A Winning Olympics Children's Book

Olympics Kid's Book

My children are finally big enough to understand and enjoy the Olympic Games so we are a tad Olympics-crazy at our house, as you'll see from posts over the next few weeks.

As with all our family activities, I first searched for an Olympics children's book to read with my children and learn about the Games.

Truth be told, I emailed Sleeping Bear Press and begged politely requested to review any Olympics related books they've published.

A week later G is for Gold Medal: An Olympic Alphabet arrived at my door. And boy, are we glad it did!!

G is for Gold Medal is formatted in classic Sleeping Bear Press alphabet book style: all of the letters are represented in rhyming couplet, each page has a side bar with further information related to the poem, while the illustrations contain bright colors and active scenes.

"U" is one of my favorite pages. The text says,

"U is for an underdog,
so unbelievably bold,
and an unexpected upset
to win Olympic gold."

The sidebar tells the miracle story of 1980 when a group of college-aged amateurs went up against the Soviet team, who had beaten National Hockey League all-stars the year before. Amazingly the American underdogs won the gold medal!

One of the things I love about the Olympics is that you never know what will happen! You never know which athlete's story of hard work and perseverance will shine as bright as the the gold medal he or she wins. 

G is for Gold Medal does an outstanding job of highlighting those personal stories and teaching kids (and parents, too!) Olympic history.

Another of my favorite pages is "L." The poem states,

"A long run starts letter L, 

then a launch, a leap, a landing.

A little gymnast with a large heart.

A gold medal! Outstanding!"

The sidebar tells of Mary Lou Retton who scored a perfect 10 in the 1984 Olympics. In 1984, a 9 year old little girl watched Mary Lou cartwheel her way into the history books. To me, that grow-up little girl, her name is synonymous with the Olympics!

So when I turned the page to "L" and saw Mary Lou on the balance beam wearing the quintessential American leotard I couldn't help smiling. And something deep in my heart longed to join my 5 year old daughter in the gym doing cartwheels and balance beam routines.

Ellie works with Coach Hanna (an Olympic gymnast!) at RISE gymnastics.

I'm sure we will read G is for Gold Medal several times between now and the Olympic closing ceremonies in August. I HIGHLY recommend you read the book also!

What is your favorite Olympic event? Did you dream of going to the Olympics as an athlete?

Disclosure: Thanks to Sleeping Bear Press for providing a copy of G is for Gold Medal for my review! All opinions regarding the book are my own and were not influenced by receiving a review copy.

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