Pele

DK Biography

by James Buckley Jr.

DK's acclaimed Biography line shines the spotlight on soccer player Pele. Includes detailed sidebars, handy vocabulary, and a visual timeline. Supports the Common Core State Standards.

Genres: Sports, Biography

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 2007

About the author

In addition to his work as a professional editor, James Buckley, Jr., is also the author of many books on American sports that are geared toward young fans and budding athletes.

Buckley, who has founded a company called Shoreline Publishing Group to produce books for reluctant readers, maintains that sports are far more than simple hobbies or ways to burn off excess energy.

Reviews

[Oscar Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Pele is a biography book by the way the author James Buckley Jr. talks about his life and growing up to being a soccer player.The setting of this book is takes place in Brazil where he played part of his life and around the world basically by the way that his national team Brazil would always be on the world cup where some nations get to play if they pass beating the teams they are told.Pele always played soccer with friends after their parents left but their problem was that they were poor and they could not afford a soccer ball and they would usually use a stuffed sock,newspapers or a rag and the other thing that affected them was that they would have no soccer cleats making them play without shoes.This book is person vs fate by the way that when he was 13 years old he took a step to becoming a professional soccer player for youth by Pele being invited to play with a team called Athletic Clubs junior team but the problem was that he would need to travel to the United States and that was a problem by the way that he would be leaving Brazil by himself .The theme of this book is to never give up by the way that from becoming a person who played soccer with friends in a league to becoming the greatest soccer player in the world on his time even if you search him up he is the greatest at his time.

The Major event that changed his life was the move from his youth team to a professional team called Santos which was located in Sao Paulo but the problem was that he was far away from home and he would be homesick but when he played the first match with the team Santos in a friendly he scored his first goal but the goalie from the rivals let him scored by the way he had given up Pele first goal.Later that time he was now not playing with the juniors anymore he was then moved to the professional level team once he turned 16 later those times he started to have more playing time scoring more goals for the team leading him to start to play with his national team Brazil when he was only 16 to play in the world cup and Pele was very surprised that he was chosen over the 22 players of Brazil.So little by little he would later become known and would become a great soccer player.Another one is that after his retirement with Santos he got a second chance to play with a team called Cosmos in the NASL making him have a success with them too after he stopped playing for a while.Another thing that happened to Pele in this book was that Pele took Brazil to three World Cups and that is surprising because if you search it up he is the only player to have a success with Brazil leading them to the World Cup but the problem when he was usually playing for Brazil was that he would be tackled so much that in one game they took him out to not have an injury.

The most surprising thing was that after he retired from soccer with Santos he later then became a businessmen but he didn't have much of a success by him not earning as much money as he did playing soccer he then thought to return to play soccer.He later joined a team called Cosmos but the League of the North American Soccer League by the way that they needed a star to attract more fans to come to the games and they signed Pele who he later attract more fans but the other thing was that he had trouble joining Cosmos his third team after he considered retirement by the way that the team was in the United States making him travel a lot.When he played the he made NASL bigger by him playing with cosmos.Last he played the final between Cosmos his team against Santos which he later played with both teams half and half the game .After his success playing soccer he ended scoring 1281 in 1363 games.And another thing that was surprising was that because of Pele success with Cosmos Fifa brought the World Cup to a land not known for great soccer making it a success filling stadiums around the world for a game and if the Cosmos hadn't signed Pele with Cosmos the american road to the world cup and the MLS it would be much harder and longer.

I rate this book 5 stars because I learned more things about Pele which he was the greatest soccer player at his time and was very interesting watching him play.I would only recommend this book to people who like sports and soccer.This book would leave you very impressed about how he scored 1281 in 1363 games.

[Savion Stfleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Pele is a biography by James Buckley Jr., he talks about his life and growing up to being a soccer player.The setting of this book is takes place in Brazil where he played part of his life and around the world basically by the way that his national team Brazil would always be on the world cup where some nations get to play if they pass beating the teams they are told.Pele’s life during this book wasn’t always great. Through his life when he moved to America he became in debt with over 2 million dollars due to a company that couldn’t pay taxes. Overall this book is really amazing and detailed with some pictures. I recommend this book to anyone who loves soccer. If you want to find out how he solves this problem read this book!

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this biography engaging, easy to read, and very enjoyable. I don't know a lot about soccer so I gained a new understanding of the sport and Pele's contributions. Buckley did well at showing many various influences upon Pele's career. I particularly enjoyed hearing about his positive contributions to help children after he retired in 1977. The photos are top-notch. The side bar and small text boxes of information were helpful and interesting.

[Ben C Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book and learning about Pele. I learned a lot about his legacy and his journey to get to the top. I loved how the book explained everything in chronological order from his childhood to when he was older. If you like soccer and even sports I recommend you read this book.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pelé was a book made to inform readers about Pelé’s life. Despite Pelé growing up in a harsh life, almost entering poverty, he still played soccer and became the best in the world. The author was trying to show the reader about Pelé’s life, how he and his family neared poverty, and showed his soccer career. From this book I have more knowledge on pelé’s life and his soccer career. I also learned that his family was in debt until Pelé started to play Professional soccer. I learned a lot from this book and it was very interesting.
There were many things in the book that I found interesting. for example the author had a very descriptive way of writing that you never got bored, here on page 41 it states “and then... tears of joy, the former village kid hides his face among his teammates, overcome with emotion.” The author makes this quote to inform the reader how pele felt after winning the 1958 world cup.
I’ve never questioned if Pelé ever cared about his family’s financial problems. But I started to after I came across that part in the book. When he was four his father Dondinho was called to play for a club Bauru “ a small town east of the giant mountains” (page 9) this club said they would let Dondinho play for them and they’ll offer and additional job, but the money wouldn’t really assist his family in any way. He accepted and went on. After Pelé heard about this he wanted to help his father achieve some money cause he loved his family. Unfortunately that didn't really work out for pelé because he only earned cents a day. Pelé stopped trying but he didn’t know that there was another alternative that would help his family
and make him a legend.
This part of the book talking about his career was very informative because it gave you lots of info on his soccer career. The way the author wrote at this section of the book made it feel like he was talking to you because it’s just written in that way. I loved everything in this book.
I would recommend this book to all ages but only to people that are interested in soccer and Pelés life. This book doesn’t have any explicit content, and it has very good information. The vocab is understandable for kids and obviously for adults. Every page is a new thing you learn about him, and makes you have a deeper knowledge of him. This book is a must read for someone who wants to know about pele and his life

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! It was so interesting to learn about one of the best soccer players to ever live. I thought that it was really cool when Pele scored 1000 goals because he was the first person to ever score that many goals. Also, when Pele scored 1000 goals, I wondered who was keeping track of all the goals that Pele scored. Another thing that I thought was cool about Pele scoring 1000 goals was that after he scored that many goals, he built a giant "1000" entirely out of soccer balls. I thought that it was kind of funny when Pele scored his 999th goal because Pele scores a goal in mostly every game he plays. So when Pele scored his 999th goal at the end of a game, everyone expected him to score his 1000th goal at the next game he played. So the soccer team made a big announcement that Pele was going to score his 1000th goal there. There was a humongous crowd at the game, but Pele didn't score any goals at that game! When he scored his 1000th goal, it was at the game after that!

I was kind of proud for Pele, in a way, because he made millions of dollars by advertising for different products, but he never advertised for liqour companies (even though he could have made huge sums of money.) I was also really proud of Pele because after he quit the Brazil team, he went to college because he wasn't very educated and rarely ever went to school when he was little.

I thought that it was kind of sad when Peles' son, Edinho, was arrested for taking drugs. I wonder if Pele was disappointed in his son. He probably was because Pele was always against smoking, drinking, drugs, and bad things like that.

In my opinion, Pele is an amazing guy. Personally, I am a soccer fan and player, but this book is a great read for everybody, even if you are not a into soccer.

[Tommy W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good book. It talks about Pele's life from when he was a little kid to when he is a grown up man. When Pele was a kid he lived in a really small town and didn't have much like we have. They didn't have any soccer fields so he had to kick the ball with his friends on a dirt field. When Pele got older he became a soccer sensation and everybody loved him. The good thing about Pele is he played the game right. He didn't go after the other teams best player and try to take him out of the game. When Pele and his team went on the tournament he saw this one girl who ended up being his wife. She was a basketball player. They ended up having kids and then later they got divorced. Pele ended up at one point he got 1,000 goals. He was so proud but he was getting old. later Pele had to quit soccer. He realized that he was running out of money and he had to go back to what he loved. Instead of going back to his old team Santos he went to America to play for a team that could get him a lot of money. His last game was his two clubs he played for and he split the game in half. One half he played for his american team and the other his Brazilian team.


I would give this book a 4 out of 5. I gave it a 4 because I like soccer but they made t seem like his whole life depended on it so like if he got hurt he would lose all his money because he wasn't playing. But besides that i really enjoyed the book. It showed how he was a soccer machine and he was just great at the sport.

[Mikou · Rating 5 out of 5]

The that Im reading is spécial for me because Im learning about a spécial player called Pelé one of the best player in the history of soccer. I like this book because I learn alot of things about the player Pelé. One of the facts is that he scored about 1000 goals in his carier. He also one the Word cup golden ball player that scored most goals and he won the best player in Fifa and know his the strongest legend in fifa. I also like the book because it talks about the life of Pelé. For example he got married more than one time. This is why i like this amayzing book.

I recommande this book to boys it talks mainly about soccer. As an opinion I think that all of my friends respect the player pele why because he is a legend and certanaly the best player in the 1900. I think that pele will always he a star even though he stoped his carrier. Also pele is in Fifa and all boys that like Fifa likes the best rating player Pelé. Well I think there are dôme girls that Will like this book because they like soccer so i think that girls coule like this book Im not telling that girls would not like this book. I think girls and boys would like this book.

I think that many star player would like to be as stronge and skillful as pele. The main book talks about pele as i said before. Some facts about the is that pele had two wife. The first one porley died he stayed with the second one. He has a son called Joshua plays him too soccer. Those are some facts about the book and I couldnot tell more because I dont want to spolie

[Isha J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pele
James Buckley Jr.
Genre: Biography
Pages: 128
On October 23, 1940 Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, was born Tres Coracoes, Brazil. In 1994, his family moves to Bauru, which is in Brazil. In 1995, he joins the Sao Paulo club Santos, which was a soccer club team, which he plays in until 1974. On September 7, 1956 he made his first goal in the team. With his great skill, Pele makes the Brazilian National Team in 1958. Later on in 1958, it was the World Cup finals against Sweden and Brazil and Pele had showed his hard works. Pele had has moment to shine when he scored two goals in the game and had become an instant star. His team had won the World Cup again in 1962 and in 1970. Pele gets married in 1996 to Rosemari Cholbi. However on July 18, 1971 he plays his last game for Brazilian national team. Pele joins the NASL and later gets divorced to Rosemari. He gets married to Assira Lemos. In 200, he was voted FIFA player of the century.
I think this book was pretty good. It was really interesting learning how Pele had become an amazing soccer player. Pele is an very good at soccer and I think it was very cool that he had help win three world cups. Pele is still alive and is 72 years old. Overall, I liked this book, Pele is an awesome soccer player from Brazil!

[Nick O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would you want to know about one of the greatest soccer players and/athletes ever? Well, if you do then you should read the book Pele by James Buckley Jr. It is a very well set up biography about Brazilian soccer legend Pele. In this biography, you don’t only learn about Pele’s amazing soccer career, but also his outside/family life. In this story the main protagonist is Pele, and the others would mainly just be his family.
I really like the way that the book is good for people like me who know a lot about the sport and its history. But it is also good for people who want to learn more about the sport, or people who want to learn more about people’s careers and lifestyles from all around the world. But overall most people could learn a good amount of new and interesting information from reading this book. This is a very unique book that I would recommend to people who are open to learning new things that they didn’t think they would learn when they started the book. This was a very well set up book and told the story very well. Overall I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Neel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pelé
By: James Buckley Jr.
Non-Fiction
Biography
128 pages

Edison Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, is a retired midfielder, Brazilian soccer player. He is regarded by many people, including me, as the best soccer player of all time. Pelé played professionally soccer for Brazil for 20 years, winning 3 World Cups before joining the New York Cosmos later in his career. He was born on October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil. He has influenced many people including Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi.

I liked this book a lot. I liked this book for many reasons. There were many pictures. There were pictures of his team and his wife. There were also a lot of facts that I didn't know. For example, I didn't know that Pele later played for the New York Cosmos. I thought he only played for Brazil.
For a book that looked so samll, the font was really small and there were a lot of fact. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes soccer or just want a good non-fiction book.

[Pedro Balaban · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very inspiring story of a boy who grew up in a very small, poor village in Brazil, and became a worldwide soccer superstar. This biography touches the readers by showing how poor Pele was in his childhood, yet he was able to conquer the world with his amazing talents. James Buckley Jr. also showed how Pele overcame racism with his abilities in the soccer field. The main reason that I enjoyed this book is because it shows how Pele became respected by the entire world. For example, he was able to bring soccer to new nations, such as the USA.This shows that people were such big fans of his that he had the power to bring an unknown sport to a nation. Overall, this is a great story that touches anyone who understands how hard it is to overcome poverty and become a worldwide figure and national treasure. I enjoyed this biography of Pele very much.

[Tarek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pele, by James Buckley, is a fantastic book for curious soccer fans wanting to know all about the legend of soccer and the man who basically single handedly transported the sport to The United States of America, meaning that there would be no such thing as the MLS league if it wasn't for Pele. He was born into an extremely poor family and did not own a pair for shoes for the majority of his adolescent years. His father was a soccer player trying to make it big but was injured in the process which stopped him from peaking. Pele did not go to school, but used to make money shining peoples shoes. He then began playing for a soccer team in his neighborhood at the age of 7, and by the time he was 16 years old he was playing for the national team in Brazil. Little did anyone know that Pele was going to change the world of soccer and make it the sport it has become today.

[Zach]

Peel A photo graphic biography by James Buckley Junior was a great book. It informed us about the life of Pellett. He was an amazing soccer player that had an amazing career. He was born in 1960 in Brazil. The first professional team that he played for was Santos. At the age of 15 he would play and his first world cup with Brazil. He would go on to win 3 world cups in his career. He is definitely considered one of the best soccer players to ever play the game.
This book was very good. I enjoyed this book because I love reading about soccer players. I like learning his life story. Also, I find it interesting reading about players that played for so many different teams and have so many different legacies.
I would recommend this book to both boys and girls that like soccer. I would also recommend this book too people of all ages. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

[Matthew M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Biography
Pages: 128
Brief summary: Pele was a great soccer player, and I really look up to him because I like soccer. When Pele was a kid he was poor. He didn't have shoes to play soccer and he had to make a team with his friends with out a coach. He was a amazing soccer player that won the world cup a lot with his team Brazil. He was a leader on that team and the players really liked him. He got hurt a lot because in soccer they have a lot of injuries. Although Pele quit soccer to have a normal life with his family, but then he was in debt. His companies went out of business and he had to go back to playing soccer. He signed a contract for 4 years for a United States soccer team. He became one of the best soccer players ever.

[TJ Malensky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book was very interesting and if you want to learn about Pele than this book will do it because it explains the things that are most important like his life before soccer, his life after soccer, his family, and his soccer career. The book could get more specific about his earlier days like add friends not friends from the soccer team. The book taught me even more stuff like things that I hadn't known already like he was married twice and divorced once and he played almost his whole career in brazil. I really recommend this book too someone who likes soccer or wants to learn the back story of Pele.

[Melanie Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this book is great and this book is about a boy who had the passion of soccer and grew up to be the world greatest soccer player in the world and his most famous quote from him is "the beautiful game" it is famous because most soccer meant to him a lot and he grew to play for the Brazil national team for the world cups he has been in and then he decide to leave the Brazil national team because of his wife who had 3 kids but he thought about it and joined a New York team called the New York cosmos. This book relates to me kinda because i fell in love with soccer at a young age. I recommend this book if you are a soccer lover because this book will maybe will want to read it.

[Edgar B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is really interesting because it's about a poor boy who becomes one of the best soccer players. I recommend this book to people who like soccer because it really inspires you to become who you want to be, even if your poor or rich. This book talks about how he started playing in the streets of Brazil, then becoming a professional soccer player. It also talks about how he brought soccer to the United States. I think people will like the life of Pele because it was an interesting life becoming a professional at something.

[Kyle.b · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen all you soccer fans! If you watch soccer, then you must know one of the worlds best soccer players named Pele. This book includes action-pacted information that you may not have known about Pele. One fact is that he took part of and won three World cups with the Brazil national team. If you are interested in soccer, you may want to take some information from Pele. Read this book if you want to know more...

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Pele was good because it was all about his life and I like those types of books. I liked how it told you in the end, how the parts of his life. I thought it was interesting how they used socks stuffed with newspapers to make a soccer ball. I never knew that all you needed was a street to play soccer. I never knew that Pele had gotten married twice. I liked that Pele was named FIFA player of the century. I also thought it was cool that he was named World Cup player of the century.

[Tnb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read. Picked it at the library and read it on the spot. Very good information especiallt related to the beginning of US soccer leagues. I did not know that Pele and other soccer stars contributed starting in the 70s. I was also intrigued to find that Pele had been broken a few times. Not surprising if one observes the many failied football and baseball stars, who within months of building a fortune, out of sheer stupidity lose it. Education is good.

[Dayna Grave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. I enjoy reading about soccer and I think it is such a cool sport and I want to start playing it one day. Personally, I believe you need to be a soccer person in order to read it like I am. I think soccer is just an amazing sport with many tricks.

[Juan Botello · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it tells his whole life story and tells us his passion for soccer and his love for it too. I also like it because it inspires me to become better in the sport that i love also. I strongly recommend this book for soccer lovers.

[Jose]

Boring

[Ankit Ahuja · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humble beginning and sound training made him what he was. I am no football follower but the story made me one.

[Selena Ibarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion I really liked the book because it was very organized by how and when he became famous. Then, the background and history of Pele.

[Michael Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a lot of good info on my project on him.

[Fabio]

i think its a great book

[Kenny LORD]

A well documented book of the life and times of probably the greatestt Footballer that ever lived!

[Murat C]

Sunday, October 26, 2014
90 minutes

Sunday November 2, 2014
90 minutes