Sir Chris Hoy has announced that he is to launch a range of children’s books in March 2016 aimed at newly independent readers in the 5 to 8 year age range. As one of Britain’s best loved cyclists, Sir Chris (who is also Britain’s most successful Olympian) is in a unique position to influence a new generation, and inspire them to get on their bikes.
With the seeming insatiable appetite for kids book series in this age range – for example Thomas the Tank Engine (42 books), Astrosaurs (31 books) and Beast Quest (127 and counting) – Sir Chris has a great opportunity to make cycling popular during the formative Key Stage 1 years. With Theo Walcott
and Frank Lampard
currently helping fill the bookshelves with football inspired tales, Sir Chris’s series will be a welcome addition to the increasing number of celebrity penned kids books.
Ignoring the obvious alliteration choices of Pedalling Pete and Cycling Sid, the series is called “Flying Fergus”. The hero is Fergus – an ordinary boy with an extraordinary imagination. All Fergus wants for his ninth birthday is “The Sullivan Swift”, a top of the range bike that will ensure his success in the local time trials. Sadly for Fergus, ever since his dad disappeared years before, his mum and granddad have struggled financially to raise him and can’t afford such an expensive present. Instead he inherits his dad’s old rusty bike, but when he heads out to test it at the park with his best friend Daisy, he discovers there might be more to the bike than meets the eye…
Sir Chris says that he “hopes to impassion the next generation of cyclists with stories that are all about that taste of freedom that comes with owning your first bike and discovering the adventures that await you. The age at which you receive your first bike is often the age at which you start reading independently, stirring your imagination with the wonderful world of books, just as cycling can stir up a child’s imagination for adventure.”
Sir Chris will be writing the stories alongside Joanna Nadin, an award-winning author for children and teenagers, best known for her Rachel Riley and Penny Dreadful series of books. She has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize with Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster
and has been nominated for the “Queen of Teen” award three times.
Sir Chris has already penned an autobiography
, and last October became dad to Callum. Since retiring from professional racing he has also launched Hoy Kids Bikes with Evans Cycles.
Here at Cycle Sprog we’re wondering whether the Hoy “Cammo” Road Bike will be renamed the Sullivan Swift to tie into the book launch.
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