As the weather warms up, the chances of my storytime families getting involved in swimming lessons or simply trips to the pool goes way up. These are calming and ultimately fact-based "experiences" stories to help manage expectations and fears, and provide touch-points to reference later.
Maisy Learns to Swim
Lucy Cousins
ISBN: 9780763634800
Maisy is a popular mouse character done in faux naive childish style with heavy borders and bright colors. Like if someone did a Byron Barton book, but were a bit scribbly about it. In this particular installment, Maisy and her friends go to a swimming lesson, going through all the generally accepted motions thereupon. Everyone is excited and happy and successful, and the story ends with warm towels and hot showers.
Leo Can Swim
Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Ruth Hearson
ISBN:
9781580897259
Leo is Lola's little brother, and Lola is the Black protagonist of a set of slightly older-aimed experience books set in England. Those and Leo's books have only recently migrated across the pond, and I'm very glad they did. I love having poc in my stories, especially when that isn't the focus of the story. Here, Leo is obviously an infant, and he's attending baby swim class with his Daddy. (Also a great touch.) Once again all the general descriptive steps are there: from getting dressed to the different parts of the class to the shower and lotion and nap afterwards. Sweet sweet illustrations.
Sergio Makes a Splash
Edel Rodriguez
ISBN: 9780316066167
Sergio is a baby penguin, and his class takes their first field trip to the ocean, but Sergio can't swim. He's outfitted with swimmies, a lifejacket, and a swim ring, an encouraging teacher, enthusiastic friends, and a nicely-illustrated bit of positive self-talk, which I like to see modeled, so he's ready to tackle his fear. The ending is a BIT of a let-down, but it's still solid enough to be enjoyable.
Showing posts with label Sergio Makes a Splash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sergio Makes a Splash. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Tuesday Storytime: Swimming
Following up on our beach theme last week, I got all of my swimming books into the library early enough to move on to swimming, leaving boats for next week.
These are all new to me, and all three are adorable, but Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip is my favorite (not surprised, Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman are a great duo).
Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (Bear books)
ISBN: 9780689859878
Plump and cuddly penguins over colorful but soothing backgrounds of beaches and oceans.
It's time for all young penguins to learn to swim, but Little Pip isn't too thrilled about the deep dark ocean. She'd rather fly, but after taking lessons from several birds, she's still grounded, and her final lesson ends with an accidental plunge into the sea! Once in, she learns that swimming is natural, and swimming in the ocean is much like flying in the air. My only quibble is that I would have liked that metaphor to be a little more metaphorical - "swimming is flying" doesn't work well with literal-minded toddlers.
Two Dogs Swimming
Lynn Reiser
ISBN: 0060086483
Naive art of two curly-haired dogs in a primary-colored world of grass and pond.
Spot and Whistle play together. They are well-matched in their games of chase, fetch, and jump - "sometimes one wins, sometimes the other" - but when they are swimming, Whistle can't figure out why Spot always makes it back to the edge of the pond first. The not-so-secret is that Spot isn't actually swimming - he's walking on the bottom, and not going all the way across the pond. Another accidental plunge, and Spot forgets that he needs to walk with one set of legs, and accidentally starts swimming! Now the games are equally matched no matter where they take place. Very cute, with a little touch of dry humor.
Sergio Makes a Splash
Edel Rodriguez
ISBN: 9780316066167
Part of a series about Sergio the pop-art colored penguin.
Sergio likes soccer, fishies, and water, but he can't swim yet, so he's not too sure about the big field trip to the ocean to learn to swim. Bolstered by helpful classmates and a kind teacher, and a good helping of positive self-talk, Sergio takes the plunge (safely ensconced in snorkel, swimmies, and a life-preserver) and learns that the ocean is not just water, it's LOTS of water (with bonus fishies), and great fun into the bargain! While I like the illustrations and narrative of Little Pip, I have to say that Sergio is a much better choice for modeling behavior - Sergio is the only one who chooses to jump into the water - and also for representation of him encouraging himself despite having "scary" thoughts.
Next week, boats!
These are all new to me, and all three are adorable, but Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip is my favorite (not surprised, Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman are a great duo).
Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (Bear books)
ISBN: 9780689859878
Plump and cuddly penguins over colorful but soothing backgrounds of beaches and oceans.
It's time for all young penguins to learn to swim, but Little Pip isn't too thrilled about the deep dark ocean. She'd rather fly, but after taking lessons from several birds, she's still grounded, and her final lesson ends with an accidental plunge into the sea! Once in, she learns that swimming is natural, and swimming in the ocean is much like flying in the air. My only quibble is that I would have liked that metaphor to be a little more metaphorical - "swimming is flying" doesn't work well with literal-minded toddlers.
Two Dogs Swimming
Lynn Reiser
ISBN: 0060086483
Naive art of two curly-haired dogs in a primary-colored world of grass and pond.
Spot and Whistle play together. They are well-matched in their games of chase, fetch, and jump - "sometimes one wins, sometimes the other" - but when they are swimming, Whistle can't figure out why Spot always makes it back to the edge of the pond first. The not-so-secret is that Spot isn't actually swimming - he's walking on the bottom, and not going all the way across the pond. Another accidental plunge, and Spot forgets that he needs to walk with one set of legs, and accidentally starts swimming! Now the games are equally matched no matter where they take place. Very cute, with a little touch of dry humor.
Sergio Makes a Splash
Edel Rodriguez
ISBN: 9780316066167
Part of a series about Sergio the pop-art colored penguin.
Sergio likes soccer, fishies, and water, but he can't swim yet, so he's not too sure about the big field trip to the ocean to learn to swim. Bolstered by helpful classmates and a kind teacher, and a good helping of positive self-talk, Sergio takes the plunge (safely ensconced in snorkel, swimmies, and a life-preserver) and learns that the ocean is not just water, it's LOTS of water (with bonus fishies), and great fun into the bargain! While I like the illustrations and narrative of Little Pip, I have to say that Sergio is a much better choice for modeling behavior - Sergio is the only one who chooses to jump into the water - and also for representation of him encouraging himself despite having "scary" thoughts.
Next week, boats!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)