Pickleball has undoubtedly been growing over the last few years, and with this growth comes a wealth of new players of all ages. What was once known as a sport for seniors, has easily become a new fangled sport for children and teens. Courts are popping up on the daily, and with the ease of success, it is no surprise that children are taking such a strong liking to the sport.
With the surplus of children playing, a new market for children’s literature with the sport has been uncovered. Grandparents have a hobby they can share with their kids and grandbabies, and can share books about this activity too!
“Bend Your Knees, Louise!” was one of the first books to emerge in pickleball. It has catchy rhymes with an underlying theme of a grandmother wanting to teach her hesitant grandchildren a new sport. Of course, they end up loving the sport.
Along the same theme, another pickleball book, “Pickleball With Pop”, was published. A grandfather teaches his grandson, Max, the sport of pickleball. They then go on to teach his class, and as expected, they love it.
Using animals as characters is a common theme throughout children’s pickleball books. Books like, “Pickleball Paul”, “Ollie Otter”, and “Polly’s in a Pickle” all use an animal as the main character to make the story line more inviting for children.
The premise for many of these books follows the same story plot – a hesitation with trying a new sport that oddly has the word pickle in it. After the hesitation, they end up trying it and falling in love with the new sport. This story line can resonate with many of us, whether we were hesitant to try the sport because of the old-age stigma, the non-traditional name, or the idea that something new may be out of our comfort zone.
Introducing books about the sport of pickleball to children will help make this “new” sport, not so new anymore. This untapped literature market is sure to be on the boom soon.
Will you be the next author of a pickleball book?
