Someone who knows when to stay within reach and when to step away. May each of us have someone to coax us through those times. A something that doesn't appear to have the least bit of scary attached, and yet. It would be a something that they recognize as not only scary for them but thrilling to peers.

I believe, though, that even those brave souls have at some time encountered something that caused a twinge in their guts, put a wobble in their chins. Granted, there are many kids (and older folks) who embrace adventures, challenges, even change itself with a full-throated COWABUNGA. Just as easily as many would plunge right into that pool, we can dive deeper and see that this is a universal human story. It's there, and it's well done.īut I'll argue with anyone who says that it is ONLY that. On the surface (my pun on that threatening water surface is intentional), this is clearly a story for little kiddos who are afraid of the pool, or some other mundane childhood experience. They indicate the mornings for Mary to go to swimming lessons and hee misery is deeply felt. Those Saturdays circled on her wall calendar were not marked in happy anticipation. When little Mary wakes one Saturday morning feeling ill, there's no malingering involved. Pair this book with Jabari Jumps for your young swimmers. Hyewon Yum's watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are done in a palette of pool blues and tile whites, with lots of colorful bathing suits. The real beauty of this story is not only that the girl gets past her fear and begins to enjoy learning to swim, but that the adults, her mom and Mary, don't pressure her, and let her come to the water in her own time. This is a sensitive, simple story about fear of the water, a fear that many young kids experience, and overcoming it. But the third week, Mary, the instructor, helps the girl get into the pool and by the end of the lesson, she is a more willing beginning swimmer (with lots more lessons to go). The next week, she gets as far as sitting on the edge of the pool, watching the other kids have fun during their lesson. And spends the time standing by the wall, watching the other kids have fun during their lesson. The first Saturday, she says she has a stomachache, but with no fever, she is off to the pool. A young girl has been signed up by her mother for Saturday morning swimming lessons and she isn't very happy about it.

Saturday Is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum