Pilar Martin.
Madrid, June 9 (EFE).- Packet, Toni, Camuñas and Marilyn have been the real protagonists this Sunday at the Book Fair, because they are the characters of the saga ‘Los futbolísimos’, the masterpiece of Roberto Santiago whom The fair has paid tribute to which around 200 children and adults have attended.
“Many thanks to the adults, but above all to the little readers,” Santiago thanked at the beginning of this event held this morning at the Madrid Book Fair, where he confessed that Package, the character who narrates the stories of ‘The Futbolísimos’, looks “a lot” like him, because he is also a “shy and very fearful” child.
“I was terrible at playing football – I had the children’s laughter as background music – but I really loved playing, I was very enthusiastic and thanks to that I have not become a footballer, but I have written many stories about football.”
Santiago (Madrid, 1968), as he explained to EFE before the start of the event, considers that this tribute is “too big”, but he has taken it as a “celebration” of his entire career.
With the 25th installment of ‘Los Futbolísimos’ already in bookstores – “The Mystery of the Golden Goal” (SM) – during the event the actors Joaquín Reyes and María Zabala, who will play Package’s father and Anita’s mother in the new film adaptation of this literary series, have read a fragment of what will be book 26, which will be titled “The Mystery of Tiger Black.”
According to the writer, ‘Los Futbolísimos 2’ will be filmed this summer.
In addition, other names involved in the writer’s professional life have joined the tribute, such as Berta Márquez, the editor and whom Santiago considers “the mother of ‘Los Futbolísimos’. Booksellers, his mother, and some of his teachers have also attended. University.
For her part, Eva Orúe, the director of the Madrid Fair, said during this tribute that the objective of the fair, “apart from selling a lot of books and fighting with weather alerts”, is to “promote reading.”
“There are many authors who have contributed to that, and Roberto Santiago is one of them, an author who has done so much for reading. On top of that ‘Los Futbolísimos’ fits us like a glove, because this year the fair is dedicated to sports” , he highlighted.
During the event, the boys and girls participated in a kind of “rosco” with questions about the saga of the Soto Alto Fútbol Club, a game to which all the little ones responded in chorus, who did not hesitate to shout out loud one of the mottos of this particular soccer team, “wanting to win, knowing how to lose.”
Finally, the director of the Dos Pasos Agency, Palmira Márquez, wanted Santiago to “never” forget this day and for that she gave him an illustration by Fernando Vicente in which the author appears surrounded by all the characters .
At the end of the tribute, the author took all the children to a booth at the Book Fair to “chat one on one” with the boys and girls who came to ask him to sign one of his books. EFE
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