LEAP & LAND

You were born to run. Every step you have ever taken was training.

LEAP & LAND! is Book 9 of the Little Champions series. It introduces children aged 8-12 to athletics, the oldest sport in human history and the foundation of every other sport. Athletics needs no ball, no net and no goal. It asks just three questions: How fast? How far? How high?

This colourful, fact-packed handbook takes young readers from the first recorded Olympic sprint in 776 BCE to the record-breaking stars of today. It explains every event on the track and in the field, shows how the best athletes move, and reveals the physics and biology behind every stride, jump and throw. Everything is written in clear, friendly language that children can read on their own or share with a grown-up.

Inside, young champions will discover:

• The story of athletics, from the ancient Olympic stadion to Jesse Owens, Roger Bannister's four-minute mile and Usain Bolt's 9.58 seconds

• The track and field explained: lanes, staggers, markings, the infield and how every event fits together

• Sprinting: the start, acceleration, top speed and the building blocks of a perfect sprint technique

• Middle and long distance: pacing, negative splits, race tactics, the steeplechase, cross country and the marathon

• Jumping: long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, and how the Fosbury Flop changed everything

• Throwing: shot put, discus, javelin and hammer, the best angle to throw, and why safety comes first

• The relay: exchange zones, the upsweep and downsweep, and how to pick a running order

• The science of speed: Newton's laws, air resistance, ground reaction force and the kinetic chain

• Your amazing body: why humans are built for running, fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles, and how athletics boosts your mind

• The inspiring true stories of Mondo Duplantis and Faith Kipyegon

Packed with hands-on learning:

• 10 Chapter Challenge pages

• TRY THIS! activities, including a 30-metre sprint checklist, a pace calculator, standing long jump science, a throwing angle experiment, baton pass practice and the 6-minute run

• WORLD RECORD boxes featuring the greatest performances in history, including the first sub-two-hour marathon

• SCIENCE boxes and PERSONAL BEST TRACKER boxes so children can record and beat their own results

• A 10-step Athletics Starter Plan, a 50-word glossary, a 17-star Champion Star Chart and a Little Champion certificate

Perfect for children joining a school team, athletics club or junior parkrun, young fans of the Olympics and World Championships, sports day stars, classroom and homeschool PE learning, and every reader collecting the Little Champions series.

Take your mark. Get set. Go!