Creating a Safe Space in Sports

From award-winning author Dagmar Geisler, in collaboration with illustrator Nikolai Renger, a brand-new series for elementary school students about social-emotional learning and physical and mental health.
Nora loves gymnastics, but she’s not so sure how she feels about her new coach, Sven. There’s something strange about him. She doesn’t like when he tries to help her.
She wants to talk to her teammates or someone else about it, but she’s afraid no one will like her anymore if she does.
Physical and sexual abuse of children largely takes place in their immediate environments—sports clubs and gyms included.
This book sensitively provides a child-friendly explanation of what abuse may look like in this environment, as well as instructions for children to help them respond to this behavior if it happens to them.
In addition to exploring sexual abuse and violence so that children may recognize the signs if it happens to them or even another teammate, this book also tackles other hard-hitting and difficult topics when it comes to kids in sports, including:
- Pushing their bodies beyond their limits - Playing through injuries instead of taking much-needed breaks - Committing to sports and teams to impress parents and coaches when their heart isn’t in it anymore
  As professional athlete Alexandra Ndolo writes in the afterword, "This book encourages children to pay attention to their feelings and to verbalize them, even in the context of sports. It sensitizes parents and caregivers to pay attention to the warning signs and to take statements seriously and to intervene if they suspect something."
Creating a Safe Space in Sports is a strong conversation-starter for adults and children and is also a practical guide.

Dagmar Geisler is a German author and illustrator. She studied graphic design at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden and worked for several publishing houses and broadcasting companies. Today, Dagmar focuses mainly on children's books, both as an illustrator and an author. She illustrated My Body Belongs to Me from My Head to My Toes, which received the Silver Feather (Silberne Feder) Children's Book Prize from the German Medical Women's Association, and is the illustrator of My Feelings and Me. She lives with her family in Munich, Germany.
Nikolai Renger was born in Karlsruhe and studied visual communication at the HFG in Pforzheim. He works as a freelance illustrator for various publishers and agencies and has been working at Atelier Remise in Karlsruhe since 2013.