Do you remember the first gymnastics book you ever read?
I do. Vividly.
It was in my elementary school library – it was hard cover, mostly black & white, except for a colour insert in the centre. It lived on the top shelf, a little off to the side in the non-fiction section — I always had to pull over the stool to reach. I could pick it out from across the room and when quiet reading time would begin, I’d immediately bee-line it over to that spot. I would be utterly devastated if it happened to be checked out by someone else (because how dare another kid want to know about MY sport)! I loved that book.
A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from Elfi Schlegel (yes, the Elfi Schlegel!). She told me about her new edition of The Gymnastics Book: The Young Performer’s Guide to Gymnastics and she sent me a copy! I had two pretty much immediate reactions to this:
1) Total excitement that Elfi knows who I am!
2) Total nostalgia for that gymnastics book I loved as a kid!
The Gymnastics Book is everything that I loved as a young gymnast in elementary school. Its full of colourful photos, step by step guide for basic gymnastics skills (artistic, trampoline & rhythmic too!), interviews & features of gymnastics greats from the past & present. Like Elfi, I am Canadian, so it was especially exciting to see so many Canadian athletes represented in the book, PLUS from a wide diversity of gymnastics disciplines – from women’s, men’s, trampoline, rhythmic & Special Olympics.
The book also touches on some of the other important parts of gymnastics – like how to get started (and pick a gym or program), the importance of fitness & nutrition and some helpful hints for kids considering competitive gymnastics.
Seriously, it’s like this book came right off the shelf from my elementary school library back in the 90’s. The 8 year old version of myself would have known exactly where to find it so I could read it over and over.
If you have any young aspiring gymnasts in your life that want to devour everything and anything gymnastics, I highly recommend this book. What a fabulous introduction to what our sport is all about.
You can find the book on amazon by clicking the image below.
The Gymnastics Book: The Young Performer’s Guide to Gymnastics, by Elfi Schlegel & Claire Ross Dunn
(full disclosure, this is an affiliate link to amazon, so I do get a tiny earn back amount if you order the book via that link. Don’t let that dissuade you though – I adore this book and what it’s all about!)
