I Want To Be A Gymnast (dk Readers, Level 2)

READERS I Want to Be a Gymnast Kate Simkins LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, and DELHI Editor Kate Simkins Designer Cathy Tincknell Design Manager Lisa Lanzarini Project Editor Lindsay Kent Publishing Manager Simon Beecroft Category Publisher Alex Allan DTP Designer Hanna Ländin Production Nick Seston Reading Consultant Linda B. Gambrell First American Edition, 2006 Published in the United States by DK Publishing, Inc. 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 06 07 08 09 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © 2006 Dorling Kindersley Limited All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited DK books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotion, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 13: 978-0-75662-011-0 (paperback) ISBN 10: 0-7566-2011-2 (paperback) ISBN 13: 978-0-75662-012-7 (hardcover) ISBN 0-7566-2012-0 (hardcover) Color reproduction by Media Development and Printing, UK Printed and bound by L. Rex Printing Co. Ltd, China The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs: (Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; c-center; l-left; r-right; t-top) 32 Getty Images: (tr, cl); Altrendo (bl); Photonica (cr) All other images © Dorling Kindersley For more information see: www.dkimages.com Discover more at www.dk.com The exercises and positions in this book should only be attempted under the supervision of a qualified gymnastics teacher. EA D AL O D R O R A E NE BE NN I N G BE 1 2 GI TO I Want to Be a T NN I N G READERS GI DI N ICI E OF DK Publishing, Inc. S PR T Written by Kate Simkins EA R ON E N 3 4 AL G R Gymnast EA DE R Hannah and her friend Jessica dream of being gymnasts one day. They both go to a gymnastics class twice a week and they love it there. Last week, the girls arrived at the class after school. They put on their leotards in the locker rooms.  Then they ran around the gym to warm up. “I hope I can take a turn on the beam today,” said Hannah to her friend.  The other girls soon arrived and began running too. Everyone started jumping and hopping as well.  These exercises warmed them up so that they wouldn’t injure themselves in the gym. “Good!” said Sarah, their coach. “You should be nice and warmed up now!” Standing tall Learning how to stand straight and tall helps the girls look more graceful as they do gymnastics.  Next the girls did exercises to stretch different parts of the body. Stretching makes it easier to do gymnastics.  Tyra was very good at forward stretches. She easily touched her toes! Hannah stretched her feet. Strong feet are important if you want to be a gymnast.  Then the gi