Independent Reading Level: 4-8 Years Old
Awards & Honors: none found

The story of Simone Biles, one the best gymnasts of our time, is told in a poetic picture book. It talks about her struggles, defeats, and attitude shift to keep trying until she succeeds. It also touches on her family life and ultimately winning an olympic gold medal. I enjoyed the illustrations and the rhyming kept the book flowing and would keep the attention of younger students. I thought it really kept the story quite shallow and you never got a true feeling for who Simone Biles really is. The best part of the book is when she "failed" and wanted to quit but ultimately came back stronger than before. I think this is a great lesson for young students. As it described her "comeback" it quickly jumped to her being the best in the world and winning gold in the olympics so it left me feeling like I possibly skipped a page or two but, alas, I did not. It was not my favorite, but a great introduction for young children.