KID OLYMPIANS: WINTER
True Tales of Childhood from Champions and Game Changers
By: Robin Stevenson
Illustrated by: Allison Steinfeld
Published: November 11, 2025
Publisher: Quirk Books
Non-Fiction
Who’s excited for the Winter Olympics? In just a week, I, along with millions of other people, will be watching the Winter Olympics. I’ve always felt that watching the Olympics was special because they were only held every 2 years (alternating between summer and winter) and were on TV for a short period of time. This year, you can watch the Winter Olympics held in Italy from February 6-22, 2026. Check out the whole schedule, HERE. Some of my favorite events are figure skating, bobsledding, hockey, and ski jumping.
Get your kids excited about the Olympics by reading short biographies about international athletes. Olympians like Kristi Yamaguchi, Lindsey Vonn, Adam Rippon, Apolo Ohno, and Chloe Kim will share stories from their childhoods and what sacrifices they made to become inspiring athletes. As I read through the stories, I was surprised by how many of the athletes suffered from bullying as children, either because of their ethnicity or just by being absent from school so often that they had a lack of friends. If anything, that hardship only made them work harder towards their goals.
Kristi Yamaguchi, now a mom in her 40s, shares about growing up as a Japanese American and being born with clubfoot. Who would imagine a child with a club foot would grow up to be an Olympic figure skater someday? Kristi idolized Dorothy Hamill and took her Dorothy doll to the skating rink, where she fell in love with skating. First, she tried pairs skating and eventually became more comfortable as a solo skater. She missed out on school events like dances and football games because of her grueling practice schedule, eventually choosing to homeschool. But the sacrifices were worth it. Kristi was the first American woman to win Olympic gold since Dorothy Hamill in 1976, winning it in the 1992 Winter Olympics in France.
Stories like Kristi’s and others will offer kids insight into the kinds of sacrifices that were made by the Olympians, their dedication to practice, their failures, and their successes. The road to the Olympics isn’t an easy one, and kids will learn the value of hard work and persistence while reading these stories. Even though many of the athletes in this book have retired from competing, moved into the coaching realm, or are pursuing other careers, there are still some athletes in the book that kids can watch and cheer for this year. Those competing in the 2026 Olympics in Italy are Lindsey Vonn, Marie-Philip Poulin, Chloe Kim, and Alex and Maia Shibutani.
Check out all 11 books in the Kid Legends series, HERE.
Robin Stevenson is an award-winning author of more than thirty books for young readers. She lives with her family on the west coast of Canada. Check out her website, HERE.
Allison Steinfeld obtained a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Click HERE to purchase a copy of KID OLYMPIANS: WINTER
Get an Olympics Shirt to support Team USA, HERE
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Allison Steinfeld, Book Review, Children's books, Robin Stevenson, athletes, biography, middle-grade, non-fiction, olympics