Sport is a brilliant way to learn important life skills like resilience, teamwork, perseverance, and confidence—and it’s also a fun way for kids to stay healthy and happy. With so many sports played around the world, from adventurous and action-packed to technical and precise, including solo challenges and team games, there truly is something for everyone. Discover your sport in our collection of sporty children’s books, from skateboarding and synchronized swimming to long-distance running.

Every few years, the world comes together for a very special celebration of sport, the Olympic Games. Athletes from many different countries train for years to show their strength, skill, speed, and teamwork - and to have fun competing and making new friends. Together, the Summer and Winter Olympics show how sport can bring people together, inspire big dreams, and remind us that trying your best is what truly matters.

Penned by Olympic Medallist Sky Brown, with dynamic illustrations from Shaw Davidson, The Life Changing Magic of Skateboarding is a brilliant, tip-packed autobiographical handbook for 6+-year-old aspiring skater champs. Sky Brown was the youngest person to win a medal in skateboarding at the Olympics, and in this joyous books she shares valuable life lessons, like the importance of not giving up, following your dreams, and doing things because you love them. 

Publishing just before the onset of the Paris Olympics, this motivational guide aimed at 9-11 year olds, will be bound to attract interest since the author, Paralympic champion and "Strictly Come Dancing" star Jonnie Peacock, will be endeavouring to add to his gold medal collection. You Can Do Anything is written in collaboration with child mental health expert Laura Earnshaw, with the emphasis very much on building a positive ‘growth’ mindset and to find your happiness, and celebrating the uniqueness of every individual and the necessity to work out what your dreams and ambitions are.

Written for younger readers, Gloria Goes for Gold is a joyous picture book by Marina Firth and Annabel Tempest, with a message that that using your skills to help others can be just as satisfying as performing on your own. Gloria's family are a gold medal winning team of synchronized swimmers but Gloria has started to dream of winning a prize all by herself. She tries various sports but fails to make a splash at any of them, and what's more she finds herself lonely and missing the camaraderie of the team. Perfect to share with young sports fans, this uplifting story promotes themes of ambition and teamwork. 

Winner of the Sunday Times Children's Sports Book of the Year Run Like A Girl introduces you to 50 female athletes from across the globe, gathered together by Danielle Brown a double Paralympic gold medallist. This revised edition has been updated with new sportswomen including Keely Hodgkinson, Mary Earps and Katerina Johnson-Thompson, and tells the stories of 50 extraordinary and inspiring women. Featuring rowers, swimmers, climbers, dancers, boxers, ice hockey players, athletes, gymnasts, surfers, skiers, cricketers, sailors and skaters, this book ticks off every sport across the spectrum of stars. Bursting with fascinating facts and complemented by bright illustrations this is an empowering and inspirational reminder of girl power.

Why not channel that passion and love for sport into a passion and love for reading. Scroll on for non-fiction books about different sports and sporting stars, and a selection of our favourite sporty stories.

And for kids who are footy mad, we have a special collection All About Football: Books for Kids Who Love the Game