As you may know the boys had a hard time earlier this summer when it came time to learning how to swim. Their lessons have been going ‘swimmingly’ well (sorry I couldn’t resist) and they are doing much better by the way. Thank you for asking. I hinted in another post about my “Swimming is Fun” campaign that I took on to help the boys change their minds from fear to the fun one could have swimming. A part of that campaign was to read books from the library that put swimming in a positive light. Below are a few of our favorites that we read over the last two months.
Swimming Lessons by Betsy Jay
This was the best swimming book and I feel that must be read like a head-strong girl who talks fast and is a smarty-pants (let’s just say that it wasn’t a stretch for me to get into character). I loved it. BigBoy and I laughed over it. In the story, the mother of the girl is doing all the tricks that I went through to get her daughter to swim (new swim suit, talking about how much fun it is, all the people that know how to swim, etc.) But it’s not until she meets Jimmy who says that girls and chickens don’t swim. That does it and she gets in and gives it to him in the end. It’s never too early to teach BigBoy that you can’t push girls around. Unless of course they are his cousins, which is perfectly fine.
Beach Play by Marsha Hayles
I am a big fan of rhyming books. While the book didn’t really talk about swimming in the ocean it did have “big wave crashing” which I keep reminding BigBoy of my big fear so I could emphasize the importance of knowing how to swim. I loved the illustrations by Hideko Takahashi.
Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London
This was a favorite with the boys (both of them) while on my learning to swim campaign. The story is about a frog that thinks he can’t swim. Just like little kids they think they need certain items (flippers, snorkel, etc.) to give them success. But finally, Froggy realizes that he can swim and he loves it. Isn’t that just what I’ve been telling the boys?
Swim, Boots, Swim a Nickelodeon Dora the Explorer book by Phoebie Beinstein
This was also a big hit. Who knew that my youngest, BabyD, loved mermaids so much? I think what was successful is that the main characters, Dora and Boots, are very familiar. It turns out that Mariana the mermaid teaches Boots how to go underwater, hold his breath, paddle arms and kick his legs. Which is exactly the mechanics that they are learning in swim class. If only the boys could learn as quick as Boots.
Beach Day by Patricia Lakin
This was a fun and colorful book about friends trying to get to the beach. I particularly liked the cadence and flow of the language. We thought it was cool that the friends rode a 4-person bike. Fun and adventure with friends is the main point of the story, but I emphasized the fun we can have with our friends at the pool when it’s hot outside.
Bloggy friends, do you have favorite kid books that have to do with swimming? I’d love to hear your picks. Cheers!
PLEASE NOTE: While these books do link to Amazon, I do not currently have an affiliate link, although I should do something about that. However, I will always advocate buying used books and more importantly using your local library.
