Run like a Girl: 50 Extraordinary and Inspiring Sportswomen tells the stories of women from around the globe who have achieved success in their chosen fields, often fighting discrimination, disability and doubts along the way. It’s an amazing celebration of girl power written by Danielle Brown, a paralympic gold medallist who won her first gold medal for archery at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
Adventurers, sailors, horse riders and women from a wide range of sports are included in this book. But although the women are successful in different areas they all share a determination, a resilience and a passion to succeed in their chosen field despite any obstacles that they’ve had to overcome. The book uses inspirational language and all the women have been tagged to inspire young readers. For example ‘Climb mountains like…, Rise to the top like…, Score like…, Fence like…’
A contents page at the beginning of the book shows the women included in the book, many of whom were unknown to us. The book begins with an inspirational introduction about ‘Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary’ and encourages readers to believe in their dreams, work hard and ‘remember there is no limit to your potential’.
Each woman’s name, sport, date and place of birth and their best achievement is shown on one page of a double page spread with an illustration. On the opposite page is the woman’s story which is easy to read and explains a bit about the woman’s background, the story behind their achievements and an inspirational quote.
Run like a Girl introduced us to so many amazing women, many who have overcome disability or injury to succeed. We were impressed by the achievements of mountaineer Arunima Singh who has climbed the highest peaks of six of the seven continents and is the first amputee to climb the highest peak in Antarctica. We were amazed that sailor Dame Ellen McArthur who became the fastest person to navigate the globe grew up miles from the sea and we cheered for Canadian ice hockey player, Manon Rhéame, who fought against discrimination to succeed in a traditionally male dominated sport. We were also inspired by paralympic equestrian world champion, Sophie Christiansen, who won her first bronze medal at the age of 16 and Syrian refugee, swimmer Yusra Mardini, who has represented the Refugee Olympic Team and also works as an activist on behalf of refugees. There are so many more amazing women’s stories in this book – it’s impossible to mention them all in one blogpost!
Run like a Girl would make a fabulous addition to a school library and can be used to stimulate discussion with all children, boys as well as girls, about the achievements of these amazing women. This small paperback is also the perfect size to fit in a Christmas stocking!
Age Range: 5+
Author: Danielle Brown / Illustrator: Robin Shields
Thank you to Button Books for sending a copy of this inspirational book.
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