The Winter Olympics open in PyeongChang Korea on February 9 and we can’t wait to dive into rooting for our favorite Winter sport athletes. Skiing, bobsledding, figure skating…it’s all so much fun.
Even more than that I love the spirit of the Olympics. The bringing together of people from all around the world. There isn’t enough of that in our world – especially these days. That seems like something to get excited about, right?
What better way to get excited about the Winter Olympics than to read more about the sports you will be watching?
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This month’s A Read A Day challenge is going to focus on Winter and it’s exciting sports.
I hope you’ll join us and dive…or maybe I should say sled into some fantastic children’s books. Too cheesy? Don’t forget to share yours on our Facebook page or on Instagram with the hashtag #aReadaDay.
Reading about Winter Sports
Below you will find 10 awesome picture books about different winter sports. You will also find some fun authors and illustrators who are a good starting point for reading about winter and winter sports.
You May Also Like: Winter Clothing Writing Prompts
10 Children’s Books about Winter Sports
1. Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle
If you aren’t already Molly Idle obsessed then I hope you will be after you read this one. It is a wordless tale (part of a 3 book wordless series) about sweet Flora who ice skates with a penguin. It is a simple story but there are so many layers and emotions portrayed in Idle’s amazing illustrations. 2+
2. Dream Big Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi
I will be honest, I cringe a little every time I see that another celebrity has written a picture book. I made an exception for Kristi Yamaguchi because when I went ice skating as a child it was definitely her I was pretending to be. This is a cute book about ice skating and perseverance. She also wrote a second It’s a Big World, Little Pig! and Cara’s Kindness. 2+
3. Lucy Tries Short Track by Lisa Bowes
When Lucy decides to try the sport of speed skating she discovers it’s not as simple as it looks. You will walk away with a better appreciation for all of those tight turns. Lucy also tries Luge in another book in this series if that’s more your sport. 3+
4. I’m Cool! by Kate and Jim McMullan
The authors of I Stink and I’m Dirty have teamed up to create the perfect book for Zamboni fans. If your kids are like mine and their favorite part of ice rink sports is watching the zamboni clean the ice then this is the book for you. 2+
5. Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda
This interactive book is a big hit with the preschool age. As sweet little bunny heads down the bunny slopes you get to shake, tap, and tilt him along. Lively and adorable. 2+
6. Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen
You know whenever Mr. Magee decides to try something chaos and hilarity are sure to follow. Hopefully none of your skiing adventures – or the ones you watch during the Olympics – are quite this eventful but it sure does make for a great read aloud 3+
7. On My Skis by Kari-Lynn Winters
Quiet and sweet this is a nice skiing book for little ones. It is set in Vancouver Canada and feels like the quiet slush of the snow. 2+
8. Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester
This is part of the funny Tacky the Penguin series. I like Tacky the Penguin and the way these books can deliver both on laughter and a good message. If you like Tacky, this doesn’t disappoint, if you don’t know Tacky this is a good one to start. 3+
9. Snowman Paul at the Winter Olympics by Yossi Lapid
This one is winning all kinds of awards and I can see why. It is playful and rhyming text. Your kids will root for Snowman Paul and his Winter Olympics adventure. 3+
10. A Kid’s Guide to the 2018 Winter Games by Jack L Roberts
This is a guide book of sorts to the Winter Olympics and highlights these Winter games in particular. I had one of these for the Summer Olympics when I was younger and loved it. This one is great if you have an elementary schooler who is super excited about the games and keeping track of medals and the details about the athletes. 6+
Featured Authors & Illustrators
There are so many fantastic children’s book authors and illustrators and knowing the ones you love is liking finding a good friend. You trust their work. You turn to them for laughs or a good story.
Author Studies are a valuable tool for children. You can read the basics in this concise post from Teaching with Children’s Books.
I encourage you to dig deep with one or more of these authors during our reading challenge this month as we learn more about Winter Sports.
Jan Brett
Jan Brett is the queen of wintery tales. I love the details in her illustrations and her creative takes on familiar tales. Jan Brett has over forty million books in print which is just WOW. She lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts and loves to travel the world. Her travels often inspire her books which you can definitely tell from browsing her catalog.
She has so many books we love, but The First Dog is one that is lesser known but one of our favorites.
Website: JanBrett.com
Suzy Lee
Suzy Lee is an incredible illustrator from Seoul, Korea. My favorites are her wordless books like Lines and Wave, but she also illustrates books written by other people.
Lines is her latest picture book and we feel in love with the way it captures ice skating and makes you think about a pencil on the paper – so simple and yet powerful. We were creating all kinds of art for a week after we read this one for the first time.
Website: SuzyLeeBooks.com
Karma Wilson
Isn’t hibernating a Winter sport? I kid, of course, but although Karma Wilson isn’t a huge sports writer she does have a fair number of Wintery themed titles in her impressive collection of book titles. My favorite is Bear Snores On but her Pip stories are actually why I included her among our Wintery reading challenge authors.
Website: KarmaWilson.com
More Topics to Include
Need to find more books about Winter Sports for our #aReadaDay challenge this month? I would start with the search words below and for best results add + your child’s age group. For example, Ice Skating Picture Books for Toddlers.
Here are some picture book topics to hunt for this month:
- Ice Skating / Sledding / Skiing Picture Books (here is a great list to get you started)
- Winter Sports picture books
- Winter Olympics picture books
- Science of Winter picture books
- Name of your favorite winter athlete picture books
- South Korea picture books
