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On my return to Sao Paulo with this pile of manuscripts,

that I could not read, I was faced with the task of

shortlisting suitable stories for the project. The leading

light in the Brazilian system of infantile literature was a

woman called Nellie Coelho . By that time, she was at the

end of her career but still working inside the white ivory

tower of USP: the University of São Paulo. She was very

well-known in her field and when I contacted her, she was

very negative because she had so much work and

speaking engagements. After our initial meeting and the

fee, I offered for her to read the 83 manuscripts and

shortlist suitable candidates she agreed. This was a great

relief to me knowing that I had got the number one person

to oversee the content of the books we were to offer the

project.

She diligently went about her task, and we had several

meetings as she waded through the mountain of

manuscripts. But there was no manuscript for any story

about the Pelé. This was a concern to me as I knew that if

we were to make a dent in the educational system, we

must have a suitable title that encouraged young boys to

learn to read, it was at this point my editor knowing that I

was a published writer suggested that I wrote the story. My

initial reaction was that I had only ever written adult fiction

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