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What Are the Summer Olympics?

Part of What Was?

Author Gail Herman, Who HQ
Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
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Paperback
$7.99 US
Penguin Young Readers | Penguin Workshop
5.38"W x 7.63"H x 0.25"D   | 5 oz | 60 per carton
On sale Mar 22, 2016 | 112 Pages | 9780448488349
Age 8-12 years | Grades 3-7
Reading Level: Lexile 750L | Fountas & Pinnell Y
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Back in 775 BC, athletes from all over Ancient Greece came together to compete in various games. The contests were held every four years and winning athletes brought honor and respect to their homelands.

The tradition of the Olympic Games faded over time until 1896, when they were brought back to life. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, with over two hundred athletes from fourteen countries. Today, nearly three thousand years after the first Games, the Summer Olympics attract one hundred thousand top athletes from over two hundred countries. Billions of fans around the world cheer on their national teams to bring back the gold.
Gail Herman has written many books for children, including easy-to-reads such as Flower Girl, Otto the Cat, What a Hungry Puppy, and Step into Reading's own The Lion and the Mouse and There Is a Town. She has also written has written several biographies and nonfiction books, including Who Was Jackie Robinson? and What Is the World Series?  She lives in Newton, Massachusetts. View titles by Gail Herman
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Stephen Marchesi lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. View titles by Stephen Marchesi
What Are the Summer Olympics?
 
Every four years during the summer, athletes from every corner of the globe meet to compete in the Olympics—the greatest sports contest on earth.
 
For about two weeks, athletes test their skill, their strength, and their luck in more than three hundred events. Arenas for the Olympics become a world stage, with billions of fans following the Games on TV.
 
There have been generals, princes, and movie stars who have competed in the Olympics. But more often than not, athletes are ordinary young men and women. Except, of course, they are not ordinary. They are champions in running, jumping, swimming, rowing, cycling, gymnastics, tennis, and soccer. Name any warm-weather sport, and most likely it’s been played at the Summer Olympics.
 
Weeks before the athletes meet, the Olympics have actually already begun.
 
Where?
 
In Olympia, Greece, the site of the original, ancient Olympic Games. There, in a valley surrounded by gentle hills, a mirror is held up to the sun. The rays light the flame on a torch.
 
The Olympic torch will be carried to the city hosting the Games. The journey connects the Games of today to the Games of the ancient past. Long ago, fires burned in front of temples to honor Greek gods. Today the torch is passed from person to person moving by foot, car, train, boat, plane, through countries, across oceans, over mountains. On the way to Beijing, China, in 2008, the torch even reached the highest point in the world, Mount Everest.
 
But no matter its path, the relay ends at the Olympic stadium of the host city in time for the opening ceremony. The last torchbearer lights a cauldron, a giant bowl sitting atop the stadium. And the Games begin.
Copyright © 2016 by Gail Herman; illustrated by Stephen Marchesi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

Back in 775 BC, athletes from all over Ancient Greece came together to compete in various games. The contests were held every four years and winning athletes brought honor and respect to their homelands.

The tradition of the Olympic Games faded over time until 1896, when they were brought back to life. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, with over two hundred athletes from fourteen countries. Today, nearly three thousand years after the first Games, the Summer Olympics attract one hundred thousand top athletes from over two hundred countries. Billions of fans around the world cheer on their national teams to bring back the gold.

Author

Gail Herman has written many books for children, including easy-to-reads such as Flower Girl, Otto the Cat, What a Hungry Puppy, and Step into Reading's own The Lion and the Mouse and There Is a Town. She has also written has written several biographies and nonfiction books, including Who Was Jackie Robinson? and What Is the World Series?  She lives in Newton, Massachusetts. View titles by Gail Herman
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Stephen Marchesi lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. View titles by Stephen Marchesi

Excerpt

What Are the Summer Olympics?
 
Every four years during the summer, athletes from every corner of the globe meet to compete in the Olympics—the greatest sports contest on earth.
 
For about two weeks, athletes test their skill, their strength, and their luck in more than three hundred events. Arenas for the Olympics become a world stage, with billions of fans following the Games on TV.
 
There have been generals, princes, and movie stars who have competed in the Olympics. But more often than not, athletes are ordinary young men and women. Except, of course, they are not ordinary. They are champions in running, jumping, swimming, rowing, cycling, gymnastics, tennis, and soccer. Name any warm-weather sport, and most likely it’s been played at the Summer Olympics.
 
Weeks before the athletes meet, the Olympics have actually already begun.
 
Where?
 
In Olympia, Greece, the site of the original, ancient Olympic Games. There, in a valley surrounded by gentle hills, a mirror is held up to the sun. The rays light the flame on a torch.
 
The Olympic torch will be carried to the city hosting the Games. The journey connects the Games of today to the Games of the ancient past. Long ago, fires burned in front of temples to honor Greek gods. Today the torch is passed from person to person moving by foot, car, train, boat, plane, through countries, across oceans, over mountains. On the way to Beijing, China, in 2008, the torch even reached the highest point in the world, Mount Everest.
 
But no matter its path, the relay ends at the Olympic stadium of the host city in time for the opening ceremony. The last torchbearer lights a cauldron, a giant bowl sitting atop the stadium. And the Games begin.
Copyright © 2016 by Gail Herman; illustrated by Stephen Marchesi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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