The latest chapter in the Dame Kelly Holmes success story
1 Mar 2008
In her latest project to promote sport among young children, Dame Kelly Holmes has turned from the world of track and field to the world of children’s books – Helen Watts finds out more
Kelly Holmes has always been good at running. She was the fastest in her school and was advised to take up athletics by her PE teacher when she was just 12 years old. By the time she was 13, she was the English Schools Champion for running 1500 metres. This was the first in an extraordinarily long list of sporting successes, culminating in two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004.
Since retiring from competitive sport, Kelly has not only acquired a Damehood, she has also become National School Sports Champion, and is devoting much of her time to promoting sport, and a healthy, active lifestyle, among young people.
But Dame Kelly’s latest project is rather different to anything she has done before. This time she is targetting children in the early years and has decided to use the power of story to get her message across.
“There are thousands of children’s books in the shops,” explains Dame Kelly, “but nothing which depicts sport in a very simple way and which is also fun.”
“A lot of the ideas for the stories and characters were based on either true life events from school that either myself or co-author Glyn Walden have come across. All of the characters either overcome adversity or are made good because they take sport into their lives.” Dame Kelly Holmes
Teaming up with former headteacher and athletic and cricket coach Glyn Walden, Dame Kelly has written the first in a series of children’s picture books, Katy and the Shooting Star, a captivating little tale about a cat called Katy and her friends in Big Park. The story follows Katy’s adventures as she sets her sights on joining the basketball team. Katy isn’t normally asked to join in many games because she only has one eye, and the other creatures in Big Park assume that she is not any good – but they are in for a big surprise: Katy is a real superstar with a basketball.
In addition to the sporting theme, the Big Park series, aimed at children aged 3 to 8, will also address social and emotional issues such as bullying, rejection and confidence building.
Five titles will be published throughout 2008, and each will focus on a different central character from Big Park. In Lofty Lands the Winner, Lofty the Wallaby learns some new rules as he discovers the difference between Australian rules and UK soccer. In Gabby Goes for Gold, we meet Gabby the Duck who doesn’t want to swim like all the other ducks – he wants to try his luck at the long jump. And in Tyler Takes on the Marathon, we see Tyler the Tortoise refusing to let his slow speed prevent him from trying to take part in the marathon. A special Big Park Games book, out in the Summer of 2008, will bring all the characters together to celebrate the Olympics by organising their own!
The use of colour illustration mixed with simple, repetitive language presented in a large bold font, makes these books ideal for the beginner reader or perfect for sharing. Used in a classroom setting they are excellent for promoting discussion about confidence, fair play and positive attitudes.
“I hope young readers will be engaged by the characters and be able to learn a bit about sport,” reveals Dame Kelly. “But they will also see that everybody gets the opportunity to have fun with friends.”
Dame Kelly confides that she wasn’t a great reader herself as a child. “I found it very hard and had extra reading lessons. But my favourite books were Mr Men, because they were fun, had lots of different characters and they were easy to read.”
“I really enjoyed writing the books,” she continues, “particularly inventing the characters and making them come alive.”
Katy and the Shooting Star by Dame Kelly Holmes and Glyn Walden is published by Big Park Books, price £5.99 (ISBN 0955429013).
Find out more about Katy the Shooting Star and other forthcoming titles in the Big Park series at www.bigparkbooks.co.uk/
The fact that a self-confessed reluctant reader has gone on to write her own books sets a positive example to us all, but Dame Kelly has some additional advice to aspiring young authors: “Write about something you are passionate about – and enjoy writing about – and ask other people what they think about your story so you get good feedback and can change it for the better.”
