Otter Let's Go Swimming

Reviewed by: Deidre Walsh - Goodall Library, Sanford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 17, 2017

Review

Ironically, this is a story about an otter who can't swim and is afraid of the water. Otter and his human keeper go to the beach. Otter dons all the appropriate gear: floaties, swim fins, etc. He looks quite ready and quite amusing. But he finds every excuse not to go in the water. Both Otter's stuffies, Giraffe and Teddy are afraid. Finally Otter admits that he is scared. His keeper helps him through his fears in a gentle, kind and patient manner. Soon Otter, his stuffies, and the keeper are all enjoying themselves in the ocean water. And Otter is even swimming without floateis and he is very good at it! The text is simple, declarative, and accessible to comfortable beginning readers. There are only one to two sentences per page, with a nice amount of repetition. The illustrations are done in greens, blues, browns, yellows and reds, against a white background. They are clear and simple and depict the text nicely. This enables the reader to better understand the story. This is not just a story about going to the beach. This is also about overcoming fears and the patience of friends and/or adults. This story would work well as a discussion starting point for young children to face and overcome their own fears of swimming and the water. It also shows the wonderful effect a calm and reassuring adult can have on a potentially traumatic situation for a child. A worthy purchase for most library collections, especially those in need of beginning readers.

Overall Book Score: very good