jed chats with David John Preece, creator of the Mister Higgins picture book series. Inspired by his rescue dog, David\u2019s books gently invite families into conversations about kindness, inclusion, and grief, especially in Mister Higgins Comforts a Family, where Mister Higgins helps his family cope with the loss of their beloved Thelma. ","author_name":"Reading With Your Kids Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/readingwithyourkids.libsyn.com\/site","html":"