Children’s Water Sports Books

Guest Post by Stephanie Wildman, Author of Brave in the Water

BRAVE IN THE WATER

Written by Stephanie Wildman

Illustrated by Jenni Feidler-Aguilar

(Lawley Publishing; $16.99, Ages 2-8)

 

 

Brave2021Cover of boy in swimming pool

 

 

Swimming season is upon us so I’ve invited author Stephanie Wildman to talk about her new picture book, Brave in the Water, for parents and caregivers of reluctant swimmers to share with children.

 

Intro:

Thank you so much, Ronna, for having me on your blog. I’m excited to tell your readers about my debut picture group Brave in the Water and to encourage them to get in the water!

Learning to swim can be daunting. I should know – I didn’t learn until I was twenty-six years old! I didn’t want my own children to grow up afraid, so I took them for swim lessons at an early age. They both became competitive swimmers. One founded and coached an award-winning swim program for vulnerable youth. One swam for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics, winning a gold medal. So getting them in the water was one thing I did right as a parent, not passing on my own fear. I hope this book reaches children who might be afraid like I was and shows them that they can have fun in the water.

 

More about the book:

Diante is afraid to put his face in the water, but he is torn because he would like to play in the pool with other children. He’s not afraid to hang upside down on the monkey bars, though, and he’s surprised to learn his grandma is afraid to be upside down in an inverted yoga pose. Can Diante help Grandma and become brave in the water?

Spoiler alert: He can and he does. Grandma tells Diante about the feathered peacock yoga pose that she aspires to do. Diante wants to try it. Grandma explains that “Breathing is important for trying something new.” They practice slow, deep inhalations and exhalations together.

 

BravePracticePranayama image of the pair practicing pranayama pose
Interior spread from Brave in the Water written by Stephanie Wildman and illustrated by Jenni Feidler-Aguilar, Lawley Publishing ©2021.

 

Before trying the pose Diante learns to control his breathing (pranayama).

He wonders if pranayama can help him put his face in the water. He goes back to the pool to try and thinks for a long time, finally remembering pranayama. Finally, step by step, slowly breathing Diante enters the water and puts his face in. He is on his way to learning how to swim.

 

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Interior spread from Brave in the Water written by Stephanie Wildman and illustrated by Jenni Feidler-Aguilar, Lawley Publishing ©2021.

 

 

Here is what Bonnie Tsui, New York Times best-selling author of Why We Swim and Sarah and the Big Wave, said about Brave in the Water in her back cover blurb:

“Being brave is something we work on all our lives. Stephanie Wildman shows us how to help each other through — one breath at a time — to reach the essential joy of the water.”

By the way, I would love you to check out my debut group NewBooksforKids.com. I have been lucky to meet this group of kidlit debut authors, all with books I want to buy and read. Remember you can always support children’s books by requesting your local library to order them or by buying one for a Little Free Library. This group will give you some great ideas.

            Thanks again Ronna. See you in the water!

 

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Author photo ©Nancy Martin

About the Author: 

Stephanie M. Wildman served as John A. and Elizabeth H. Sutro Chair at Santa Clara Law and directed the school’s Center for Social Justice and Public Service before becoming Professor Emerita. Her books include: Brave in the Water (2021); Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America 2d (2021) (with contributions by Armstrong, Davis, & Grillo); Race and Races: Cases and Resources for a Diverse America 3d (with Delgado, Harris, Perea, & Stefancic) (2015); Social Justice: Professionals Communities and Law (with Mahoney & Calmore) (2013); Women and the Law Stories (with Schneider) (2011). She is a member of the Writers Grotto. She is a grandmother, mother, spouse, friend, good listener, and she is able to sit “criss-cross apple sauce” thanks to her yoga practice.

 

Where to buy the book:

The book is available for order anywhere books are sold. Here are some links for purchasing online:
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Click here to order from the publisher
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Click here to order from Bookshop.org
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We’d love you to support your local independent bookseller by placing your order there.
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ValienteenelAqua cover art for Spanish version
Green Apple Books may still have signed copies. And a Spanish language version – Valiente en el Agua (translated by Cecilia Populus-Eudave) is also available from booksellers.

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Social Media:

Website: Stephanie Wildman.com
Twitter: @SWildmanSF 
Instagram: @stephanie_wildmansf

Website: Art with ~Mrs. F~ (google.com)
Twitter: @jennifeidlera
Instagram: @artwithmrsf
YouTube: Art with Mrs. F – YouTube
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Website: Newbooksforkids.com
Twitter:  @NewBooksForKid1
Instagram: @newbooksforkids
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Picture Book Review – Mop Rides The Waves of Life

MOP RIDES THE WAVES OF LIFE:

A Story of Mindfulness and Surfing

Written by Jaimal Yogis

Illustrated by Matthew Allen

(Plum Blossom; $16.95, Ages 5-8)

 

Mop Rides The Waves cvr

 

Mop loves to surf the ocean waves but when life doesn’t go the way he wants it to go, Mom tells him “he’s a great surfer but needs to learn to surf life” in Mop Rides The Waves of Life, written by Jaimal Yogis, author of numerous books and an avid surfer, with illustrations by surfer and artist, Matthew Allen.

This book of mindfulness takes the reader through a week in the life of Mop, a boy with an adorable head of hair that resembles a mop. Allen’s illustrations of not only Mop’s full head of hair, but the hair of all the characters (Mom’s long hair is pulled back and his friend Sammy’s hair is shaved on the sides with short natural hair on the top of his head) provide a great feel for the personalities of each character.

 

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Interior spread from Mop Rides The Waves of Life written by Jaimal Yogis with illustrations by Matthew Allen, Plum Blossom Books ©2020.

 

Mop is having a great weekend. He “loves to wait for just the right wave … TO RIDE!” But on Monday, Mop returns to school and his frustration at teasing and other issues gets the best of him. He reacts rather than ignores. The rest of the week remains status quo. The colorful watercolor art, so right for a book about surfing and life, perfectly captures the anger on Mop’s face when things don’t go as expected. And Allen’s drawing of the boy sitting alone in the classroom with an open book pretty much explains it all to readers who may have also experienced missing recess at one time.

Things aren’t much better at home when Mom makes him clean the van on Wednesday “And on Thursday we ran out of my favorite cereal. It was officially a BAD week.” That’s when Mom decides to take Mop surfing after school. Sitting on the sand in easy sitting pose wearing yoga attire, Mom teaches Mop how to surf life. “You start by feeling your breath go in and out like the tides. Breathing mindfully helps you notice the emotional waves inside.”

Readers see the words Fear, Anger, and Sadness written inside the waves as Mop sits on his yellow surfboard. Life’s ups and downs are as natural as the ocean’s waves explains his mother. Mop then recalls his Mom’s words of wisdom as he glides under the waves and flips his board. He deals with it. He’s learned from his mother’s powerful surfing metaphors that “falling is the best way to learn.”

 

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Interior spread from Mop Rides The Waves of Life written by Jaimal Yogis with illustrations by Matthew Allen, Plum Blossom Books ©2020.

 

Happily, the end of Mop’s school week improves as he takes these tools into his life away from the ocean. He even apologizes to those friends that he became angry with. And when those angry feelings pop up again in math class, Mop focuses on his breathing, “in and out like the tides. I remembered angry waves are natural.”

Young readers see how Mop reacts to frustrating situations and how they, too, can learn to surf life with calmness and soothing breaths. This charming picture book, with its economy of words and original take on teaching mindfulness to kids, is a helpful and enjoyable read for all the Mops out there. Don’t we all occasionally have trouble getting along with others, or just going with the flow? Kids learn that even if they aren’t familiar with surfing, they can still study the lessons of the waves by bringing mindfulness and the joys of surfing to life. I am passing my copy over to my surfing brother-in-law who teaches elementary school.

  • Reviewed by Ronda Einbinder

 

 

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Picture Book Review – Boats Will Float by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum

BOATS WILL FLOAT

Written by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum

Illustrated by Brett Curzon

(Sleeping Bear Press; $16.99, Ages 4-8)

 

Boats Will Float cvr

 

After a third and fourth reading of Boats Will Float by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum with illustrations by Brett Curzon, I still found myself smiling as if I were reading it for the first time. There is so much to enjoy in this picture book highlighting a bevy of brightly colored boats both big and small.

Rosenbaum’s descriptive rhyme invites reading aloud and the full page spreads beg to be explored in order to find humorous details that Curzon’s included (hint: check out the front of the cruise ship). Readers learn about a variety of vessels that travel on bays, rivers, and oceans as they’re presented at work and play from early morning until night.

 

Boats Will Float int1
Interior illustration from Boats Will Float written by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum and illustrated by Brett Curzon, Sleeping Bear Press ©2020.

 

The timeless appeal of watercraft for kids cannot be denied and Boats Will Float celebrates that by introducing over a dozen kinds. There are fishing boats, motor boats, tug boats, submarines, freighters, sailboats and canoes. There’s even a welcoming houseboat that bookends the story. First, a child and her dad greet the new day, watching the boat activity from their deck, “Boats are bobbing in the bay/Waiting to be on their way.” Then at the end, the entire family settles down for the night, “Safely moored in dreams all night-/Boats will float … toward morning light.”

I love how there are even nautical flags cleverly incorporated into the book. At story time youngsters can spell out their own name using the alphabet provided. Be on the lookout for a special treat in the mast art of the sailboat spread to point out to curious children. I won’t say anymore than that.

 

Boats Will Float int2
Interior illustration from Boats Will Float written by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum and illustrated by Brett Curzon, Sleeping Bear Press ©2020.

 

The structure of this picture book, with its vibrant scenes moving to more tranquil ones, makes it ideal for a bedtime read. The art, beautifully complementing the prose, shifts from bolder colors to calmer ones as nighttime approaches. A glossary in the back matter with pictures pulled from the pages that children will recognize provides additional info for your things-that-float fans. What a fun way to have them drift off to sleep!

  • Reviewed by Ronna Mandel
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