Olympics Books for Kids + Olympics Unit Study

Back in 775 BC, athletes from all over Ancient Greece came together to compete in various games.

The contests were held every four years and winning athletes brought honor and respect to their homelands.

The tradition of the Olympic Games faded over time until 1896 when the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, with over two hundred athletes from fourteen countries. 

Today, nearly three thousand years after the first Games, the Summer Olympics attract one hundred thousand top athletes from over two hundred countries.

From the first games held in ancient Greece to the cultural extravaganzas of recent years, there have been some incredible and amazing events and milestones in the world of Olympic sports.

Now in G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet, writer Brad Herzog showcases those athletes and events that not only set sports records but also impacted history and world views.

Jack and Annie are ready for their next fantasy adventure in the bestselling middle-grade series — the Magic Tree House!

No girls allowed at the Olympic Games!

That’s the rule when the Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to ancient Greece.

But when Annie tells Jack to go to the games without her, he knows she’s up to something.

Will Annie find a way to see the games?

Or will she get herself — and Jack — into Olympic-size trouble?

This encouraging and hilarious story is for every kid who’s ever been told “you can’t win ’em all.”

Boomer the Pig has been training hard for the Animal Olympics, so when he loses his first race, he shrugs it off and cheerfully moves on.

One event after another, Boomer keeps losing, and the frustration begins to get to him.

Even after coming in last in every sport, there’s no getting this Olympig down.

Nadia Comaneci was a feisty and fearless little girl who went from climbing trees in the forests of Romania to swinging into history at the 1976 Olympic Games, where she received an unprecedented seven perfect scores in gymnastics.

But as readers will see in this first-ever illustrated picture book about Nadia’s journey to Olympic gold, the road from small-town girl to world-class athlete was full of many imperfect moments.

In the 2012 London Olympics, US gymnast Gabrielle Douglas stole hearts and flew high as the All-Around Gold Medal winner, as well as acting as a critical member of the US gold-medal-winning women gymnastics team.

In this personal autobiography, Gabrielle tells her story of faith, perseverance, and determination, demonstrating you can reach your dreams if you let yourself soar.

Before Wilma Rudolph was five years old, polio had paralyzed her left leg.

Everyone said she would never walk again. But Wilma refused to believe it.

Not only would she walk again, she vowed, she’d run.

And she did run — all the way to the Olympics, where she became the first American woman to earn three gold medals in a single olympiad.

This dramatic and inspiring true story is illustrated in bold watercolor and acrylic paintings by Caldecott Medal-winning artist David Diaz.

Laugh out loud with this wonderfully funny and charming picture book story about frogs coming together from around the world to participate in and celebrate their ‘Frog Olympics’.

The rhyming text is brilliant to read out loud at home or in the classroom.

Great for discussion starters about the Olympics and to talk about inclusion and how people, or frogs, of every size and ability can take part in the Olympics.

When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics, they had lots of questions.

What did the ancient Greeks wear? What did they do for fun? Where were the very first Olympics held? How are our modern Olympics similar to the ancient Olympics?

Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts.

This is an inspiring free-verse story of the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

In Alice’s Georgia hometown, there was no track where an African-American girl could practice, so she made her own crossbar with sticks and rags.

With the support of her coach, friends, and community, Alice started to win medals.

Her dream to compete at the Olympics came true in 1948.

It was 1904 and St. Louis was proud to host the World’s Fair and America’s First Olympics.

Hundreds of thousands of people came by car, by train, by boat. Part of the Olympics was a wild, wacky marathon.

Forty-two racers registered, thirty-two showed up, and of the three racers vying for the finish line: on drove part way, one was helped by his trainers over the line, and one was a postman who travelled from Cuba and ran in street clothes that he cut off to look like shorts.

How they ran and who won is a story of twists and turns that only wouldn’t be believed if it weren’t true! And it is!

Find out who won in this wacky and well-researched picture book all about the historic Olympic Marathon of 1904.

Acclaimed sports writer Sue Macy’s comprehensive portrait of the Summer Olympics has now been fully updated for the 2008 games in Beijing, China.

Behind every jump, spin, and flip of Olympic gymnastics, science is at work.

Centrifugal force is at work in a midair spin, and center of gravity is involved in balance beam routines.

Newtons Third Law of Motion springs into action as a gymnast flies into the air in the vaulting event.

Find out how science is involved in all your favorite gymnastics events and how gymnasts take science into account as they chase the gold medal.

From a festival in ancient Greece to a worldwide event today, the Olympics have inspired athletes and supporters alike.

Find out how the biggest sports event in the world was born and discover the amazing heroes who made Olympic history.

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant.

With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler.

At the center of the tale is Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, whose personal quest captures the spirit of his generation — the generation that would prove in the coming years that the Nazis could not prevail over American determination and optimism.

Inspired by her own experiences as a fifteen-year-old Olympic gymnast, gold medalist Shawn Johnson writes a delightfully entertaining novel about chasing big dreams and falling in love, all while trying to keep it real.

From gold medalist and reality TV star Shawn Johnson comes a debut YA novel inspired by her own experiences as an elite teenage gymnast — just in time for the Summer 2016 Olympic games.

Charlie Ryland has a secret. She may seem like your average high school sophomore — but she’s just really good at pretending.

Because outside of school Charlie spends all her waking hours training to become one of the best gymnasts in the world.

And it’s not easy flying under the radar when you’re aiming for Olympic gold… especially when an irresistible guy comes along and threatens to throw your whole world off balance.