Hour of the Olympics: Going for the Gold!

For the past twelve days, we've been following the London 2012 Olympics, watching athletes from around the world in action and cheering medal-winning performances.  
Let's learn more about the history of the games: we can sprint, or race, or maybe even triple jump to the Library of the Chathams and check out one of last year’s popular Reading Road Trip titles, Hour of the Olympics by Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne.

Jack and Annie are off on another adventure... their magic tree house sends them far and away to ancient Greece!  As they race against time to retrieve a lost story, they witness the very first Olympic games and learn history and culture of the ancient world.   
The tree house time travelers share more information about long-ago Greece and the athletic events of the Olympic games in Ancient Greece and the Olympics: A Nonfiction Companion to Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce.

Hour of the Olympics by Eesha N.

Take a look at this selection of gold medal titles, all available at the Library of the Chathams:

Track and Field by Clive Gifford.

This is an introduction to track and field in the Olympics, featuring photographs, descriptions of events, and information on rules and technique.

G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet by Brad Herzog.

Here is an alphabet book of the Olympics, with facts and history of athletes and events from the first games held in ancient Greece to the pageantry of the current day.

Michael Phelps by Mike Kennedy.

Let's read about the life and career of Michael Phelps, learning about his childhood, family, struggle with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, career as a swimmer, Olympic performances, and other related topics. 

Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics by Sue Macy.

Browse a photographic overview of the Olympic Games, from their origins in ancient Greece, to the rebirth of the games in nineteenth-century France, to the twenty-first century.

Olympics! by B.G. Hennessy.

Check out this simple overview of the history, preparations, training, and events that are part of the Olympic Games.






The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius: that's Latin for Faster, Higher, Stronger.  Good goals for past, present, and future Olympians... and for summer readers!