★Nominated for International Baltic Sea Region Janis Baltvilks Prize in Children's Literature and Book Art 2015
★The National Book Art Contest Award "Golden Apple Tree" 2015
★Age 9-14
★English samples are available!

Can world-famous masterpieces – Otto Dix, George Grosz, even a couple of Rembrandts from the Prague museum – be found in a landfill, next to gold, British pounds, and American dollars?
Is it possible to beat the allegedly unbeatable Catholic school team at football? How do you avoid taking the pills that Monkey and Fatso supply? And what is an ex-notary doing living in a bum’s hut? Can a classmate who has moved to Latvia all the way from America become closer than a ‘homie’? These questions require definite answers, and they can be found in this book.
Can world-famous masterpieces – Otto Dix, George Grosz, even a couple of Rembrandts from the Prague museum – be found in a landfill, next to gold, British pounds, and American dollars?
Is it possible to beat the allegedly unbeatable Catholic school team at football? How do you avoid taking the pills that Monkey and Fatso supply? And what is an ex-notary doing living in a bum’s hut? Can a classmate who has moved to Latvia all the way from America become closer than a ‘homie’? These questions require definite answers, and they can be found in this book.
Daumants is the most ordinary and also the most special boy, whose parents died in a car crash. For the last four years, he has been tossed around like a football, from one relative to the next. The boy finds himself in a specialist school, then in an ordinary school, where he at last finds the understanding of his classmates and even gets a taste of a first love. The ridiculed Daumants becomes the school hero – in the football game against the unbeatable Catholic school team, it is he who scores both winning goals.
This story, induced by ample amounts of humour by the author, talks about ordinary everyday things, sometimes even sad things. The reader may want to know – why is Daumats always surrounded by these seemingly powerful Goliaths or Kids, who are always too generous with their ‘special lexicon pearls’. Just when it seems that Daumants won’t be able to take it anymore, he realises that he is no longer alone – little Ilze is now by his side.
By reading this book, parents and children are both given the fantastic opportunity to smile at themselves. Maybe even to have a laugh at themselves. A good old laugh.

Juris Zvirgzdiņš (1941) is known for being one of the most productive writers of highly esteemed literature, having written more than 20 books for children. His works have received many awards, and have been translated into several languages. 11 radio plays were staged for his works between 1982 and 1992. This writer stands out namely with his educational books where children are introduced to various concepts in an engaging way, for instance, going on adventures in the Museum of the History of Riga, visiting the Latvian National Library, or the Riga Zoo, learning about the history of the United States of America, or Austrian music, etc. The author is best known for his books about the teddy bear called Tobias. Tobias is one of the bears from Juris Zvirgzdiņš' actual collection of toys, and as the author himself asserts – Tobias is the true author of at least 7 literary works attributed to Zvirgzdiņš. These works feature other animals from his collection – the little bear Eliot, rhinoceros Mufa, little dog Fu Fuu, and others. In his works, Zvirgzdiņš masterly intertwines documentary with fantasy, and for this reason, his works are dearly loved by children – the stories are not only well imagined, but also have elements of reality and actual experiences. His book Muffa: Story of the White Baby Rhinoceros was included in the prestigious White Ravens Catalogue in 2012.