Sports (KS1)

A heartwarming picture book that beautifully captures the universal feeling of facing a new challenge.

This gently encouraging story follows young Jabari as he decides today is the day he will jump off the diving board for the very first time. Anyone who has made the nervous steps towards the edge of a diving board will relate to his nerves, as will readers who have needed encouragement in the build-up to undertaking a brave challenge.

Cornwall masterfully portrays the mix of excitement, apprehension and, ultimately, the quiet courage that comes with stepping outside one’s comfort zone. The simple yet powerful text allows young readers to easily empathise with Jabari’s journey. The expressive artwork, with its emotive use of colour and perspective, enhances the emotional depth of the story, making Jabari’s internal world feel tangible.

This book would make a fantastic addition to PSHE lessons, prompting rich discussions around growth mindset, overcoming fears and celebrating personal achievements in sports and hobbies. It might also help children who are nervous around water or reluctant to get in the swimming pool.

Highly recommended for any primary classroom or home library, Jabari Jumps is an inspiring read that empowers children to take their own leap of faith.

A fabulous sports-themed picture book with the driving force to follow your dreams no matter what they look like. Beautifully written in rhyme, this is an inclusive book and it is wonderful – but rare – to see girls represented in football in a picture book for younger ages.

Sammy Striker is a girl with a passion for football: she loves it so much she is NEVER without a football. At home, school, come rain or shine and she is always the striker who wins her team the game. But when picked for the county team her skills start to crumble. Her talented strikes miss and her confidence has dipped. When match day comes Sammy is feeling nervous and unsure but she has a challenge to face. Will she turn this game around?

Everyone needs to know that when things get tough, someone will be there for them and put them back on track. Catherine Emmett has done this beautifully representing girls in football and showing them we are all special in our unique way.

Strong Like Me is a beautifully illustrated text with a strong female protagonist. The illustrations represent a diverse range of pupils from primary schools across the UK with experiences pupils can relate to such as Sports Day and swimming lessons. The main character, Kamara, has been brought up always believing she is strong in every sense of the word and clearly has strong female role models such as her charismatic Aunt. However, she begins to worry that she shouldn’t be so confident in her strength and the story develops to teach her that everyone shines in different ways and you mustn’t allow others to dim your light. This would be a lovely text to promote SMSC themes and support PSHE lessons in Key Stage One.

The Witches’ Sports Day is another classic tale from Valerie Thomas about Winnie the Witch and her reliable black cat Wilbur as they prepare to take part in the witches’ sports day. The story is told with the help of humorous and colourful illustrations from Korky Paul, which helps to bring the language on each page to life. Readers of the Winnie the Witch series will be familiar with Paul’s iconic drawings and this book will not disappoint, for readers will enjoy seeing and hearing the preparations both Winnie and Wilbur undertake in training for the races, involving her whizzing and looping on her broomstick throughout the pages. The vocabulary used within the book certainly links to elements of magic, including the well-known phrase ‘abracadabra’. The choice of language and sentence construction also make the story easy to follow, especially for older children in KS1 who might want to read the book independently. Some of the races that the witches take part in are similar to that of a traditional school sports day, such as the egg and spoon race, which will help younger readers to understand how Winnie must have felt at the start of each race. There is also a link to perseverance and kindness to others throughout the story, which could be explored through a PSHE lesson or circle time discussion. Overall, this was a very enjoyable, light-hearted read and it is bound to be another great addition to the Winnie and Wilbur series.

This short, colour-illustrated chapter book for newly independent readers is based on the true story of Lottie Dod, a talented young athlete in the late 1880s who proved that she could do whatever she set her mind to.

Lottie was born to wealthy parents in the north of England. Lottie and her siblings were tutored at home and prevented from venturing outside the family estate. When a grass tennis court was created in the grounds, just as the sport of lawn tennis was gaining popularity, Lottie discovered that she had real talent for the game. Despite her mother’s refusal to allow her out to participate in a competition, Lottie sneaked out early and travelled to Manchester to take part. This is the start of a competitive career which sees Lottie winning many tournaments, culminating in lifting the Wimbledon trophy at the age of 15!

She also discovered a talent for golf, archery and hockey, amongst other sports. She became, perhaps, the world’s first female sports superstar. There are wonderful messages about self-belief in this story, and themes of resilience, female participation in sport and determination abound.