<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n In Rachel Isadora\u2019s watercolor-illustrated picture book Sophie Skates<\/i> (Scholastic, 2002), eight-year-old Sophie dreams of becoming a professional ice skater. The book follows Sophie in her weekly skating lessons; readers learn about skating equipment, moves, competitions, and the hard work and practice it takes to be a champion. For ages 4-8.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/the-best-figure-skater-300x271.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n \n In Linda Bailey\u2019s The Best Figure Skater in the Whole Wide World<\/i> (Kids Can Press, 2003), Lizzy is determined to become a champion figure skater \u2013 but when her skating class prepares to perform \u201cSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs\u201d at the upcoming winter festival, Lizzy is cast as a tree. For ages 5-8.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/touch-the-sky-230x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Ann Malaspina\u2019s Touch the Sky<\/em> (Albert Whitman & Company, 2011) is a free-verse picture-book biography of high jumper Alice Coachman who, in 1948, became the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. (\u201cAlice Coachman raced\/down the dirt road\/bare feet flying,\/long legs spinning,\/braids flapping\/in the wind\u2026\/LEAP!\u201d) Included in an Author\u2019s Note are photos of the real Alice and her teammates. For ages 5-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/americas-champion-swimmer-300x249.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n David A. Adler\u2019s America\u2019s Champion Swimmer<\/em> (Sandpiper, 2005) is a picture-book biography of Olympic gold medalist Gertrude Ederle who, in 1926, also became the first woman to swim the English Channel. For ages 6-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/wilma-unlimited-300x228.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Wilma Rudolph, star of Kathleen Krull\u2019s gorgeously illustrated 44-page biography Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World\u2019s Fastest Woman<\/em> (Sandpiper, 2000), was born in Tennessee in 1940, youngest in a family of twenty children. At the age of five, she had polio and was expected never to walk again \u2013 but through sheer determination, she not only walked, but ran, and so well that, in the 1960 Olympics, she became the first woman to win three gold medals. An inspirational tale for ages 7-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/jesse-owens-young-record-breaker-203x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In the red, white, and blue Childhood of Famous Americans series, M.M. Eboch\u2019s Jesse Owens: Young Record Breaker<\/em> (Aladdin, 2008) is a fictionalized chapter biography of the childhood of African-American runner Jesse Owens, who overcame racism and poverty to win four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics, held in Hitler\u2019s Germany. The book is dedicated to \u201canyone who refuses to give up.\u201d For ages 7-10.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| <\/td>\n | In the same series, also see Jo Harper\u2019s Wilma Rudolph: Young Runner<\/em> (Aladdin, 2004) and Guernsey Van Riper\u2019s Jim Thorpe: Olympic Champion<\/em> (Aladdin, 1986).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/skating-shoes-204x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n \n Noel Streatfeild\u2019s Skating Shoes<\/i> (Yearling, 2009), Harriet\u2019s doctor prescribes skating to help her recover from an illness, and soon Harriet makes friends with orphan Lalla, training to be a skating champion, and discovers her own talent on the rink. One of the wonderful Shoes series, originally published in the 1930s and 40s, about children in the performing arts. For ages 8-12.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gold-medal-summer-207x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n The protagonist of Donna Freitas\u2019s novel Gold Medal Summer<\/em> (Arthur A. Levine, 2012) is thirteen-year-old gymnast Joey Jordan, determined to be a gold medal winner, who struggles with not-always-easy relationships with her coach, friends, and family, and begins a romance with old friend (now suddenly cute boy) Tanner. For ages 10 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gold-medal-winter-214x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | In Freitas’s Gold Medal Winter<\/em> (Scholastic, 2014), Esperanza Flores of the Olympic ice skating team deals with sudden fame, mean-spirited teammates, budding romance (with a hockey player?), and a passionate desire to win. For ages 10-14.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/rush-for-the-gold-teen-dives-into-olympic-mystery-202x300.jpg\") <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In John Feinstein\u2019s Rush for the Gold<\/em> (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012), one of a series of sports-based mysteries starring teenaged journalists Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, Susan \u2013 a champion swimmer \u2013 is competing at the London Olympic Games. Stevie, however, begins to suspect that someone is trying to rig the swimming competitions, and soon he and Susan Carol have joined forces to solve the mystery. For ages 10 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| <\/td>\n | From Good Education, Fists of Freedom<\/a>\u00a0tells the story behind the famous raised-fists photograph of Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos, protesting racial discrimination at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/women-in-sports-300x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Rachel Ignotofsky’s Women in Sports<\/em> (Ten Speed Press, 2017) is a gorgeously designed collection of 50 short biographies of great female athletes. For ages 9-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n IMAGINARY OLYMPICS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/babar-games-214x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Laurent de Brunhoff\u2019s Babar\u2019s Celesteville Games<\/em> (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2011), Babar, the green-suited king of the elephants, and family are hosting the Worldwide Games \u2013 and in the midst of all the exciting athletic activity, daughter Flora falls in love with Coriander, a pole-vaulter from the distant country of Mirza. Despite some initial struggles with cultural differences (mother Celeste worries that Cory has small ears; Cory\u2019s parents wish he\u2019d picked a nice girl from Mirza), the book ends with a happy international wedding. For ages 4-6.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/pickle-chiffon-pie-olympics-222x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In (Jolly) Roger Bradfield\u2019s The Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics<\/em> (Purple House Press, 2001), lovely Princess Sierra is home from Princess College and her father, the king, decides to hold an athletic competition to decide who will win her hand in marriage. The Olympics, 14th<\/sup>-century-style, involve dragon wrestling, a giant climb, a moat swim, and a discus throw involving pickle-chiffon pies. This is the sequel to the equally hilarious Pickle-Chiffon Pie<\/em> (originally published in 1967, re-issued in 2004). Whacky fun for ages 4-7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/authors-in-pantry-210x300.jpg\") \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nBy Sharon and Deborah McElmeel, Authors in the Pantry<\/em> (Libraries Unlimited, 2006) contains a recipe for pickle-chiffon pie.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/mud-flat-olympics-248x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n James Stevenson\u2019s 56-page chapter book The Mud Flat Olympics<\/em> (Greenwillow, 1994) is the funny and delightful story of an all-animal Olympics, featuring such events as the Deepest Hole contest (Kimberly, a mole, claims to have burrowed to China), the All-Snail High Hurdle, and the Smelliest Skunk competition. It\u2019s (rrr) out of print; look for it at your local library. For ages 5-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/fairyland-olympics-273x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Meg Clibbon and Lucy Clibbon\u2019s The Fairyland Olympics<\/em> (Zero to Ten, 2008), the denizens of the Enchanted Forest decide to hold their own version of the Olympic games, and soon all are involved, from giants and dragons to princesses, herb fairies, and gourmet goblins. The lovely illustrations feature picture maps of such Fairyland locations as the Misty Mountain, Arboreal Grotto, Swamp (for Troll dancing), and Sea Palace. An appendix has suggestions for hosting your own garden-party Olympics, instructions for making winners\u2019 coronets, and a recipe for a healthy energy drink. For ages 5 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/asterix-225x300.jpg\") <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n Rene Goscinny\u2019s Asterix<\/em> graphic series \u2013 fans of Tintin will love it \u2013 is set in Roman-occupied Gaul, with an hilarious cast of characters, among them Asterix (a small, but cunning, Gaulish warrior), his best friend Obelix (a menhir-delivery man, fond of roast boar), Getafix (the village druid), Cacofonix (the unspeakable bard), Vitalstatistix, red-bearded chief of the tribe, and a host of luckless Roman legionaries. In Asterix at the Olympic Games<\/em> (Orion, 2004), all the men of the Gaulish tribe, fortified with Getafix\u2019s strength-inducing magic potion, set off for Greece to compete in the Olympics. Their chief rival: the muscle-bound Roman, Gluteus Maximus. For ages 10 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nSCIENCE, MATH, and THE OLYMPICS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/STEM-in-Olympics-252x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | The STEM in the Summer Olympics series by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst (Jump!, Inc.) covers the science of summer Olympic sports for ages 6-9. Various titles include The Science Behind Volleyball<\/em>, The Science Behind Cycling<\/em>, The Science Behind Water Sports<\/em>, and The Science Behind Gymnastics<\/em>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/how-to-watch-olympics-221x300.jpg\")
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