Shoot for the Stars

By Author / Illustrator

Danielle Brown, illus Jayde Perkin, Gabriela Menichetti

Genre

Personal Growth

Age range(s)

Publisher

Little Tiger

ISBN

9781838916657

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-07-2025

Synopsis

From double Paralympic gold medallist, five time World Champion and award-winning children's author Danielle Brown MBE comes a bighearted, empowering handbook about sport, confidence and self-belief.

Drawing on stories from inspiring athletes, as well as Danielle's own gold-medal-winning experiences (including the hiccups along the way), Shoot for the Stars gives practical examples of how to overcome obstacles, find the courage to dig deep and discover sporting success on your terms - whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out!

Packed with awesome quizzes, team talks, advice from sporting champions, and all kinds of tips and tricks, this interactive handbook will have you covered for every sporting situation, offering reassurance and giving you the confidence to strike out and live your best your life!

Perfect for fans of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, HerStory and It's a Brave Young World.

Find our more in ReadingZone's Q&A with Danielle Brown.

Download Extract

Reviews

Emma

"A kickass guide to finding confidence in sport", indeed!! Shoot for the Stars is as creative as it is inspiring and I love how it contains biographies of real athletes and stories of them overcoming challenges to achieve their dreams. This book is a lesson in resilience and perseverance.

In the classroom, I would use it in my Personal Development (PD) lessons with Y6 to emphasise these values. My class are going to love having this on the bookshelf and I hope it inspires some of them to achieve their sporting dreams.

176 pages / Reviewed by Emma Urbonas, teacher

Jane

A book on a wide range of sports, with the message that success is achievable for any child with ambition, determination and the encouragement of trailblazers, will be a welcome and popular addition to the school library.

Shoot for the Stars is clearly about Sport, but could easily be classed as Psychology. One could quibble about a few features: some abbreviations are not explained (eg CRPS); the notable absence of male role models/champions, which isn't obvious from the cover/title but is clearly intentional; certain Americanisms which might be unfamiliar to UK readers ('pickleball', 'shutout' and even the rather crude 'kickass'); and the need to cross reference (eg Alice Milliat, featured on one page with short bio on another).

However, this large, boldly illustrated, colourful and durable paperback has many positive inclusions: 'trivia' in the potted biographies (Hall of Fame); 'ordinary' people, not just the 0.0001% who are para-olympians/superstars; and discussion of fears that hinder success.

Teachers could use the book for PSHE and/or assemblies, to explore diversity and (dis)ability, and to promote school values, such as courage, cooperation and aspiration. It is a rich source of quotes and role models and the Confidence Quiz could be adapted in non-sports contexts to good effect. The front and back author/illustrator info is both interesting and a prompt to look out for other titles by them.

176 pages / Reviewed by Jacqueline Harris, teacher