20 sports books for kids that explore themes like teamwork, self-discovery, and inclusiveness
- Children's books about sports are better than ever.
- Offerings now feature a wide array of topics that kids off all ages will relate to, which helps them get more excited about reading and learning about some important subjects along the way.
- The books here were chosen because they represent different activities and deal with a number of important themes.
Books about sports for young readers have come a long way over the years. Once limited to biographies of superstars or simple narratives about just a few of the most popular team sports, you can now find fiction and nonfiction books covering everything from figure skating to mountain climbing. Better still, the stories are more diverse now, and they go beyond the action on the field to the topics impacting the lives of children.
"We're seeing intersectional characters who represent so many different aspects of the world we live in," said Amy Forrester, children's librarian with the Denver Public Library. "Being able to see who you are and what you do reflected in a book is exciting."
Though sports are front and center in the books listed here, they explore a variety of important themes kids will relate to, whether that's overcoming the odds or the journey of self-discovery. This list includes books for those who are just learning to read all the way to young adults learning to navigate their world.
Here are 20 of our favorite kids' books about sports:
"Don't Throw It to Mo!" by David A. Adler
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $3.99
Mo Jackson is smaller than the other kids on the team, and he has a hard time catching the ball. However, he's brimming with enthusiasm and wants to help them win. After some serious practice time, his coach designs a play just for him that ends up winning the game. This is the first book in a fun series that follows Mo through a variety of sports. Kids learning to read will love to follow Mo's triumphs.
Recommended ages: 4 to 7 years
"On the Ball" by Brian J. Pinkney
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $9.99
Owen is a soccer player who can't keep his eye on the ball, and he soon finds himself on the bench, discouraged. But when the ball disappears outside the fence, he's off on a quest to retrieve it, led by his imagination. Highlighted with flowy watercolor illustrations, Pinkney's story is a reminder that imagination and ability are inseparable.
Recommended ages: 3 to 5 years old
"Saturday Is Swimming Day" by Hyewon Yum
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $13.49
Trying something new is a little scary for most of us, no matter how old we are, so it's important that we learn to ease into things. That's exactly what happens to the little girl in this story, who just can't seem to participate in swimming lessons because she suddenly has a stomachache. Finally, with the gentle encouragement of her swimming instructor she watches her confidence grow until she's looking forward to swimming day.
Recommended ages: 4 to 6 years
"Dino-Hockey" by Lisa Wheeler
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $14.62
It's the carnivores versus the veggiesaurs squaring off in a high-stakes hockey game, and the illustrations up the excitement of the match. This is a fun book to read with little ones who love dinosaurs. They'll also learn a little about the ins and outs of the game. It's part of a series that covers other sports as well.
Recommended ages: 4 to 9 years
"When Jackie and Hank Met" by Cathy Goldberg Fishman
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $14.95
This biography charts the parallel lives of two baseball legends, one Black and one Jewish, who overcame racism and discrimination to carve out major league careers. The author charts their two paths from birth to their first meeting in 1947 during a collision at first base. One thing that's great about this biography is that it tells the story without being overly saccharine and sidestepping the discrimination both icons had to deal with on their path to success.
Recommended ages: 6 to 8 years
"The Quickest Kid in Clarksville" by Pat Zietlow Miller
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $13.79
Alta is the fastest runner in Clarksville, Tennessee. When her hometown idol, Olympic sprinter Wilma Rudolph, returns for a parade to celebrate her accomplishments, Alta decides to make a huge banner to welcome Rudolph. But when she can't carry it to the parade by herself, her would-be rival helps her find a way to get it there. The book is a tribute to teamwork and determination, featuring an athlete who inspired a generation of Black and female runners.
Recommended ages: 5 to 8 years
"Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army" by Art Coulson
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $7.95
Born on a reservation in Oklahoma and sent to a boarding school in Lawrence, Kansas, that forced assimilation, often harshly, on native children, Jim Thorpe overcame incredible odds to become one of America's greatest athletes. Coulson's book recounts Thorpe's life story, using the 1912 game between the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and the U.S. Military Academy as the centerpiece. Thorpe's team uses skill, strategy, and a package of outside-the-box plays to upset the best football team in the land.
Recommended ages: 6 to 10 years
"Hoops: Elle of the Ball" by Elle Delle Donne
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $4.99
The first in a five-book series from the former WBNA MVP and Olympic gold medalist follows Elle Deluca, a suddenly 6-foot-tall seventh-grader who's trying to balance her basketball coach's high expectations with learning to be comfortable in her body. She also has to learn to ballroom dance for the school's mandatory cotillion. Kids navigating the awkwardness of middle school will definitely appreciate Elle's story.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!" by Sarah Kapit
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $14.49
Vivy Cohen is an 11-year-old with autism who has major league dreams, and she knows how to throw a knuckleball, one of baseball's most difficult skills to master. When she's finally invited to play on a real team, she has to overcome bullying and disbelief that she can make it, which she does with a little help of her pro-ball-playing pen pal. Vivy's story is a great reminder for kids that no challenge is too great when you put your mind to it and have a supportive crew in your corner.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"Dragon Hoops" by Gene Luen Yang
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $22.49
As a kid, Gene preferred reading comic books while his friends shot hoops. Grown up, Gene teaches computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, where the only thing anyone can talk about is the basketball team's run to the state championships. With unlikely heroes overcoming long odds, he notices that the team's story isn't so different from a comic book. Part memoir of his own experience and part documentary, Yang blends together a history of the game along with important lessons about race and ethnicity to make a gripping graphic novel that teens will identify with.
Recommended ages: 13 to 18 years
"A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games" by Lori Alexander
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $8.59
Guttman's incredible story starts in a hospital during World War I where he watched doctors wave off paralyzed patients to a bleak future. He fled the Nazis two decades later and established a clinic for people with spinal injuries in England where he saw the transformative power that playing sports had for his patients. It's an inspiring story told with rich illustrations and archival photographs.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"The Field" by Baptiste Paul
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $10.99
At the urging of one young girl who loves the sport, an entire village comes together for a soccer match. After chasing away some cows, teams form and the game begins. You can feel the love of sport among the community shining through on every page, thanks to the gorgeous illustrations. The author sprinkles in Creole words and phrases that really underscore the international language of sport.
Recommended ages: 4 to 8 years
"Roller Girl" by Victoria Jamieson
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $11.04
A Newbery Honor book and bestseller, this graphic novel tells the story of 12-year-old Astrid who's off to roller derby camp. While there, the fearless skater not only has to balance making new friends while dealing with a summer away from her best friend and starting middle school in the fall. Written by a real-life roller derby player, it's a classic story about friendship and growing up told against the backdrop of a great sport that doesn't get enough attention.
Recommended ages: 9 to 12 years
"Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber" by Sue Macy
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $13.79
When Mary Garber started writing about sports, she found that she wasn't welcome in the press box or the locker room; nevertheless, she persisted. Garber also broke ground by telling the important stories that weren't getting their due in a segregated society. A serious, but often amusing book, it's an important story about how the importance of the game goes well beyond the box score.
Recommended ages: 5 to 8 years
"Ana on the Edge" by A.J. Sass
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $16.99
Ana-Marie Jin, a biracial 12-year-old figure skater, is more than a little annoyed that her next competition is princess-themed. While working on her routine for the event, she starts working with a transgender skater who helps her rethink her notions about gender identity and a sport that's traditionally a restrictive, binary one. Anna's story is one of self-discovery that kids will relate to, especially as they begin to understand the nuances of gender identity.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $13.88
After Donte Ellis, one of a few Black students at a mostly white New England prep school, gets arrested and kicked out for something he didn't do, he meets a former Olympic fencer. From him, Donte learns the sport and hatches a plan to take down the captain of the school's fencing team who framed him. It's an important exploration of systemic racism that too often starts with a direct pipeline between schools and the criminal justice system. It's also gripping story about how we connect with and define ourselves as we grow.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"Above All Else" by Dana Alison Levy
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $14.21
After years of preparing, Rose and Tate are setting out to climb Mount Everest at the end of their senior year amid an increasingly complicated relationship. As they scale the peak, the harsh conditions on the mountain force them to think beyond their personal dilemmas and aspirations. Like any great mountaineering story, this one has adventure juxtaposed against larger questions of sacrifice and our place in the world.
Recommended ages: 12 to 17 years
"The Edge of Anything" by Nora Carpenter Shalaway
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, from $17.49
Sage is a star high school volleyball player whose future is suddenly thrown into chaos when a medical condition forces her out of the game. She soon meets Len, a fellow senior struggling with mental health issues and terrified of losing her shot at a photography scholarship. The two become unlikely fast friends, and the story is a heartfelt reminder of just how much we need those bonds to survive.
Recommended ages: 13 years and up
"Ten: A Soccer Story" by Shamini Flint
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $7.99
In Malaysia in 1986, soccer is considered a game strictly for boys. But that won't stop Maya from following her passion. She sets about teaching herself how to play and eventually recruits enough girls to form their own team. As she's doing this, Maya has to dodge criticism from her more traditional relatives while struggling to keep her family together. Kids everywhere will relate to this sweet, playful coming-of-age story.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years
"Midnight on Strange Street" by K.E. Ormsbee
Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, $15.97
A sci-fi adventure set in a future not too far removed from our present, this story follows the four members of The Sardines, a passionate group of glowboarders in Callaway, Texas. Besides being good at their sport, they discover that they possess superpowers, and soon they're working to win the big race and save the earth. It's a frantic adventure centered around the power of friendship.
Recommended ages: 8 to 12 years