Birgit Skarstein, Susanne Kaluza and Leonard Furuberg - Selected Title Authors
We are happy to present our selected title authors Birgit Skarstein and Susanne Kaluza. They have written Why Can’t the Referee Score Goals? (original title: Hvorfor kan ikke dommeren score mål?). The book is illustrated by Leonard Furuberg and it is one of NORLA’s Selected Titles of the spring 2025.
What is your book about?
We’ve created a fun and educational fact book about sports! Based on real questions that kids have asked us, we share surprising facts, entertaining stories, and exciting sports history. This book showcases the incredible diversity in sports—from football, yoga, and surfing to e-sports, camel racing, and even golf on the moon!
But it’s not just about which sports are out there. We’ve also made sure to naturally incorporate diversity into both the text and illustrations. The book features people of all shapes and sizes—tall and short, big and small, light skin and dark, with or without arms, on their feet or in wheelchairs—competing in everything from dodgeball to skiing to archery.
It’s packed with stories that will make readers go “wow!” We reveal the biggest blowout in the history of professional soccer (Australia won 31–0 over American Samoa!) and we tell the incredible story of Matt Stutzman, a.k.a. “The Armless Archer”, who trained to keep his nerves in check before the Paralympics by skydiving then shooting arrows the moment he landed. That’s how he learned to hit the target even when his pulse was through the roof!
What inspired you to write this book?
We wanted to spark a love of reading by writing about something many kids already enjoy: sports. And we wanted to celebrate sports by taking children’s curiosity seriously, answering all their questions, big and small, for example: Are boxers angry at each other? Are gold medals really made of gold? What’s the most popular sport in the world?
Sports are an enormous part of our society, but we noticed that most books don’t include athletes with different abilities as a natural part of the narrative. That’s why Leonard illustrated a dodgeball game where some kids are playing in wheelchairs while others aren’t. And in the team photo for Australian football (“Which sport has the most players on a team?”), one player has a blood sugar monitor on his arm. Not everyone will notice these details, but for a child with diabetes—or who has a family member who has it—small things like this can mean a lot.
We wanted to show what we know to be true: Sports are for everyone—and so are stories.
What is your book about?
This is a book full of fun and strange facts from the world of sports! Here, you’ll find facts about sumo wrestling, medieval jousting, e-sports, golf on the moon, and much more. But it’s also about the community and values you find around sports. Whether you’re blind or missing a limb, there’s a sport out there for you.
Who is this book for?
This book is for anyone who loves the fascinating world of sports, but it’s also perfect for those who simply enjoy soaking up fun tidbits you might not find anywhere else.
Read more
See full presentation of the book here
Read more about Birgit Skarstein, Susanne Kaluza and Leonard Furuberg
See all NORLA’s Selected Titles for the spring 2025 here
