6 Gold Medal Picture Books for the Winter Olympics

Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee, by Chris Van Dusen
We’re sure to see some crashes and misadventures as the risk-taking Olympic skiers vie for medals in the slalom and Super G, but none of them are facing as challenging terrain as Mr. Magee in this funny, rhyming book by Chris Van Dusen. Mr. Magee sets off to practice skiing with his dog on his back, but he picks the wrong hill, runs right into a moose, and then gets stuck dangling above a ravine. Luckily, he makes it home okay, and decides his favorite winter sports are snowman building and hot cocoa drinking.

Squirrels on Skis, by J. Hamilton Ray and Pascal Lemaitre
Maybe your favorite ski run is safely clear of moose—but what about squirrels? “Nobody knew/ how the mania grew/ First there was one,/and then there were two,” the book begins. That’s right, a plague of squirrels on skis besets a town, swishing and shushing down the slopes. But soon the slopes can’t contain the skiing rodents—they ski down the town hall and off the church’s roof. One enterprising girl named Sally Sue Breeze gets to the bottom of the squirrel skiing business, and discovers a charlatan rabbit has been trading them popsicle sticks—a.k.a. skis—for acorns. She sets out to tame the squirrels into showing proper ski etiquette before the town exterminator sucks them up in a vacuum.

A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet, by Kurt Browning and Melanie Rose
Okay, enough of this moose-and-squirrel silliness. It’s time to learn about a winter sport from a genuine Olympic athlete. Four-time World Figure Skating Champion Kurt Browning competed for Canada in three Olympics, and he knows his lutzes from his Salchows. Each letter in this figure skating alphabet, from axel to Zamboni, is illustrated with an energetic and colorful painting by Melanie Rose and a rhyming verse by Browning. Browning also includes a sidebar with more in-depth information about each topic, from the history of the quad jump to the etiquette of never kicking the ice with your toe pick when you get frustrated—you’ll make a divot that could trip someone else up! Enjoy this book and you’ll be able to keep up with all the skating terminology as the Olympians take the ice.

Hockey Hero, by Zachary Hyman and Zachary Pullen
Okay, we’ve conquered the vermin and got some terminology down, but what we need is a book that will take us right into the heart of the action. Hockey Hero rings that bell as it tells the story of eight-year-old Tommy Toomay, who’s growing up in a hockey-crazed family. His grandpa won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings, and everyone expects Tommy to follow in his skate tracks like his older brothers did. Although Tommy loves practicing with Grandpa, he’s too shy to play in a game, and people tease him for his stuttering. But one day Tommy’s brother’s team needs him to suit up or else they’ll have to forfeit. Grandpa convinces him to do it. I won’t give away the exciting outcome of the game except to say that it involves Grandpa flinging an octopus onto the ice in celebration, the way they do in Detroit.

Snowboarding (To the Limit), by Paul Mason
Maybe your kids are saying enough of this funny business—we don’t want to hear about moose, squirrels, or octopi! We want to actually learn how to do the sport! Paul Mason’s illustrated nonfiction guide to snowboarding will teach them what gear they need, how to begin, and all about the different tricks they can learn once they advance.

Tacky and the Winter Games, by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger
Okay, being serious was fun for one book, but now it’s time to celebrate the closing ceremony of this Olympic book roundup with Disaster Master General, Tacky the Penguin. Tacky and his buddies Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect are training so they can represent Nice Icy Land in the Winter Games. While the good little penguins are lifting weights, jumping rope, and eating spinach, Tacky is pounding the donuts and pizza. But you know that his special training diet will only add to his flair once the games are underway.