Sports Biographies for Kids

Whether you’ve got a kid who can rattle off their favorite athletes statistics without even blinking an eye or you’re looking for something to grab a reader’s attention, why not try a collective biography? The books on this list include a number of athletes all in one title. This gives readers a little peak into their lives. You may not find an entire biography written about each individual athlete highlighted in these books. But readers will be excited to learn about athletes across a wide variety of sports all in one book.

When I originally set out to pull together this list, I was planning on focusing on a more typical biography focusing on just one individual. But, then I came across these collective biographies and thought it was a great way to reel in reluctant readers. With books like these, you don’t to read them cover to cover, so a reader can jump around discovering different athletes. And they can do that without feeling bogged down by the extensive size of a typical biography. Check out these true stories about famous and maybe lesser-known athletes and come back in coming weeks as I highlight even more great biographies!

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Sports Biographies for Kids

The Big Book of Who: All-Starts by Sports Illustrated for Kids

This 128-page collection features the brightest stars in sports, past and present. The editors of Sports Illustrated Kids profile the top stars in sports history, with thrilling sports photography and age-appropriate writing that Sports Illustrated Kids is famous for.

This fully updated edition includes today’s stars alongside sports’ all-time greats—from Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes, Mia Hamm to Megan Rapinoe, Babe Ruth to Mookie Betts, and more.

Extreme Sports Goats: The Greatest Athletes of All Time by Brendan Flynn

“How do you pick extreme sports GOATs? Is it snowboarder Chloe Kim or skateboarder Tony Hawk? Or maybe it’s BMX legend Dave Mirra. With so many sports, how do you choose? It comes down to stats, history, and hunches. Read more about some of the legends of extreme sports and see if you agree that they’re the greatest of all time”

Kid Athletes: True Tales of Childhood from Sports Legends by David Stabler, illustrated by Doogie Horner

Forget the gold medals, the championships, and the undefeated seasons. When all-star athletes were growing up, they had regular-kid problems just like you.

• Baseball legend Babe Ruth was such a troublemaker, his family sent him to reform school. 
• Race car champion Danica Patrick fended off bullies who told her “girls can’t drive.” 
• And football superstar Peyton Manning was forced to dance the tango in his school play. 

Kid Athletes tells all of their stories and more with full-color cartoon illustrations on every page. Other subjects include Billie Jean King, Jackie Robinson, Yao Ming, Gabby Douglas, Tiger Woods, Julie Krone, Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, Bobby Orr, Lionel Messi, and more!

Kid Olympians: Summer: True Tales of Childhood from Champions and Game Changers by Robin Stevenson, illustrated by Allison Steinfeld

Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—
and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as:

• Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games.
• Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose!
• Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school’s track team

Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, you’ll be inspired to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before!

The diverse and inspiring group also includes Michael Phelps, Yusra Mardini, Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.

Rising Above: How 11 Athletes Overcame Challenges in Their Youth to Become Stars by Gregory Zuckerman, Elijah Zuckerman, and Gabriel Zuckerman

Team USA goalkeeper Tim Howard was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome in 6th grade. He went on to become a national treasure after single-handedly keeping America competitive in the 2014 World Cup. Stephen Curry was told he was too small, too weak, and too slow to even receive a scholarship to play college basketball. He outworked everyone and went on to become MVP of the National Basketball Association. Jim Abbott was born without his right hand, yet he refused to be defined by what he lacked. He went on to pitch a no-hitter in the Major Leagues.

Athlete after athlete in this book found discipline, hope, and inspiration on the playing field, rising above their circumstances. Filled with first-hand accounts from stars who exemplify the idea of enduring at all costs, Rising Above will serve as a must-read source of inspiration for kids and sports fans of all ages.

She Persisted in Sports: American Olympians Who Changed the Game by Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

Throughout history, women have been told that they couldn’t achieve their dreams, no matter how hard they tried. Women athletes have faced their own unique set of challenges, across countless sports and levels of play. In this third She Persisted book, Chelsea Clinton introduces readers to women who have excelled in their sports because of their persistence.

She Persisted in Sports is a book for everyone who has ever aimed for a goal and been told it wasn’t theirs to hit, for everyone who has ever raced for a finish line that seemed all too far away, and for everyone who has ever felt small or unimportant while out on the field.

Alexandra Boiger’s vibrant artwork accompanies this inspiring text that shows readers of all ages that, no matter what obstacles come their way, they have the power to persist and succeed.

This book features: Margaret Ives Abbott, Gertrude Ederle, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias, Wilma Rudolph, Jean Driscoll, Mia Hamm (and the 1996 Olympic soccer team), Kristi Yamaguchi, Venus and Serena Williams, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, Diana Taurasi, Simone Biles, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux.

When I Grow Up: Sports Heroes by DK Publishing

Everyone, from Usain Bolt to Simone Biles, was once a small child learning about the world. Read how a diverse array of sporty kids found what they loved to do, worked hard, and followed their passions all the way into adulthood.

With adorable illustrations of top sports stars as typical young kids, then as superstar adults, sporting greats will seem like friends to your little one, and kids will see that sporting greatness is achievable.

Meet Lionel Messi when he was a small child learning to play football, Usain Bolt before he became a super sprinter, Ellie Simmonds as she developed a love of water, and figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu when he joined his sister on the ice and became a figure skater.

Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes by Patty Cisneros Prevo, illustrated by Dion MBD

A downhill skier whose blindness has sharpened her communication skills. An adaptive surfer who shreds waves while sitting down. A young man who excels at wheelchair motocross–but struggles with math. Tenacious tells their stories and more, revealing the daily joys and challenges of life as an athlete with disabilities.

These competitors have won gold medals, set world records, climbed mountain peaks, claimed national championships, and many more extraordinary achievements. Get to know them in Tenacious!

Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win by Rachel Ignotofsky

Women for the win! The fifty illustrated profiles in Women in Sports feature trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breaking female athletes in more than forty sports. It includes well-known figures like tennis player Billie Jean King and gymnast Simone Biles, as well as lesser-known champions like Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in a professional men’s league, and skateboarding pioneer Patti McGee.

Women in Sports also contains infographics on topics that sporty women want to know about, such as muscle anatomy, a timeline of women’s participation in sports, pay and media statistics for female athletes, and influential women’s teams. This beautiful and inspiring book celebrates the success of the tough, bold, and fearless women who paved the way for today’s athletes.