Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn’t Sit Still, by Karlin Gray and Illustrated by Christine Davenier

If you are a teacher, it is very likely you have a student in your class who like Nadia, struggles to sit still. I know that I do! This delightful picture book tells the story of Nadia Comaneci, a gymnast from Romania – the first gymnast to score a perfect 10, the little girl who found a way to use her energy in a positive way.

Showing my age, I can say I honestly remember watching the Olympics with my family gathered around the television set specifically to see Nadia Comaneci perform. And perform she did!! She was an amazing athlete, at such young age!!

Author Karlin Gray and illustrator Christine Davenier retell Nadia’s story as a little girl fiercely determined to get up every time she fell. She practiced her gymnastic events until she perfected each skill. Nadia is introduced as a little girl who was impatient, impulsive, and constantly moving. Her mother enrolled her active daughter in gymnastics and the rest we can say, is history.

Students today many not know who Nadia Comaneci is, but they will most likely be able to relate to the little girl who couldn’t sit still. The fun illustrations and short passages make this a quick and easy read-aloud for an elementary classroom or small group. The opportunities to use this book as a part of a lesson are many! Teachers can use this book to talk about perseverance, self-control, determination, cause and effect, athletes, female athletes, historical events, annual events, geography, and many more I have not listed.

An interesting lesson that this book made me think of (also related to gymnastics) was when I was teaching 4th graders about the word vault. To my surprise, none of my 4th grade students knew what a vault was but they were doing an activity that expected them to recognize a bank vault and a gymnastics vault. Quickly I googled images to show my students the different kinds of vaults and came across videos of Simone Biles vaulting in competition. The students were entranced! (I thought is was pretty cool, too!)

This book could also be an ice breaker to interest students in other books related to gymnasts or gymnastics. A quick search of gymnasts pulled up both fiction and non-fiction selections that would be suitable for the classroom. Students who are interested in reading more, or for the teacher wanting to add additional reading suggestions could use this as a chance to practice looking for a desired text or topic at the library. This would be a great way to develop research skills!

If you’re still looking for a hook, I highly recommend the videos of Nadia and Simone competing…they are AMAZING!!

Ideas for Classroom Incorporation of Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn’t Sit Still

• ELA: biography, cause and effect, read aloud, picture book, theme, research

• Social/Emotional: Growth mindset, perseverance, determination, self-control
• HISTORY: geography, world history, Olympics, research